If you ask Scottie Scheffler, he’d probably say their partnership was planned long before he met Ted Scott in a bible study session. It was easier to connect on their shared beliefs; after all, Scheffler had always known he wanted to work with a caddie of only one background: Christian, exactly a man like Scott. But the win at the Tour Championship almost didn’t happen, not with Scott.

There was a time when Scott was sure he wanted to leave caddying behind, having had a successful partnership with Bubba Watson. But Scheffler rang him up, insisted he wanted to work with him, and so they hashed out a plan (and dad jokes). There was an attitude problem, too, but they worked it out. But why are we talking about this? Well, that’s all thanks to a video shared by the PGA Tour.

A day after the season-ending final round, the Tour shared footage of a conversation between the two. Scheffler stood over his approach shot on the 18th, as he asked Scott, “Is it a touch off the left still?”

“Yeah, it is,” Scott responded. “Play it pretty straight in, though. Looks like this flag’s at the top here, your best indicator.” Remember, this was the final round at the Tour Championship, and the crowd was excited. So excited, in fact, that it cheered, causing Scheffler’s focus to waver slightly. But Scott, who partnered with Scheffler because he likes dad jokes, brought him back.

Scheffler then questioned whether he should club down if he expected the shot to come up short or lose distance. He was weighing whether the conditions warranted taking one less club before committing to the approach. Ted Scott, however, urged him to stick with their original club selection. “Play in the numbers, this will put you right on it.” Scheffler did, as is visible in the video.

He saved par on the hole, en route to a three-shot victory over Viktor Hovland, the same man he’d lost to in a playoff at the Travelers Championship. The importance of Scott’s advice wasn’t lost on him; after all, this was his second win in three weeks. And, if you ask him, it’s half because he is able to “voice” his frustration to his best mate on the golf course, Scott.

Hold on. Scheffler knows that because he has shown his frustration with Scott. “… but I think sometimes that’s why it’s important for me to get out and be able to voice that to Ted in those moments. And he’s able to sometimes calm me down, sometimes not.” Scheffler was, if you don’t know, talking about the Memorial Tournament, where he snapped at his caddie after hitting his ball in the water.

But, above all, it’s a learning experience for Scheffler, and he has never shied away from accepting that. “He’s a tremendous asset as a friend and as a partner out there on the course,” Scheffler said in a post-round interview. He confessed that Scott is “a lot more than just a caddie” who provides numbers. He said that Scott is someone who is truly “in those moments” with him.

Beyond his role inside the ropes, Scheffler considers Scott “a tremendous asset as a friend and as a partner” on the course. And why not? Even before their success on the Tour, Scott started looking for ways to keep Scheffler calm on the course, going as far as to ask during their first phone call, “‘Do you like dad jokes? Because I’m going to tell a lot of those.’ And he said, ‘I can tolerate them.'”

The pair began working together in November 2021 after Scott had been considering hanging up his gloves. That decision led to one of the more successful partnerships in golf today. Since they started working together, Scheffler has won four majors, two FedEx Cups, and 20 PGA Tour titles. Not only that, he has passed Tiger Woods on the all-time career money list on the PGA Tour. He is also one of the four pros to have won thrice this year on the PGA Tour. He might also win the Player of the Year Award again, for the fifth time.

It is nearly impossible to catch Scheffler, even on his bad day. How is that possible, one would think?

But as we mentioned above, it’s all because the two have come to realize there’s more than one thing that connects them. It’s not golf, no. But it’s their belief in God. They even attend Bible studies together to this day. Back in 2022, as per Golf Magic, Scott shared, “He called me up and said, ‘I really want to work with a Christian.'” It helps that Scheffler is someone who is always on the hunt for a deeper meaning in everything, including his 22 PGA Tour wins.

It must make things easier for the two, especially for Scott, who almost refused to work with Scheffler because of his attitude, if you can believe that.

When Scheffler dialed him up, this is how their conversation went: “I said, ‘Look man, I don’t know if I want to work for you.’ And he was like, ‘What do you mean by that?’ And we kind of went into how he presents himself – not to hold him to perfection, but just to say, I don’t want to work for somebody that’s just going to have a bad attitude. ‘Can you work on it?’ I asked. And he said, ‘Absolutely.'”

While Scott’s input helped Scheffler finish, the momentum had already shifted in his favor a few holes before. 

Scottie Scheffler reveals exact moment the momentum shifted in his favor

Scheffler admitted that a costly bogey on the 14th hole could have disrupted his charge. Instead, he responded with one of the most important shots of his final round at East Lake. The world No. 1 had just birdied the 13th before dropping a shot on the following hole, leaving him with a crucial decision on the 15th tee.

“You know, I birdied 13 then bogeyed 14, and I’m standing on 15 tee, and there’s not a shot that’s more important than that, I think, on the golf course,” Scheffler said after his victory.

The 15th presented significant danger, particularly because a missed green could send a player to the drop zone. 

“There are no water hazards, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a shot that’s essentially worth two, because if you miss the green, you’re going to the drop zone, hitting three,” he explained.

Scheffler then delivered exactly what he needed, flushing a six-iron toward the pin. 

“I mean, I just flushed a six-iron. I thought I hit it to a foot,” he said.

Although the shot did not quite finish as close as he expected, it gave Scheffler a good birdie opportunity and, more importantly, restored his momentum. 

“I really hit it exactly how I wanted to,” he added, calling it “a really good momentum for me going into the last few holes.”

Clearly, a lot went into winning the Tour Championship. While his decision changed the momentum in the last round, Ted Scott helped him finish the round in the best way possible.