What was the black patch on Scottie Scheffler’s neck at The Players?
Scottie Scheffler emerged victorious at The Players Championship 2024 held at TPC Sawgrass's Stadium Course in Florida from March 14 to 17. The American golfer secured the trophy with an incredible performance in the final round, shooting a bogey-free round. However, he was spotted with a black patch on his neck throughout the game.
During the winner's press conference, the current World No. 1 revealed the reason behind the noticeable patch. He disclosed that he had suffered neck pain the previous week and had used tape to ease it.
Speaking about the black patch, Scheffler said:
"Sometimes it might be the placebo effect I don't know what it is. But I feel like the tape sometimes gives me some extra support. Tape me up yesterday seemed to help a little bit with the pain, and today I hit balls with two straps on or two of the tape on, and it seemed to feel good."
Scheffler further explained that, at times, the situation got irritating as the tape would come off due to sweat during play. Nevertheless, it did provide him with some relief. On this, he added:
"I had a good warm-up session. So I just stuck with it, and it's tough cause I sweat a lot on my neck, and it gets dirty and so the tape tends to come off. It's a bit annoying, but it's also not the worst thing just to have something to fiddle around with during the day while you're out there for four and a half hours or whatever it is." (9:14-9:43)
Prior to this victory, Scheffler had also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational just a week before. It is noteworthy that this was his second victory at The Players, having won the tournament in 2023 and successfully defended his title in 2024.
Scottie Scheffler's performance at The Players Championship 2024
Scheffler teed it up at The Players Championship 2024 on Thursday, March 14, with a round of 67. Although he started the round with a bogey on the first hole, he quickly covered it with three back-to-back birdies on the second, third and fourth holes. He added three more birdies on the back nine to score 5-under 67.
Scheffler shot five birdies and two bogeys in the second round to score 3-under 69 and five birdies and one bogey in the third round to score 4-under 68.
Scottie Scheffler settled for a tie for sixth place at the end of Saturday's round and started the final round on Sunday with an eagle on the fourth hole. He shot a birdie on the fifth hole.
Scheffler made six birdies and finished with a score of 20-under. He finished one stroke ahead of Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman, and Wyndham Clark.