The fact that Scottie Scheffler finished tied for 12th place and 7 under par at the BMW Championship is staggering, considering what he was dealing with throughout the week.
“I got the hand, foot, mouth [disease]. So you’ve got blisters on your hands, and in your throat, and on your feet. So, to start the week, it was pretty painful to grip the club,” Scheffler said when speaking to the media after Sunday’s round.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a contagious, viral illness that typically impacts children. Common symptoms are painful blisters on the hands, feet and mouth, a fever and a sore throat. There’s no cure, which means that symptoms must be managed.
It sounds like Scheffler didn’t do a great job of managing it, given that he decided to play this weekend.
“If I was smarter, maybe I would have pulled out. But I was playing so good, I felt like if I could knock it out quickly, and just get through the first couple rounds, I’d still have a chance. But I think that’s part of my stubbornness, probably,” Scheffler continued.
“That’s probably a strength of mine, and a weakness at times. I’ve never been one to pull out of a tournament; especially in the middle of it, that’s really frustrating for me. And so I definitely didn’t want to do that going into this week, even though it was suggested.”
He added that his throat is still bugging him, but that his hands are feeling more normal. The blisters on his hands were the “most challenging” element of the sickness because of how painful it was to grip his clubs.
Scheffler deserves a ton of credit for finishing in the top 12 while battling this illness. But it probably kept him from being a true contender to win the BMW Championship, if only because there was no way he’d be able to play to his true potential.
