How ravioli was to blame for Scottie Scheffler’s absence – plus the strangest golf injuries ever
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Scottie Scheffler has revealed the unusual circumstances behind his absence from competitive action in 2025 – but he’s not the first golfer to be put out of action by a strange injury.
There have been times in the last couple of years when it looked like nothing could stop Scottie Scheffler. He’s won 16 times since the start of 2022 (if you include the 2024 Olympics and two Hero World Challenge victories) and been the most dominant golfer since prime Tiger Woods.
As a result, Scheffler has overtaken Rory McIlroy in total weeks at World No.1 and will soon surpass Dustin Johnson to take third spot in the list of golfers with the most weeks atop the Official World Golf Rankings.
An arrest hours before his tee time at last year’s PGA Championship did little to slow him down, as did becoming a father for the first time.
But it turns out there is something that can stop Scottie Scheffler: ravioli.
The 28-year-old punctured his hand while preparing the dish on Christmas Day and needed surgery to remove pieces of glass from his palm. The defending Masters champion hasn’t played competitively since and is yet to confirm when he will next tee it up.
“Everything went well with the surgery, body feels pretty good, still making decisions on [my] schedule going forward, but we should know in the next few days to a week whether I’ll be playing next week,” Scheffler explained. “But, overall, recovery is going well, everything is on schedule, so we’ll see, but feeling good.”
“I took a couple weeks off after the surgery to make sure everything is healing properly and made sure we’re in a good spot with my hand, so it was definitely a little bit longer and it was pretty unusual for me not to be able to do much in the gym,” he added.
Although it was a “good time to relax” at home with wife Meredith and their eight-month-old son Bennett, don’t think for a second that Scheffler’s mind wasn’t still firmly on the task of adding to his 13 PGA Tour titles and two major championships.
“I went back while I was sitting around kind of elevating my hand post-surgery, I was just sitting there, watched some old shots, watched some old tournaments and I reflected a little bit,” Scheffler told the PGA Tour. “Not much, but I just really wanted to jog my memory and since I wasn’t able to play golf, I tried to almost train a little bit at home to remind my brain what I was feeling over certain shots, what my hands felt like on the club, stuff like that, so I wasn’t totally checking out from golf.”
The rest of the golf world should be very afraid as a well-rested and mentally prepared Scheffler returns to action. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see ravioli on his Champions Dinner menu at the Masters, given that he only has to choose the dishes, not prepare them.
It’s the first time I’ve heard of pasta ruling a golfer out of action, but Scheffler is certainly not the first golfer to sustain an unusual injury…
Strange golf injuries
Thomas Levet’s shallow water
Levet celebrated his victory at the 2011 Open de France by jumping into a lake next to the 18th green. Unfortunately, that lake was much shallower than he realized, which meant a fractured leg for the Frenchman.
Rory McIlroy’s football frolics
McIlroy missed the defense of his 2014 Open title after rupturing ankle ligaments while playing football, which meant he couldn’t play at St Andrews in 2015. He hasn’t won a major since.
Brett Ogle’s tree trouble
Ogle was on the 17th hole during the 1990 Australian Open when his shot hit a tree and rebounded back into his leg. He collapsed to the ground and was helped by spectators who applied a makeshift cold compress using a beer can. The Australian managed to complete the round but didn’t play again for six months.
Greg Norman the sawing Shark
The former LIV Golf CEO almost lost his left hand while trimming tree branches in 2014. “Working with a chainsaw, ALWAYS be respectful of the unexpected,” he tweeted from hospital. “I was one lucky man today. Damaged but not down & out. Still have left hand.”
If Tiger Woods goes down to the woods today
Tiger Woods struck an unseen tree root while hitting an iron shot during the 2015 Masters. The impact popped a joint out in his right wrist but, determined not to let it affect his round, he popped it straight back in again.
“I didn’t know there was a tree root there,” he said. “I drilled the club straight into it. It didn’t move, but my body kept moving. There’s a little joint that popped out, and I was able to somehow put it back in, which didn’t feel very good. At least I got it back in; I could move my hand again. It’s sore.”
It didn’t stop Tiger shooting a 73 en route to a T-17 finish.
John Daly’s wild fan
John Daly sustained an injury after a female spectator jumped in front of him to take his picture… while he was teeing off during the Honda Classic. Wild Thing tried to stop his swing and consequently hit behind the ball, fracturing two ribs and injuring his right shoulder.
Daly pursued the PGA Tour for damages for years after, insisting “everybody there just broke every rule in the book” and that the injury had impacted his performance from then on.
Jose Maria Olazabal and the wall of discontent
Jose Maria Olazabal wasn’t pleased with himself after a five-over-par 75 in the first round of the 1999 US Open at Pinehurst. The Spaniard took his frustrations out on a wall in his hotel room, which led to a broken bone in his hand and a withdrawal from the tournament.
Colin Montgomerie’s breakfast bangers
Colin Montgomerie was in the top 25 in the world and hunting a debut major as he readied himself for the opening round of the 2003 Open at Royal St George’s. Unfortunately, the Scotsman fell over at breakfast and injured his hand, ruling him out of the tournament.
“I couldn’t believe it was raining and, as I looked up, I tripped over a step and fell nastily,” he explained.
Oliver Wilson’s wintery woe
Oliver Wilson broke his wrist having slipped while dodging what he later called a “deadly snowball” and missed the early part of the 2013 season as a result.
Richard Boxall’s dicky leg
There’s never a good time to break your leg, but when you’re two shots off the lead in The Open is probably among the worst. “I hit 1-iron and as I did there was this noise like a sack of potatoes splitting and I screamed and collapsed,” he said after the third-round injury ended his hopes at Royal Birkdale in 1991.
Akshay Bhatia’s cold shoulder
Akshay Bhatia was understandably delighted to win the 2024 Valero Texas Open and, with it, secure a start at The Masters the following week. Sadly, he was so delighted that he dislocated his shoulder while fist-pumping on the 18th green, which probably didn’t help his chances of a Green Jacket.
Sleepy Sam Torrance’s Ryder Cup campaign goes to pot
Most people would struggle to sleep the night before the Sunday singles in the Ryder Cup. Sam Torrance wasn’t one of them. The Scotsman collided with a plant pot while sleep-walking, injuring his chest and toe and having to withdraw from action.
About the author
Rob McGarr – Contributing Editor
Rob has been a writer and editor for over 15 years, covering all manner of subjects for leading magazines and websites.
He has previously been Features Editor of Today’s Golfer magazine and Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com, and held roles at FHM, Men’s Running, Golf World, and MAN Magazine.
You can follow him on YouTube where – depending on what day of the week it is – he’ll either be trying his best to get his handicap down to scratch or shoving his clubs in a cupboard, never to be seen again.
Rob is a member at Royal North Devon, England’s oldest golf course, where he plays off a three-handicap.
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Scottie Scheffler injured his hand at Christmas, ruling him out of golf action.
