Scottie Scheffler just proved again, two hours ago, that he is the best golfer on Planet Earth by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. The crowd chanted “Scott-ie, Scott-ie! as the now bearded, popular Texan went from tied for the lead with Shane Lowry this morning to a five-stroke victory over current U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark with a five-under par 66 for a 72-hole total of 15-under 273. It was the second time Scheffler had won this tournament in the last three years. Clark said of Scheffler after the round today, “It would be borderline unfair if he starts putting really good.”
Indeed, besides being the best ball strike on Tour, Scheffler has been known as a really good putter. And this week he found his old putting touch. Although he had remained #1 by the Official World Golf Ranking since his last win about a year ago, Scheffler had been struggling with the short stick on the carpets much of last year. But not this week, especially today. I thought I heard one of the TV announcers say, when Scottie was finishing his round today, that he had not missed a putt under 15 feet in length all day. That must be one of the most incredible PGA Tour golf statistics I have ever heard.
Scottie Scheffler is one of the more prominent members of the PGA Tour Bible Study group. I have blogged about this multiple times. And he is really well liked by both his peers and the golf fans.
During this televised tournament, the TV commentators often paid tribute to one of the most beloved golfers in the game’s history and to whom this tournament is named–Arnold Palmer. I played many a round with the king in PGA Tour tournaments. One more memorable one was one year when I played in the last pairing with Arnie and Miller Barber the last round in the Dallas Open. I shot 29 the last nine holes. My birdie attempt on the 18th hole barely rimmed the cup as I lost by one stoke to Miller Barber. Arnie had wrenched his back on his tee shot on the 16th hole, and that caused him to have to withdraw from competition for almost two months after that. It was the only time I could ever remember when the king got hurt swinging a golf club, and it knocked him out of the Tour for that long.
Only one time did I play a practice round with the great Arnold Palmer. It was at a U.S. Open in Atlanta. When our foursome arrived at the first tee, Arnold said to me, “Kermit, do you play for anything?” He meant do I ever gamble on the golf course. He said that because he knew I was a Christian. Arnold had attended college at Wake Forest University, a Baptist school in North Carolina. So, Arnold probably knew, “Baptists don’t chew or go with the girls who do.” And when you joined a Baptist church back then, you usually had to sign some pledge promising you wouldn’t smoke, drink alcohol, or gamble.
So, I replied to Mr. Palmer’s question about gambling, “Yes, Arnie, but I have my limit?” He inquired, “What is it?” I answered, “Fifteen dollar Nassau.” That is the most popular gambling game in golf; but it’s not much money. Arnie smiled, probably because of the little money, and said, “You’re on!”
So, we played a team Nassau. We won, and Arnie’s team lost. What I learned from this episode was that some of the richest people in the world don’t always pay their debts. Arnie owned me, and he didn’t pay off!
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