Scottie Scheffler HILARIOUSLY admits losing to 10-handicap golfer before title defense at Arnold Palmer Invitational

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last year while carding a final-round score of 66.

Scottie Scheffler HILARIOUSLY admits losing to 10-handicap golfer before title defense at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Scottie Scheffler (Image via X)

Scottie Scheffler is gearing up for a huge week. The World No.1 will enter the Bay Hill & Lodge in Orlando, Florida as the defending champion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He though may have suffered a slump in confidence as he recently lost to a 10-handicap golfer.

Handicap in golf is used to measure the ability of a player. A higher number on this does not look good on players, whereas a low number indicates that the player is a good.

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During the press conference ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler revealed that he played a round of golf with one of his friends recently. The American golfer added that his friend was not a good player and had a double digit handicap of 10. Despite that, he won against the No.1 player in the world.

I played last weekend and one of my buddies who is not a very good golfer, he’s like a 10 handicap, he beat me in our side bet for the day… One of the great things about golf is I can go out with a guy who is going to shoot 90 and I can give him enough strokes to where we’ll have a good competition.

Scottie Scheffler said

Scheffler, who won 9 times on the PGA Tour including this event, later admitted that he did not like losing and jokingly thanked his friend for this confidence boost.

I didn’t like losing, and I handed him the money and then I told him, I was like, Thanks, man. Now I got to go play a golf tournament next week, so appreciate the confidence boost that I just lost to a 10 handicap.

Scottie Scheffler added

After going neck and neck with Wyndham Clark in the first three rounds, Scheffler cruised away to the title in the final round of this event. While Clark fired a final round score of 70, Scheffler posted a score of 66 to clinch his second win in this event by 5 strokes.

A week later, Scheffler once again got the better off Clark as he went back-to-back at The Players Championship. Following a brutal lip out from Clark at the final hole, Scheffler became the first player to successfully defend The Players Championship.

Scottie Scheffler claims there will be challenges for rival Xander Schauffele during return to action on PGA Tour

As Scottie Scheffler prepares for just his 4th start of the year, his rival Xander Schauffele will be making his 2nd start of the year. As the World No.3 gets ready to return to action on the PGA Tour, Scheffler has claimed that there will be challenges for him.

Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele (Image via Newsweek)

Schauffele, who won two major championships last year, had been sidelined since the first week of January due to a rib injury. He returned to golfing action earlier this week at the TGL for the New York Golf Club. Speaking on his return, Scheffler said that it would be “challenging” for his rival.

I think it’s challenging any time you’re coming off an injury. That first time you step back out inside the ropes, it’s different playing competition tournament golf, and there’s definitely challenges to it and it takes a little bit of time to get used to.

Scottie Scheffler said in the Arnold Palmer press conference

Scheffler though is happy to see him return and added that it was good to have Schauffele back among them for this event.

In this signature event, Scheffler has been paired up with 2025 Genesis Invitational winner Ludvig Aberg for the first two rounds. Meanwhile, Schauffele will start his second event of the year while playing alongside fellow 2-time major champion Justin Thomas.