McDowell, Kaymer tabbed Europe vice captains

A season like the one that PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler put together is built a little at a time, with a succession of great shots. Some of those, like a near hole-out to go 4 up on world No. 1 Jon Rahm in their singles match at the Ryder Cup, provided no FedExCup points but infused Scheffler with vital self-belief for the season ahead. Others, like his chip-in birdie in the final round of the Masters, are so obviously game-changing they practically come with a thunderclap. And others still, like a crucial putt to ensure making the cut at the WM Phoenix Open, where he collected his first win two days later, can be fully appreciated only in retrospect. These 10 shots tell the story of how Scottie Scheffler put together his successful season. 10. BIRDIE PUTT WM Phoenix Open, second round Par-4 8th, TPC Scottsdale Scheffler was right on the cut line Friday at the WM Phoenix Open. After a so-so 68 on a low-scoring Thursday, the promising but winless PGA TOUR pro had made three birdies, two bogeys and a double in his second round. He was in danger of missing the cut with two holes to play. Facing an early exit, Scheffler, finishing on TPC Scottsdale’s front nine, was far from pleased with his approach from 148 yards at the par-4 eighth hole. But he rammed home the 34-foot birdie putt to create a buffer between him and the cut line. Scheffler signed for a 71 in the second round and made the cut with a shot to spare. Little did he know that the made birdie putt would lead to so many more, and his first TOUR win two days later. His victory at TPC Scottsdale would open the floodgates for an epic season. 9. APPROACH SHOT Ryder Cup, Singles session Par-4 4th hole, Whistling Straits There’s self-belief, and then there’s self-belief. Playing as a Ryder Cup rookie last fall, and the only man on the U.S. Team without a victory, Scheffler drew a tough assignment in the third match of the Sunday singles: then-world No. 1 Jon Rahm. Not to worry. Scheffler jumped out to a 3-up lead, then, from the fourth fairway, hit a towering approach that rode the right-to-left wind before landing, checking, and cozying up to within kick-in range for his fourth birdie in a row to take a 4-up lead. It was the moment when everyone, not just Rahm and his peers, began to appreciate the outsized talents of the 2020 Rookie of the Year. Scheffler would win, 4 and 3, to earn the United States’ first point, and while it would not technically provide any points toward his FedExCup-winning season, it informed what was to come. It also opened the eyes of veteran caddie Ted Scott. Watching the Ryder Cup on TV – and thinking he might retire after having parted ways with Bubba Watson – Scott would gain a new appreciation for Scheffler’s skills and they would join forces at The RSM Classic later that fall. 8. BIRDIE PUTT WM Phoenix Open, third playoff hole Par-4 18th, TPC Scottsdale After shooting 62 in the WM Phoenix Open’s third round, Scheffler’s magic seemed to have left him for the final round. He negated four birdies with four bogeys over the first 12 holes to sit three shots off the lead heading into the final stretch. Still in the honeymoon phase with new caddie Ted Scott, Scheffler, undeterred, birdied four of the last six holes to force a playoff against reigning FedExCup champ Patrick Cantlay. The two matched each other on the first two extra holes, with Scheffler making a clutch 6-footer to extend on the second playoff hole before making his move on the third extra trip down 18. Despite driving the ball into a bunker, Scheffler found the putting surface at a respectable 25 feet. Cantlay, however, knocked his second shot to 11 feet. Scheffler stepped up and sent his putt on its way. When it dripped over the front edge and in, he let out a primal roar. Cantlay missed his birdie try and Scheffler had his first win. 7. BIRDIE PUTT Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, second round Par-3 14th, Bay Hill Club & Lodge Sitting at even par for the tournament and 2 over for his second round through 13 holes, Scheffler was much closer to the cut line than the leaders, who sat 9 under. He found the green on the par-3 14th but was still 53 feet from the pin, a three-putt looking more likely than make birdie. Scheffler needed just one putt, however, curling in the monster for what would turn out to be the longest putt he made this season and another illustration that every shot does matter, especially en route to a victory. Scheffler went on to win his second TOUR title by a single stroke. The floodgates were officially open. 6. PAR PUTT Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, final round Par-4 15th, Bay Hill Club & Lodge On a brutal final day at a baked-out Bay Hill, Scheffler found an inner strength others failed to muster. He was in deep trouble on the par-4 15th, in the pine straw and behind a tree, when he tried to hit a punch hook up the fairway. The ball dribbled out only 23 yards into thick rough, leaving 149 yards to the hole from a tough lie. Scheffler did well to get his next shot onto the front of the green but was still 22 feet away. A bogey looked imminent, but when he coaxed that par putt home it kept his momentum alive and he grinded out three more pars – including an up-and-down from 67 yards on the par-5 16th — to finish a shot ahead of Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel and Tyrrell Hatton for his second win in three starts. 5. EAGLE HOLE-OUT World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, quarterfinals Par-5 16th, Austin Country Club Runner-up at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play the year before, this time Scheffler had to hole a 6-foot putt on the sixth hole of a playoff against soon-to-be U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick just to advance to the single-elimination Round of 16. He had survived a tough Round of 16 match against Billy Horschel, prevailing 1 up on Saturday morning, before meeting Seamus Power in the quarterfinals. Scheffler had given up an early two-hole advantage against the Irishman to be tied through 11 holes before wins on 12 and 13 established a buffer. The alum of the nearby University of Texas closed things out in style, holing a 30-yard chip from the upslope short of the green to advance to the semifinals. 4. BIRDIE BUNKER SHOT World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, championship match Par-5 12th, Austin Country Club For Scheffler, playing in front of family and friends, it wasn’t just a prestigious World Golf Championships on the line. If he could win the championship match, he would become world No. 1. Through 11 holes he seemed near impervious to nerves or discomfort as he set up a commanding 3-up lead and sat just off the side of the par-5 12th green in two shots. Kisner had knocked his third to close range when Scheffler seemed to open the door, dumping his third shot, a short chip, into a small bunker. Was the match about to turn? Nope. With Kisner eying a 6-footer for birdie to cut into the lead, Scheffler jarred his bunker shot for his own birdie to maintain his 3-up advantage. Three holes later he had his third win in five starts and we had a new top player in the world, a title he’s held ever since. 3. APPROACH SHOT The Masters, third round Par-4 18th, Augusta National Golf Club The hottest player in golf seemed unfazed even by playing at Augusta National, and after he birdied the par-5 13th in Saturday’s third round he was 11 under for the week, ahead by five. But Masters nerves were a new challenge, and back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15 gave the chasers a flicker of hope. He birdied the 17th before a hooked tee shot on the 18th hole that looked like it could change the course of the tournament. His ball wound up in an unplayable lie; after a drop, Scheffler still faced a 250-yard third shot from the pine straw. As three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo mused about what sort of layup Scheffler was contemplating, Scheffler pulled out a 3-iron and gave the ball a mighty lash. As it soared up to the green and ran a little long behind the putting surface, effectively taking a big number out of play, the patrons could only applaud in awe. “You can’t keep this man down,” Faldo said on the broadcast. “I didn’t see that one coming.” Scheffler got up-and-down to avert further disaster, and his well-earned bogey secured a three-shot lead heading to Sunday’s final round. 2. EAGLE HOLE-OUT U.S. Open, third round Par-5 8th, The Country Club A day after holing out for eagle at the U.S. Open at The Country Club – and getting zinged for misfiring on his celebration with caddie Ted Scott – Scheffler holed out again in the third round, jarring a 102-yard wedge shot at the par-5 8th hole. Scheffler had found the right rough with his tee shot and had to lay up but landed his third behind the pin and watched as the ball backed up and rolled into the cup. The fans went wild for the Masters champion and world and FedExCup No. 1, and this time player and caddie executed a perfect chest-bump celebration. Although the shot gave him the solo lead, Scheffler would ultimately finish tied for second the next day, one behind winner Matthew Fitzpatrick. Still, the shot was yet further confirmation that he can dazzle with any club, anywhere, any time. 1. BIRDIE CHIP The Masters, final round Par-4 3rd, Augusta National Golf Club To win at Augusta National you need a little luck, but you also make your own luck. Despite holding it together for a few opening pars, Scheffler was under assault from tenacious Australian Cameron Smith in the final group. Smith birdied the opening two holes to pull within one before Scheffler pull hooked his tee shot on the par-4 third into pine straw and trees. But thanks to a large scoreboard Scheffler was given line-of-sight relief, allowing him to get a clean look at the green rather than one obstructed by trees. Despite this, his approach with a wedge came up fractionally short of the green and fed back down the steep embankment. Smith’s approach was almost identical, sucking back to just a foot in front of Scheffler’s. Facing a tricky uphill chip, Scheffler played a low, skipping ball into the bank that hit the pin dead center and disappeared for a nerve-settling birdie. Smith was unable to get up and down from the same spot, and the three-shot buffer was back. That cushion allowed Scheffler to play smart golf the rest of the way home to set up a fourth win in six starts and his first major triumph.

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Charlie Rymer wasn’t sure he could swing a golf club with that port imbedded in his chest near his collarbone. Not to mention, the chemotherapy it delivered into his body made his hands shake so badly he joked that he might take a divot with his putter. But last Wednesday, he was hitting balls and getting ready for a member-guest – barely four months after doctors had resected a foot of his colon and 14 days after ringing the bell at M.D. Anderson in Houston to signal his last infusion of those life-saving drugs. “There’s no chance I can break 85, but I’m going to be out there with my buddies, having a good time and enjoying every minute of it,” Rymer said. The last two years haven’t been much fun for the former PGA TOUR pro turned broadcaster, though, after doctors discovered a polyp during a routine colonoscopy. At first, doctors decided to monitor it. But after six months, and then three more months, his physician was still concerned. So Rymer went to a specialist who twice performed an advanced polypectomy in hopes of avoiding the resection. Neither was successful. So, Rymer had the right hemicolectomy on March 10 and 12 inches of his colon were removed. All the previous biopsies had revealed no cancer but when the pathology was done on the full section the news was not good. Rymer had stage 3 colon cancer. And the cancer had spread to the 54-year-old’s lymph nodes. “And I’m like, what? I had no idea that that was coming,” he recalls. “I was just expecting, the surgery was successful. You’re good to go. You don’t have to worry about this.” Within six weeks, Rymer had started chemotherapy at M.D. Anderson. He’d have the infusion, which generally lasted three hours, and then begin a two-week regimen of chemo by pill, four of them, twice a day. And that didn’t count the drugs he was prescribed for the side effects – nausea, anxiety, insomnia – that made Rymer feel like a “walking pharmacist.” Mercifully, he was able to take a week off before beginning the process again. After four cycles of the dual chemotherapy, Rymer is cancer-free and now in surveillance mode where he’ll undergo body scans every six months and advanced blood work every three. He says the highest chance of recurrence is in the first year. “And because I’ve had the surgery — surgery alone gave me about a 50% chance of recurrence in year one and the chemo reduces that to about a 25% chance of recurrence in year one,” Rymer says. “Year two, that’s halved. Year three, it’s halved. “So, if you get through the first three years, you’re good to go without getting any further treatment. … If it does come back, they say it’ll come back somewhere other than my colon, but … we can get after that early. So, I hope I don’t have to go down that road, but that’s sort of what the situation is.” Rymer had kept his diagnosis relatively private, the news mostly confined to family and friends. When he felt well enough, he continued his work as an ambassador for Myrtle Beach golf and as executive vice president of McLemore Club, a resort in northern Georgia. He was also able to film parts of the second season of “The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” on ESPN2 during his off weeks from the chemo. He did discuss his cancer struggle on one episode, but it hasn’t aired yet. When he finished his last chemotherapy treatment on June 6, though, Rymer decided to tweet a video of him ringing the bell. The reaction was swift, and a little overwhelming. The tweet got more than 7,000 likes and 433 comments, many from people asking about his treatment – and most importantly telling Rymer they were scheduling their colonoscopy immediately. “It means the world. It really does,” Rymer says, his voice halting. “… I don’t normally read a lot of remarks on Twitter, but just the folks out there that had either, most of them I hadn’t ever met, but had either watched me play or do TV over the years, just the supportive comments that came in were just incredible. “One of the reasons I was hesitant to put it out was like, nobody cares that somebody’s going through this, but then you find out they do care.” Rymer says fellow broadcasters Mark Rolfing and Paul Azinger, both of whom are cancer survivors, have frequently called to check up on him. Judy Rankin has reached out, as well, along with many others in the golf business. He’s heard from friends in the entertainment industry like Colt Ford and Vince Gill. He’s even reconnected with his best friend from high school. Rymer, who describes himself as a “church-going person,” says the prayers and support are incredibly impactful. “I just would encourage folks when they have friends that are going through this or another severe health challenge, if you’re on the fence of whether I ought to drop a text or call, go ahead and drop it because it’s going to mean a lot more than what you think,” Rymer says, pausing before finishing his thought. “I hate to break down crying on you, but these this last six months I’ve cried more than I ever thought I was capable of crying. So, it makes you sort of look at things a little, a lot differently.” Until last week, Rymer had only played golf twice this year – both times before the surgery – which was the longest break he’d taken from the game since he was 4 years old. And the operation set him back when he developed ileus, where his digestive system didn’t reset for nine days, and he lost 22 pounds. Once he recovered, Rymer started thinking about playing again. He ordered a new set of clubs and once he finished chemo, he started hitting balls again. He thinks it will take about a month to get all the medications out of his system to steady his hands. He’s also dealing with neuropathy. “I haven’t felt my toes in three months. And then the other thing is weight gain with this stuff. So not only have I not felt my toes in three months, hell, I haven’t seen my toes in three months,” says Rymer, proving his trademark sense of humor is still in tact. He also jokes about holding a carton of ice cream with oven mitts because the nerve endings in his hands couldn’t handle anything that wasn’t room temperature or warmer. And the disappointment of finding out that the side effects of both medications was weight gain. “I’m like, really?” Rymer says with a wry laugh. “Plus they put you on steroids too, so, I feel like I stepped on air hose.” Rymer says he couldn’t have survived the last two years without the support of Carol, his wife of 31 years, who also happens to be a registered nurse, and in his words an “absolute superstar.” He says the cancer ordeal has made the couple and their two sons grow closer. “Listen, I’m 54, and my life’s been a blessing,” Rymer says. “I’ve been fortunate to see and do things and have experiences that some folks take 20 lives to do. And then because of my faith, I don’t live my life with fear. But I’m hoping the big man has some more plans for me here.” One of the things Rymer wants to do is encourage everyone to take their health seriously and get a colonoscopy along with other cancer screenings. He can’t help but think about a friend who wouldn’t – “He almost bragged about it,” Rymer says – who has passed away. “When I was out in Houston and I got a chance to ring the bell, I thought you know what I’m going to put that on (Twitter) and just let people know what I’ve been going through,” Rymer says. “And the more I think about it — and I’m hoping this is the case — it seems like mine is rather than being life and death is just terribly, horribly inconvenient. “And I almost feel obligated to sort of share the experience and say, yeah, I’ve had a tough go with this, but if I hadn’t had a colonoscopy, two or three years down the road from now my stomach would be hurting or I’d have some other symptom and I’d go to the doctor and it would be, you’ve got six months, get your affairs in order.” Thankfully, Rymer didn’t wait. And neither should the rest of us.

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Matthew Wolff kept the ball in play and ripped off a 10-under 61 to match his career low on the PGA Tour, giving him a two-shot lead at Mayakoba.

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