Scottie Scheffler Details Illness That Plagued Him as He Competed in Recent Tournament

Sue Ogrocki/AP

Professional golfer Scottie Scheffler revealed he was battling an illness as he competed in this past weekend’s BMW Championship.

Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, finished tied for 12th place with a score of -7 over four rounds at Missouri’s Bellerive Country Club. According to a report from The Associated Press, the 30-year-old first acknowledged he was “sick” on Thursday. It wasn’t until after the tournament that he went into more detail about his struggles throughout the weekend.

The report read:

After he closed with a 2-under 68 on Sunday, Scheffler offered a few more details. He said he was dealing with hand, foot and mouth disease that causes blisters.

“So to start the week it was pretty painful to grip the club,” he said. “If I was smarter maybe I would have pulled out, but I was playing so good I felt like if I could knock it out quickly and just get through the first couple rounds I would still have a chance.”

Had Scheffler pulled out, the report continued, it wouldn’t have been a costly decision for Scheffler. As AP noted, Scheffler was guaranteed to maintain his world No. 1 rank in the FedEx Cup, giving him a $23 million bonus regardless of his performance.

Still, Scheffler said he was “proud of how I fought” and said his body was already beginning to heal. The PGA’s next tournament will be the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club.

Hand, foot, and mouth, a highly contagious virus, is most common in children under age 5, but anyone can get it, according to the CDC.

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