The two best players in the world have not had ideal starts to their 2025 campaigns.
The new PGA Tour season has not had much star power thus far, and that reality can be attributed to injuries sustained by the top two players in the world.
Scottie Scheffler injured his hand on Christmas while making homemade ravioli. He then had to have surgery, which forced him to withdraw from the season-opening event at The Sentry. Scheffler then withdrew from The American Express, leading to more concern about the status of the World No. 1 going forward. He has since admitted that he is unsure whether he will be ready for next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the second Signature Event of the season.
“We should know in the next few days to a week whether I’ll play next week,” Scheffler said on a media call promoting the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“But everything’s on schedule, so we’ll see.”
Entries for Pebble Beach must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, so Scheffler’s fate on whether he will make his season debut in Monterrey will be sealed then. He did mention that his body feels good, and a video of him working out circulated on social media recently, courtesy of Gabby Herzig of The Athletic.
Still, Scheffler postponing his debut — and perhaps not playing next week altogether — is a stark departure from the original prognosis of three to four weeks.
Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele is not playing in his hometown event this week for the first time in a decade — a decision that raised numerous eyebrows, considering he played at The Sentry and in TGL’s opening match.
But according to Todd Lewis of the Golf Channel, Schauffele has been dealing with a rib injury since late last year. He played through the pain at Kapalua in Maui and tied for 30th after arriving as the odds-on favorite. Schauffele is home resting now — and is the odd man out in Tuesday’s TGL match for New York — and is unable to make full swings at the moment. A timetable for his return is unknown, although Schauffele still hopes he can play at Pebble Beach.
That said, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am field release on Friday will provide all the answers. Hopefully, Scheffler and Schauffele can play, but if not, the second Signature Event of the season will lack two of the game’s biggest stars, continuing a sluggish start to the American golf season.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
