Scottie Scheffler doesn’t usually blink when it comes to closing out a round. But every now and then, even the world’s best gets caught second-guessing themselves. And this is what happened at the latest PGA Tour stop, when a last-minute change for the pro turned into one of those rare ‘what if’ moments.

Heading into Sunday of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Scheffler was tied for the lead with players like Tommy Fleetwood and JJ Spaun. This could’ve been one of those easy wins —at least that’s what his stats say. But that day in Memphis, at the last moment, something changed. Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, had to leave for a family emergency.

On Sunday morning, Scott left TPC Southwind to be with his family in Louisiana. In his place, PGA Tour chaplain and longtime friend Brad Payne stepped in on the bag. For a while, things seemed under control. “…You see Scottie Scheffler after an hour or maybe 25 minutes after they’re on the golf course. Tommy bogies. He birdies. You see, Scheffler number one. You’re like, ‘Oh my god, he’s never going to look back,’” said Frankie Borrelli on the Fore Play Podcast.

But this was short-lived. In the final round, Scheffler finished with a 3-under 67, managing birdies on two of his last three holes. As other players made pivotal birdies, his own putts were narrowly missed. This left him a single shot behind the leaders and outside the playoff. “It’s definitely a lot different not having Teddy out there,” Scheffler told Todd Lewis of Golf Channel during the Tournament.

Discussing this on the same Podcast, Borrelli made a connection to Ted Scott’s absence with Scottie Scheffler‘s near-miss win. “He doesn’t have Ted Scott with him out there. He doesn’t get it done.”

What’s interesting is that this has not happened for the first time. This was the second time in two seasons when Scheffler was in contention without Scott. The last was at the 2024 PGA Championship, when Scott had to miss a round for his daughter’s graduation. That was the week Scheffler was dealing with the aftermath of his arrest before the third round. Everything was a chaos. Payne filled in that time, too, and Scheffler shot 73 with him on the side. The next day, when Scott returned, the 4 time major champion made a comeback with a 66.

“If you represent Ted Scott, it’s a hell of an argument where you’re just like, I think I’m the 0.5% that gets Scotty over the hump when he is in contention. That’s what I would say…I don’t know if we’ll ever know if it’s true. It’s a hard thing to know, but it’s a good argument for Ted Scott,” commented Trent Ryan.

So was this another ‘Ted Scott effect’, or just the randomness of golf? “It’s a full intangible thing. I think that comfort level is spot on. I think, you know, you need to be as comfortable as humanly possible out there in those situations, like we’ve sort of talked about. So, I could see that comfort level being a huge factor,” as aptly put by Sam Riggs Bozoian.

To truly understand why Ted Scott’s absence hit so hard, you have to grasp just how rare and deep their connection is. Scott joined Scheffler’s team in late 2021; since then, every one of Scheffler’s 15 PGA Tour wins and Major wins has come with Scott on the bag.

Take, for instance, moments like the 2024 Masters that showed their bond. With his wife away, preparing for their child’s birth, Scheffler paused before the scoring area, called Scott back, and walked alongside him. Cameras caught the moment, and Scheffler summed it up simply: “I couldn’t do this without you. What a guy.”

Reports say that Ted Scott will be missing the BMW Championship as well. Scheffler’s performance in that event will play a huge role in cementing Scott’s importance for his wins. In his place, Chris Kirk‘s caddy Michael Cromie will be temporarily filling in for Scott.

Golf has witnessed such changes quite often in its history. There’s a long list of players whose game seemed to shift – sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically – after losing a similar presence on the bag.

When a caddie’s absence makes a difference

There have been a few other instances of a sudden or major change in the caddie role that seemed to ripple into a player’s performance. Bryson DeChambeau‘s split with longtime caddie Tim Tucker came just before the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic—a title DeChambeau was defending. Without Tucker on the bag, DeChambeau missed the cut that week.

“I wished we would have finished out the week,” he said. “[Bryson] probably wasn’t as focused on the golf as he should’ve been, and I take a lot of the blame for that,” Tucker said as reported by Golf.com.

Another significant example is that of Phil Mickelson and Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay’s split in 2017. Over 25 years, the two had been one of golf’s most enduring and successful partnerships. After they parted ways, Mickelson had some flashes of brilliance – like his 2021 PGA Championship win – but his US Open performance, in particular, dipped noticeably.

And of course, there is Tiger Woods. When the 15-time major champion broke up with Steve Williams, it was just as seismic. The pair were together for more than a decade, racking up several majors. But after their split in July 2011, Woods’s struggles were quite noticeable. Being ranked number one for 683 weeks, his ranking began to decline during this period, reaching as low as 58th in November 2011. Moreover, he went on a Major Championship drought after his 2008 US Open victory. He didn’t clinch another major trophy until the 2019 Masters Tournament.

These examples just show that when a caddy-player bond breaks, even the best in the world can feel the difference.