Scheffler doesn’t pay for golf, but his buddies do.
PublishedAugust 7, 2025 10:15 AM EDT•UpdatedAugust 7, 2025 10:15 AM EDT
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Being a PGA Tour player comes with its perks, one of which is that you rarely ever have to pull out the credit card and pay for a round of golf, but as Scottie Scheffler explained, that perk doesn’t extend to your golf buddies.
Prior to getting his FedEx Cup Playoffs run started at this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Scheffler was asked if he could remember the last time he had to pay for a round of golf. While he’s been the No. 1 player in the world since March 2022, Scheffler was getting on golf courses for free well before he reached that point in his career.
After having to take a few seconds to rack his brain for the last instance he paid to play golf, Scheffler recalled a hilarious moment from five years ago when he and a buddy went to play a public golf course in Texas, the state he calls home these days.
Scheffler had his greens fee waived, but his buddy tagging along with him? Not so much.
“I remember the last time I didn’t get to pay for a round of golf and one of my buddies in the pro shop had to pay for the round of golf,” Scheffler said. “That was pretty funny. We walked into the pro shop at the local public course, and I knew the pro there, and he was like, hey, Scottie, how you doing, great to have you out. I was like, I’d like to just pay for the round, we’re teeing off at 2:00. He’s like, you’re good. My buddy was like, thanks, man, that’s awesome, appreciate it. He’s like, actually, you’ve got to pay.
“It was probably five years ago, and we still laugh about it to this day because he was so excited to get the free round and the pro was like, actually you’re still paying, buddy.”
This is such a typical, on-brand golf story, especially for anyone who has worked at a golf course before.
Golf courses, especially public ones, count on every single potential greens fee that walks through the door. Even if you happen to be teeing it up with an up-and-coming player like Scheffler was five years ago, that greens fee and cart fee are a necessity for the business.
The pro at the golf course who told Scheffler’s playing partner he still had to pay deserves a round of applause. Nothing is free, unless you’re a PGA Tour player who is eventually going to reach the peak of the sport.
It’s a safe bet that, nowadays, Scheffler picks up most, if not all, of his buddy’s greens fees, seeing as how he’s earned nearly $91 million in on-course earnings alone thus far.
