PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Drama ensued during the second round of the Players Championship for Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 ranked player.
Despite experiencing pain in his neck and left shoulder, Scheffler somehow managed to post a 3-under-par 69 to stand at 8-under par, which was six shots off the lead held by Wyndham Clark through the first half of the Friday tee times.
Scheffler, who entered the day two shots out of the lead after shooting an opening-round 67 on Thursday, began his second round on the back nine Friday and got off to a smooth start with a birdie on No. 10.
Two holes later, though, Scheffler grimaced after a shot on the 12thhole and called for a rules official to ask if he could have a physical therapist come out to take a look at his neck and shoulders.
A few minutes later, a medical trainer arrived and began working on Scheffler’s next and shoulders between holes.
Scheffler sat in a chair behind the 14th tee for several minutes as his playing partners, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, hit their tee shots as the trainer massaged his neck and shoulders.
It seemed so very Scheffler, who’s been the most consistent player in the game for more than a year, that he birdied the par-3 13th hole moments earlier.
After his massages, he went on to hit his tee shot into the fairway on 14 and par the hole.
After the 15th hole, Scheffler took a seat in a player relief area and had more massage done on him while Thomas and Fowler teed off on 16 and then he proceeded to hit his tee shot into the fairway again and ended up carding a birdie on the par-5.
PGA Tour rules allow a player approximately 15 minutes of treatment during a round or the player must withdraw. So, the trainer, after walking the 16thfairway with Scheffler, disappeared after he hit his second shot as Scheffler carried on.
The 27-year-old Scheffler said afterward that he had no hint of these neck issues entering the tournament or entering Friday.
“I hit a shot on my second hole today (No. 11) and I felt a little something in my neck, and then I tried to hit my tee shot on 12 and that’s when I could barely get the club back,’’ Scheffler said. “So, I got some treatment. Maybe it loosened up a tiny bit, but most of the day I was pretty much laboring to get the club somehow away from me.’’
Scheffler spoke only to a PGA Tour official because he went directly from post-round scoring to the fitness trailer for treatment.
“I did what I could to kind of stay in the tournament today, and hopefully it’ll loosen up and then I’ll be able to make somewhat normal swings tomorrow,’’ he said.
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Asked if Clark is too far ahead, Scheffler said, “I did enough I felt like today to keep myself somewhat in the tournament, and so that’s really all I could ask for. The way I was getting around the course, the way my neck was feeling, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue playing, so yeah, good fight out there.’’
Scheffler entered the week coming off winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, the second time in three years he won that event.
And, he’s the defending champion of the Players this week. No player in the 49-year history of the tournament has defended the title.