"My desire to return quickly is like a chimney, but I will not rush simply to rush."
Scottie Scheffler of the U.S., the world's No. 1 player in men's golf recovering from right hand surgery, may be postponed once more.
"We have yet to decide whether to play our first game of the year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am next week," Scheffler said in a media day interview on Monday. "The surgery went well, and I feel good," he said. "We haven't decided on the schedule for the first tournament yet, and we will find out within a few days or a week." The deadline for registration of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is Friday evening (local time).
Schaeffler, who had nine wins including seven on the PGA Tour last year and a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, had surgery to remove debris after injuring his right hand on broken glass while preparing for Christmas dinner. Schaeffler said in an interview that he was making ravioli, a kind of pasta, at the time.
Scheffler initially expected to recover 100% in three to four weeks after surgery, but abandoned plans to compete at the American Express last week to "give more time to recover from the injury."
Schaeffler did not answer questions when he started hitting the golf ball again, but he is still unable to make full swing. Golf Channel reported that Schaeffler could start full swing within this week if his doctor approves. Even if he starts full swing, there is no reason to force his participation in the tournament if he does not like his shot.
He said he only exercised his lower body for two weeks without any golf activities to properly heal his wounds after the surgery. "It was very strange that he could hardly exercise," he said. "I was able to do leg exercises and some of the usual movements, but I didn't do upper body exercises to prevent the left and right balance from tilting." 스포츠토토
Last weekend, a video of Scheffler holding the bar while exercising with a bandage on his right hand was released. This is an improvement from not even brushing properly with his right hand, and Scheffler joked, "I realized how clumsy I was when I had to brush my teeth with my left hand."
Scheffler has not played since winning the unofficial PGA Tour Hero World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods in early December, followed by an event match against Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau (USA).
"I've taken a long break in the past, but I've never held a golf club for nearly a month like this," he said, "I've tried to train my head at home by looking back on my video of last year's tournament and remembering the feeling of hitting a specific shot or the feeling of my hand when I held a club."