Scottie Scheffler’s sensational season, Sahith Theegala’s admirable admission and the dumbest golf-course-adjacent investment ever

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we are back from a trip to Atlanta that included seeing some great golf and enjoying a local specialty:

Yep, Coca-Cola. Hey, it’s like drinking Guinness in Ireland. Or so I’m told. Anyway, those newfangled machines with hundreds of flavor options are cool, but they don’t produce the same taste as these older fountain machines. And call me crazy, but Coke—particularly Cherry Coke—tastes even better in Atlanta. Also, special shout-out to the Dairy Queen manager who held my Blizzard for me in a freezer until after I finished my meal. Now that’s customer service. And, yes, I really treat myself on the road. In any event, I’m back and it’s time to talk about everything going on in golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Scottie Scheffler: Remember those PGA Tour POY debates? Those were cute. This had to be the most obvious outcome in golf history. Scheffler wins every big PGA Tour event now so, of course, he was going to win one that he’s given a lead in. Anyway, it was a fitting way to end the PGA Tour's official 2024 season and a well-deserved win for Scheffler, who’s third time being in the pole position was the charm as he finally cashed in on that dual Tour Championship/FedEx Cup title. The World No. 1 wound up breaking the PGA Tour record with his 68.0 scoring average for the season, and he basically led the tour in every non-putting category. Even arrests!

The $25 MILLION bonus pushed Scheffler to an insane $62 MILLION in earnings for the season. Which Kyle Porter broke down rather nicely:

Damn. That’s a LOT of Dairy Queen Blizzards. Perhaps the most crazy stat, though, is that Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, is believed to have earned more than $6 million in 2024. Which is more than Jack Nicklaus made in his entire PGA Tour career. (Sorry, Jack. You played in the wrong era.) In addition to all the money, Scheffler won a second green jacket, an Olympic gold medal, that gold boy Players trophy and now a silver trophy, which, apparently, can double as a very fancy bassinet.

Aww. Congrats to Scottie. And Ted. And Meredith. And baby Bennett. We might never see another season like this in golf history. Or, Scottie might just do it all again in 2025.

Collin Morikawa: Almost as crazy as Scheffler winning so much this year is that Morikawa didn’t win all year. Well, he didn’t hoist a trophy, that is. Technically, Morikawa received credit for a win through the Official World Golf Ranking for shooting the lowest four-round score at East Lake, taking him up to No. 4. And he finished the season fifth in strokes-gained total on the PGA Tour.

That’s a lot of good golf without winning. So if you’re looking to bet on someone who is due for a win or two in 2025, he’s your guy.

Sahith Theegala: He didn’t win the tournament, but boy, did he win over a lot more fans with a Bobby Jones-esque moment at the home of Bobby Jones. Theegala called a penalty on himself that no one—not even the HD cameras at East Lake—saw.

And the two strokes wound up costing him $2.5 million and a lot of OWGR points. But at least Sahith can sleep at night. And $7.5 million was a pretty good parting gift.

The Creator Classic: Admittedly, I wasn’t particularly excited about this inaugural event, but I wound up watching from my plane seat, nervously hoping it would wrap up before we took off. It did. And it provided a lot more drama on 18 than what we saw on Sunday with the actual tournament. So shout-out to Luke Kwon for winning and to Chad Mumm and his team, especially Dan Rapaport, Hally Leadbetter and Joel Dahmen on the call! Oh, and to Roger Steele for being an absolute beast with ball speeds nearing 200 mph.

I wouldn’t say I’m a YouTube golf fanatic now, but I’m at least more interested—and I’ll definitely tune into the next Creator Classic.

WE’RE SELLING

Scheffler’s “seven” wins: Sorry to burst the Scottie bubble just a little, but it’s kind of crazy that the Tour Championship doesn’t count towards a player’s official money, but it does count toward their official PGA Tour win total. Especially when that player began the tournament with a two- to 10-shot lead.

Again, not to take anything away from Scheffler’s brilliant year, but the seven wins is a bit much. That being said, his Olympics victory doesn’t count toward his official PGA Tour total, so we’ll call it a wash.

The match-play proposal: There are countless opinions out there on how to fix the Tour Championship, but whittling it down to some kind of match-play solution is the worst of those possible options. So after an entire year of 72-hole stroke-play events, they should go to match play to decide who was the best player for the entire year? It makes no sense! Plus, match play isn't guaranteed to produce any more drama down the stretch than we saw on Sunday, and it’s a much more fluky method to determine a winner. Why don’t they just flip coins for $25 million instead?!?

Having solar panels on a golf course: I’ve had solar panels on my roof for a year-and-a-half, which has meant a year-and-a-half of cheap electric bills. I love it, and the system should pay for itself within five years. I also feel like a hero for helping to save the planet. You’re welcome, everyone. That being said, I don’t live near a golf course like these people:

That’s rough. And about the dumbest investment ever. They didn’t see that coming? On the, um, bright side, at least those people get to live on a golf course.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour is finally taking a week off following the conclusion of the 2024 season, opening the door for the LPGA Tour to grab the spotlight this week. … Never mind, the LPGA is off too. So now it’s LIV’s turn to shine. … Wait, never mind again, because there’s no LIV event. How about the Korn Ferry Tour then? … Nope. OK, well the DP World Tour is in action in Switzerland with the Omega European Masters and the PGA Tour Champions is playing in St. Louis with the Ascension Charity Classic. And that will have to be enough to satisfy your golf watching itch this week.

Random tournament fact: Ludvig Aberg is the defending champ of the Omega European Masters. However, he will not be defending that title because he’s taking a break after the FedEx Cup. And he’s having meniscus surgery like I did earlier this year. Don’t worry, Ludvig, if I can make it back from that, so can you.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Scottie Scheffler won’t win PGA Tour Player of the Year: 25 MILLION-1 odds

—Steve Stricker will win the Ascension Charity Classic: 4-to-1 odds (Actual odds, favorite)

—Steve Stricker will cry if he wins the Ascension Charity Classic: LOCK

TWEET/INSTAGRAM OF THE WEEK

Nailed it, Collin.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Sam Burns hopped on the “Happy Hour” broadcast with Smylie Kaufman and promptly burned his buddy Scottie Scheffler:

That’s just great live TV right there.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (ARCHIVE DIVISION)

How about this 2009 local news video featuring three junior golfers from Texas named Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris?

Scheffler eventually caught up to the competition when it came to distance. And everything else.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Travis Kelce is one talented dude. Hopefully, I’ll see you on the set, Travis!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (PGA TOUR DIVISION)

This was awesome from the Theegala family.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (NCAA DIVISION)

And this was also awesome from the Colgate … lacrosse team?

You love to see it.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION ANTAGONISM

Billy Horschel, a University of Florida alum, enjoyed tweaking rival Florida State with his practice-round outfit honoring Georgia Tech for beating the Seminoles in the season opener:

Well played—especially since he was in Atlanta. No word on whether he’ll be wearing Boston College colors after the Eagles upset FSU on Monday. Not that Billy can wear his Gators colors too proudly after that loss to Miami. Just saying.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“So there's a … the club, there's this straight part of the face and then over here is the hosel, and on that one, specifically, I caught too much of that part of the face. That's why it went to the right. It's shaped kind of … a little curve. If I hit the straight part it's going to go that way, and then if I hit this part it's going to come towards you.” —Scottie Scheffler’s fantastic response to why he hit a shank. And the video is even better:

THIS AND THAT

Great Britain & Ireland won the Curtis Cup for the first time since 2016. Congrats to their squad—and to any task forces involved in bringing Catriona Matthew on as captain after two successful stints with the European Solheim Cup team. … Congrats to Haeran Ryu on winning her second LPGA title at the FM Championship after shooting 62, 78 and 64 over the final three rounds. Golf! … And, finally, my Atlanta trip included getting to host a panel with Ludvig Aberg and TUMI creative director Victor Sanz at the company’s newest store in the Lenox Square mall. Here’s photo proof that it went well:

And after, I really treated myself by eating at Cheesecake Factory. They had exceptional fountain Coca-Cola as well.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How long will the Tour Championship stick with this format?

How much money will Scottie Scheffler win in his career?

How much would it cost to install a fountain soda machine in my house?