The world's No. 1 golfer played four rounds at the BMW Championship while battling painful blisters on his hands, feet, and throat, and says his stubbornness kept him from withdrawing.
Scottie Scheffler, the 30-year-old four-time major champion, revealed after Sunday's final round in St. Louis that he had contracted hand-foot-and-mouth disease the Monday night after winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship by eight strokes. The illness left him with blisters that made gripping a golf club agonizing, a fever, and a sore throat that still hadn't cleared by the time he finished tied for 12th at 7 under par.
Scheffler didn't hide behind the diagnosis. He was blunt about the tradeoff: compete through real pain, or walk away from a tournament for the first time in his career. He chose to play.
The timeline made the whole episode more frustrating. Scheffler had just dominated the FedEx St. Jude Championship, winning by eight strokes, the kind of performance that signals a player peaking at the right moment in the PGA Tour's playoff stretch. Then Monday night, his body crashed.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a viral illness most commonly associated with young children. It produces blisters on the palms, soles, and inside the mouth and throat. There is no cure. For a professional golfer whose livelihood depends on club grip and feel, the timing was brutal.
Fox News reported that Scheffler described the early rounds as the worst, with pain gradually easing as the week went on. He shot a 2-under 68 on Sunday but was never a serious contender for the title.
Scheffler explained the crash in straightforward terms:
"I felt better as the week went on. I got sick Monday night. That was probably the most frustrating part. Playing really good golf, and you come out of the heat and get a little adrenaline, sometimes your body kind of crashes. Then it hit me pretty good all week."
Scheffler acknowledged that withdrawing might have been the rational call. But rational isn't how he operates. He told reporters he has never pulled out of a tournament, and that doing so, especially mid-event, would have been more painful to him than the blisters.
The Associated Press reported Scheffler's own concession that the decision was driven more by competitive stubbornness than by sound judgment. He framed it as both a strength and a flaw.
"I think that's part of my stubbornness, probably. That's probably a strength of mine and a weakness at times. I've never been one to ever pull out of a tournament, especially in the middle of it. That's really frustrating for me."
The New York Post noted that the blisters on Scheffler's hands were the most punishing aspect of the illness, given the constant pressure of gripping clubs over four competitive rounds. Scheffler himself said someone had suggested he withdraw, but he refused.
"I've never been one to pull out of a tournament; especially in the middle of it, that's really frustrating for me. And so I definitely didn't want to do that going into this week, even though it was suggested."
Scheffler's 12th-place finish at Bellerive was a far cry from the dominance he showed the week before. But he didn't sound defeated. He said his hands felt normal by Sunday, even though his throat was still bothering him.
"But I'm proud of how I fought. Feel like I'm starting to heal up. My throat is still bugging me pretty good. But my hands feel normal today."
One small detail captured the reality of playing through a contagious illness. Scheffler said he almost made the mistake of shaking hands with fellow golfer Cam Young after the round, a routine gesture that could have spread the virus. He caught himself in time.
Scheffler said he planned to rest before the Tour Championship, which begins Thursday at East Lake. He was not yet fully recovered but sounded confident he would be ready.
While Scheffler fought through his illness, the leaderboard at the BMW Championship belonged to healthier players. Rory McIlroy, coming off a poor showing at the FedEx St. Jude Championship where he failed to break par in any round, shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 to share the lead with Wyndham Clark, Gary Woodland, J.J. Spaun, and Chris Gotterup.
McIlroy credited a break spent working with swing coach Michael Bannon for resetting his game. Breitbart reported McIlroy's comments about regaining confidence between events.
"I went home and I worked on a few things and at least got myself back in a frame of mind where like I felt like I'm at least back on the right path of what I'm doing with my game and with my swing."
Gary Woodland's presence near the top of the leaderboard added another layer. Woodland, who is recovering from brain surgery, sat at No. 31 in the FedEx Cup standings and needed a strong finish to crack the top 30 and qualify for the Tour Championship. He offered a memorable line about perspective.
"When I'm struggling I put my hand on my heart to just to remind myself that I'm alive, and if I can feel my heart beat I know I'm breathing."
Scheffler heads into the Tour Championship as the world's top-ranked golfer and a four-time major champion. His 12th-place finish in St. Louis won't define his season. But the fact that he played through a genuinely painful illness, one that most adults would use as a reason to stay home from work, let alone compete at the highest level of professional golf, says something about the man.
He didn't ask for sympathy. He didn't make excuses. He showed up, gripped the club through blistered hands, and posted a respectable number. Whether that was wise is a fair question. Whether it took grit is not.
In a sports culture that increasingly celebrates rest days and "load management," Scheffler's stubbornness is a throwback, and a welcome one.
