'It Was Just A Little Sore' - Scottie Scheffler Plays Down Injury Worry At The BMW Championship
Scottie Scheffler was keen to play down the extent of his back injury but admitted it was a struggle to get though the first round of the BMW Championship
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was quick to play down the extent of his back injury after being seen in clear pain on the 17th hole of the first round of the BMW Championship in Colorado.
Scheffler shot a one-under round of 69 at Castle Pines despite dealing with his back problem, to sit five shots off leader Keegan Bradley in the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The two-time Masters champion pulled up wincing and holding his back after hitting his second shot to the par-four 17th hole at Castle Pines, but was quick to write off his problems.
Scheffler insisted that his back was just "a little bit tight" after he "woke up just a little sore" and was just going to get some usual recovery treatment after his opening round.
"Really I woke up just a little sore this morning," Scheffler said after his round. "I had trouble kind of loosening it up.
"Maybe I hit a few too many balls yesterday or something. It was just a little sore. I'm sure I'll get some ice on it and stuff and I'll be totally fine tomorrow."
Scheffler did admit that it was tough to get through the long walk at Castle Pines while dealing with a sore back, while his reaction on 17 was due to him playing a certain type of shot.
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"I mean, that was a hard," he explained. "With it being a little bit tight it was hard for me to get through it and I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball.
"On 17 I was trying to hit a high draw, and that's a shot where I've really got to use a big turn, big motion.
"Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good."
While it's hard to gage fully from Scheffler's laid-back demeanour, it's one to keep an eye on as he was not at his brilliant best in the first round - especially in the ball-striking department.
But it could even be bad news for the rest of the field, as the old saying of 'beware the injured golfer' is certainly true of Scheffler.
He also had a bout of stiffness at The Masters before winning a second Green Jacket, while he almost pulled out of The Players with a neck injury before shooting a final-round 64 to claim the title.
And those are factors Scheffler's closest rival Xander Schauffele is all too aware of, as he only saw a few signs of the injury while playing in the same pairing on Thursday.
"There was a few times - maybe when he turned his head a few times he looked a little stiff," said Schauffele.
“He was stiff at the Masters, at The Players and had to get worked on all those times. I guess it's a bad sign for everyone else."
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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