Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot Saturday on the first hole at Royal Montreal.
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MONTREAL – Scottie Scheffler's father was involved in an altercation with an abusive fan Saturday at the Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club before Scheffler's son – and, not long after, the police – helped separate the two.
The incident began before Scheffler hit his tee shot on the 16th hole during Saturday afternoon's match. As Scheffler and teammate Russell Henley went to their drivers alongside their opponents, Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im, a fan on the right side of the fairway, near the hospitality tents, could be heard GOLF the reporter yelled profanities at Scheffler and his wife, Meredith, a former teammate, and Scheffler's father, Scott.
At that point, the elder Scheffler ducked across the line of fans to confront the man before police intervened and were served by the golfers and Scheffler's caddy, Ted Scott, who was still carrying Scheffler's bag. Athletic's Gabby Herzig reported on social media that Scott Scheffler said the man was accompanied to the course. The police officer will only confirm to a GOLF.com reporter that the incident occurred.
Shortly after the challenge, Scheffler hit his shot, and minutes later closed out the match with a 2-foot, 8-inch putt for par. His parents refused to talk to a GOLF reporter specifically about the incident, and Scheffler was not part of the post-round press conference.
However, Henley was, and was asked if he or Scheffler were bothered by what happened.
“No, it's not,” she said. “Once it happened, we just refocused and got back to it.”
The incident was part of a rollercoaster ride that got more intense as the day went on. Scheffler and Henley were 3-under on the front nine and trailed the first 11 holes in their match before taking a 1-up lead on the 14th hole. On the 15th, Im hit his tee shot into the water on the left side of the fairway, and Scheffler appeared to argue with Im and Matsuyama about where the ball should be placed before their third shot. After the discussion was settled, Scheffler picked up the club of one of the international players and returned it to that player's bag.
Asked afterwards if there was a problem with the fall, Henley said he didn't know. At the time, he was preparing to hit his team's second shot, after Scheffler's shot.
“I wasn't there,” Henley said. “I think Scottie was handling it, but it looked like they came to an agreement. So I'm not sure.”
After the match ended on the 16th green, Scheffler welcomed his American teammates enthusiastically, quickly shook hands with Im and Matsuyama and continued to celebrate.
The victory helped his American team win 11-7 over the international team, which was made up of players from outside the US and Europe. Play in the biennial event on Sunday, where 12 members of the American team play against 12 international professionals in singles matches.
In the third match of the day, at 12:26 pm ET, Scheffler plays Matsuyama. It should be one of his last professional rounds of golf in 2024, the most remarkable season of his professional career. Scheffler won eight world titles this year, including Masters and Olympic gold, capping one of the most dominant seasons in recent PGA Tour history. Scheffler also made national news when he was arrested before the second round of the PGA Championship for a traffic incident before being released from prison early in his playing career. Those charges were eventually dismissed.
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