Entertainment
Discover untold stories from Scottie Scheffler’s dominant 2019 Korn Ferry Tour season
One day before teeing it up at the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Championship – his last tournament before joining the PGA TOUR – Scottie Scheffler drove a golf cart around a fescue-laden Victoria National Golf Club and answered rapid-fire questions for a Korn Ferry Tour YouTube video. Scheffler riffed on topics ranging from his shoe size – he had changed it two weeks prior due to blisters – to fruit, TV shows and haircuts.
Scheffler waved to his fellow pros along the ride and answered questions in a casual yet deadpan fashion. Then, on the final question, Scheffler grew profound.
“What’s the best part of life?” he was asked.
“Life’s important to spend with people that you enjoy,” Scheffler responded. “If you don’t have a few quality close friends, I don’t think whatever you’re doing is worth it, because you want to be able to enjoy it with somebody. Find something that you enjoy doing, and that you’re able to enjoy doing with other people.”
Three weeks prior, a scene played out that epitomized Scheffler’s sentiment. At the time, 25 PGA TOUR cards were available via the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season, which concluded at the WinCo Foods Portland Open at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon. Scheffler was on his way to a PGA TOUR card, entering the week at No. 3 on the season-long standings, but the fate of his childhood friend Vince Whaley was undetermined. Whaley entered the week at No. 22 on the standings and missed the cut at Pumpkin Ridge, as did Scheffler.
The two had developed a bond through nearly two decades of friendship and competitive junior and amateur golf on the Texas circuit. In contrast to the typical cadence after a missed cut – getting the heck out of dodge – neither player intended to skip town, knowing the magnitude of the PGA TOUR card ceremony, akin to a high school graduation and a life memory for #TOURBound pros. Whaley was faced with a nerve-wracking weekend of crunching numbers, and Scheffler recognized this. After an uneasy Saturday around the hotel room, Scheffler suggested they play golf Sunday morning. So they teed it up at Pumpkin Ridge’s Ghost Creek course (sister track to event host Witch Hollow) and had a few beverages. Scheffler’s parents, Scott Sr. and Diane, also tagged along for the excursion, walking all 18 holes with the duo.
As it turned out, the numbers broke in Whaley’s favor. He took the 25th spot on the standings, earning the right to join Scheffler on the PGA TOUR in 2020. The longtime friends celebrated at the card ceremony amidst the towering Oregon pines, enjoyed a light beer and some laughs, and filmed a #TOURBound selfie video together.
Scheffler was amidst a banner 2019 Korn Ferry Tour campaign; he eventually finished atop the season-long standings with 10 top-10 finishes in 20 starts, including two victories, and was named Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year in a vote of his peers. Less than six years later, he stands a comfortable No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking as a 13-time PGA TOUR winner, including two major championships and Paris Olympic gold. His otherworldly ball-striking, footwork, and work-life balance are among traits that have become well-known to golf fans globally.
Professionally speaking, these traits became first evident on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour. Amidst a competitive coronation, Scheffler was more concerned for a longtime friend.
“Saturday, I sat in my hotel room and was doing numbers on my little notepad, trying to figure it out, and I was talking to Scottie, and he was like, ‘We’ve got to get you out of this hotel room,’ and we made plans to go play the next day,” Whaley remembered. “It was a lot of fun. Once we get out there and start drinking and getting after it, I stopped looking at my phone.
“He was just trying to distract me, and it worked.”
What made the 2019 season special: There was no guarantee it would pan out, neither for Scheffler nor for those around him. The Korn Ferry Tour is uber-competitive, with dozens of players vying for limited TOUR cards. You need consistent high finishes to become #TOURBound.
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