Less than a week before the sixth of the PGA Tour’s signature events, the Truist Championship, was due to get underway, it was revealed that World No.1 Scottie Scheffler had opted to skip the tournament.
That will have come as a blow to the tournament’s new sponsor, which succeeded Wells Fargo, as well as fans hoping to see the star in action just a week before the second Major of the year, the PGA Championship. But why has Scheffler, who cruised to victory at last week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson, decided against teeing it up at Philadelphia Cricket Club?
A big clue can be found in the tournament’s place in the schedule, where the winner will be decided just four days before the PGA Championship gets underway at Quail Hollow.
In 2024, Scheffler was in the midst of a dominant season when he arrived at Pinehurst No.2 for the US Open, with his first round at the North Carolina venue coming just four days after claiming his fifth title of the year at the Memorial Tournament.
Significantly, that edition of the Muirfield Village event had been moved to the week before the US Open from its traditional slot shortly after Memorial Day, with host Jack Nicklaus agreeing to the switch as a one-off favor to the PGA Tour so it could fit around its new signature event model.
Regardless, not many people would have bet against Scheffler collecting his maiden US Open title, although instead, he was strangely out of sorts throughout the week and had fallen 13 shots behind leader Bryson DeChambeau after the third round. Following his 71 on the Saturday, Scheffler hinted that playing the week before one of the four big events might not be something he’d make a habit of in the future.
He said: “I think in terms of prep work for a week that I know is going to be as tough as this, I'm leaning going forward to maybe not playing the week before.
“I think especially going around Jack's place, which is going to be pretty close. I did most of my damage under par there at the beginning of the week, so... I think going into the Major championships, especially the ones we know are going to be really challenging, it may be in my best interest not to play the week before. Like I said, that's stuff for me to figure out later in the year.”
True to his word, Scheffler hasn't played the week before a Major since. He had almost a month to prepare for the 2024 Open after winning the Travelers Championship, while he didn’t play the week before the 2025 Masters, although his absence from the Valero Texas Open was not a surprise, as he is yet to compete at the event.
Continuing that trend, he is also resting up the week before the PGA Championship, even though the Truist Championship, with a $20m purse, is one of the biggest events of the PGA Tour season, and he would have been guaranteed at least $36,000 in prize money in the no-cut event.
But what about the 2025 Memorial Tournament? Where that’s concerned, it is expected Scheffler will defend his title as it has now moved back to its traditional slot, with this year’s action at Muirfield Village beginning on 29th May, two weeks before the US Open.
It’s not just the Truist Championship that Scheffler has opted to skip in the build-up to the PGA Championship. He also didn’t attend the Ryder Cup dinner hosted by US captain Keegan Bradley nine days before the Major, with the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis explaining that Scheffler had told Bradley he wanted to spend some time with his family before heading to Charlotte for the Major.
