Scottie Scheffler had plenty to celebrate after helping the United States complete a remarkable comeback at the Presidents Cup on Sunday. But one of the moments that meant the most to his wife, Meredith, had little to do with the final score.
Scheffler defeated Nico Echavarria 2&1 in singles as the Americans stormed back to win the Presidents Cup 17-13. Before Scheffler closed out his match, however, an ugly moment involving a spectator prompted an act of sportsmanship that caught his opponent by surprise.
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It also left Meredith emotional.
According to NBC on-course reporter John Wood, Meredith learned what her husband had done and had a simple reaction:
“That makes me want to cry.”
Scottie Scheffler Stepped In After Fan Disrupted Nico Echavarria
The moment unfolded on the par-4 14th hole with Scheffler and Echavarria locked in their singles match.
As Echavarria began his swing, a spectator yelled, “Go Scottie!” The interruption came during the Colombian golfer’s backswing, and his shot sailed into the right rough.
Scheffler wasn’t celebrating the mistake.
The world’s No. 1 golfer confronted the crowd over what had happened. He then took things a step further, conceding Echavarria’s par putt despite still being in contention to win the hole.
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Echavarria wasn’t expecting it.
“We have the No. 1 player in the world who’s a class act,” Echavarria said afterward. “I wasn’t expecting for him to give me that.”
It was that decision that prompted Meredith’s emotional response when she heard about it.
Scheffler later explained why the interruption bothered him so much.
“There’s just no place for that,” Scheffler said. “I was very frustrated.
“It was honestly a big distraction, I think for me, just because we compete and work so hard to put ourselves in these moments.
“When you have some fan who decides to insert himself into the tournament, you can say, I think, whatever you want to players, but I think there’s an amount of respect there.”
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Scheffler added that a golfer gets only a brief window to settle over the ball before hitting a shot, making the timing of the shout particularly frustrating.
“It just didn’t really sit well with me,” Scheffler said. “He would never hit a shot as poorly as he hit, I think, off the 14th if there wasn’t a fan yelling in his swing.
“It was just very frustrating. I don’t really want to talk about it all that much. It was frustrating.”
Scheffler Helps Team USA Complete Presidents Cup Comeback
The exchange came during a dramatic final day for the Americans.
Scheffler had been left out of Saturday afternoon’s foursomes following a difficult start to the competition. By Sunday, however, he was back in the lineup and delivered a singles victory as Team USA erased its deficit in emphatic fashion.
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The Americans won nine of Sunday’s 12 matches to turn the Presidents Cup around and secure a 17-13 victory.
Echavarria acknowledged that the incident involving Scheffler wasn’t the only difficult interaction with the gallery during the final round.
“It didn’t happen just once,” Echavarria said. “It was a tough environment.
“It’s unfortunate that in some way the crowds can affect performance like that. It was just unfortunate, a couple things here and there.”
President Donald Trump was among those watching Sunday’s comeback and later presented the trophy to the victorious U.S. team.
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Team USA captain Brandt Snedeker also credited Trump with providing some additional motivation ahead of the decisive session.
“All these guys fought for each other, fought for this country, fought for this team,” Snedeker said.
“And one last shout out to Donald Trump, President Trump. He told me I was going to bring some energy today for you guys, you guys need it, and I told him if we did this, he gets all the credit. Thank you, President Trump.”
For Scheffler, though, one of Sunday’s defining moments came before the trophy ceremony.
His decision on the 14th didn’t win him the Presidents Cup. It did earn the respect of the opponent standing across from him and an emotional reaction from the person who knows him best.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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