Atlanta — Official USGA HandicapNow you can pit your index against the best players in the world.
Ahead of this week's Tour Championship, where he starts two strokes behind, Scottie Scheffler revealed he has an astonishing plus-seven index.
For those who don't know what that means, Scheffler has to return seven strokes to the course on the seven easiest holes, meaning, for example, if he's playing the seventh easiest handicap hole on his scorecard (i.e. the 12th hole) and it's a par 4, Scheffler has to take three strokes to post a net par, meaning he has to shoot seven under par to post even par.
It's not that easy.
But Scheffler uses his handicap to his advantage when playing with his peers in the offseason or when he's not competing in major championships.
“I love the social aspect of golf. If I take a month off, if I'm not on vacation, I'll probably play once or twice a week with my buddies. It's a lot of fun,” Scheffler said.
“I love being at home and I love having fun. When I'm not doing so well, I think my friends will ask me to play more often than they would during the season. I'm playing really well, so I'm more likely to beat them when I'm not practicing as much.”
Few players have beaten Scheffler on the PGA Tour this season, which leaves his peers no choice but to use the handicap system to try to win.
“I think that's one of the great things about our game,” Scheffler said.
“No matter who my opponent is, I can go out there and create some kind of fair match based on the handicap system.”
Scheffler later revealed that his six PGA Tour wins this season and Olympic gold medal have lowered his handicap.
“I used to be a plus-five. They moved me to plus-seven,” Scheffler said.
“So now we have guys in this group that are about two strokes a hole. I still think I'll win a lot, but it's just fun. It's more entertainment value. When you play with a handicap of 12 or 13, you never know what's going to happen.”
That means Scheffler will have to give 20 strokes to players with handicaps of 12 or 13, something no golfer wants to do.
But that only fuels Schaeffler's competitive spirit on the track.
“At the end of the day, you don't want to give him any money, whether it's $5 or $500,” Scheffler said.
“I don't want to take my wallet out at the end of the day and hand him the money. It's not my nature. Whether I'm playing table tennis or anything, I want to win. Whatever the format, I'm going to go out there and do my best. That's it, really.”
No wonder he's the best player in the world.
Still, in a way, we can empathize with Scheffler through the handicap system. Of course, you'll never reach a monstrous plus-7 handicap. But you can compare yourself to Scheffler. You can't compare yourself to Michael Jordan or LeBron James on the basketball court. But in golf, you can compare yourself to the best players in the world. Anyone can play, anywhere, regardless of skill. That's one of the reasons so many people love this great game.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
