BMW Championship: Scottie Scheffler using new caddie again, unsure if Ted Scott will return for Tour Championship

Yahoo

2 days ago

Scottie Scheffler will have an unfamiliar face on the bag once again this week.
The top-ranked golfer in the world confirmed that his longtime caddie Ted Scott will not be with him at the BMW Championship this week for the second leg of the PGA Tour's FedExCup Playoffs. Instead, it will be Michael Cromie alongside Scheffler at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. Cromie typically works with Chris Kirk, though Kirk just narrowly missed the cut to qualify for the BMW Championship.
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'Ted's good buddies with him. I always liked him,' Scheffler said of Cromie on Wednesday. 'He's a young guy, works hard. Chris was very nice to let Cromie come work with me this week. He had a good finish to the season. He was a little bit on the outside looking in, but played really good and was close at the end. It was really nice of him to lend his caddie for the week. That was very kind of him.'
Scott left before the start of the final round at last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, and Scheffler ended up turning to Tour chaplain and close friend Brad Payne to fill in on Sunday. Scheffler ended up finishing in a tie for third, one shot back from winner Justin Rose.
Scott returned home to Louisiana for an undisclosed family emergency on Saturday. Though Scheffler said he's talked to Scott in recent days, he doesn't know if Scott will be able to return for the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. And, based on how he reacted when asked that question on Wednesday, he doesn't care.
'I think Ted's where he needs to be right now, and I think caddying is probably the last thing on his mind, as it should be,' Scheffler said. 'I've been able to talk to him a few times. The family is in good spirits. Everybody seems to be doing well.'
Scheffler has won four times on Tour this season, including at both the PGA Championship and the British Open. He holds a massive lead in the FedExCup standings and is a lock to qualify for the Tour Championship next week. The top 30 in the standings after Sunday will advance to Atlanta, though that event will use a traditional start rather than the starting strokes format it's used in recent years. Scheffler will start at even par with the rest of the field instead of the 10-under advantage he would have received under the old format.
Scheffler will tee off alongside Rory McIlroy, who is in second in the FedExCup standings, on Thursday morning to open the BMW Championship.
Though adjusting to a new caddie certainly isn't optimal during a critical time of the season, Scheffler said he and Cromie are off to a solid, rather basic, start.
"He'll ask some questions about things, basically he's just going to try to fill in as best he can this week," Scheffler said. "Just asking little stuff. A lot of it is just more routine, like, 'Hey, how do you want me to give you the numbers? ... What's your hydration? When do you like to eat?' Just stuff like that.
"I think there's a lot of little stuff that caddies do that go kind of unnoticed throughout a round, and Michael is doing his best to try and figure those things out."