Why Scottie Scheffler spent $50 on eBay for a divot repair tool
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Scottie Scheffler makes birdie on No. 2 at FedEx St. Jude
Written by Sean Martin
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Scottie Scheffler’s dedication to routine is a key element of his success. He’s had the same coach since he was a kid, he still practices with the same training grip that you’d hand a beginner and he sticks to the same routine whenever he’s preparing for a tournament.
“It's more checkpoints,” Scheffler said earlier this week, referring to the fundamentals he focuses on during his pre-tournament prep. “I have a routine that I go through at tournaments in order to get ready to go out and play, and a lot of that is getting used to the grass, knowing how far the ball is going, getting used to the speed of the greens, getting used to the amount of sand in the bunkers, and I have a routine that we go through in order to get tournament ready.”
Scheffler’s love for consistency extends outside the golf course, as well. He drove the same SUV for years, even after the odometer had reached six digits and he was rich and famous enough to afford a new car. He often visits the same two Chipotles near his Dallas home, only recently eschewing one because he got recognized too often.
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And, it turns out, this trait is why he spent $50 on eBay not long ago to buy one of golf’s most basic accessories, a divot repair tool. Such items are easy to come by. They’re often handed out for free on first tees to encourage players to practice proper care for the course. Scheffler had a very specific one that he wanted, however.
He first found it at Cypress Point, purchasing it in the pro shop during a visit to the esteemed course.
“It's just the right size and it's metal,” Scheffler said Thursday after shooting 67 in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. “They don't really make those types of divot tools anymore, so I found one there and I've stuck with it.”
Scheffler lost the beloved tool, however, and couldn’t find another one like it. That led him to the internet, where he discovered one on the auction site eBay. Scheffler didn’t use an alias when making the purchase, either, and the seller included a nice note with the shipment, Scheffler said.
When Scheffler visited Cypress Point again this year, he made sure to stock up on the beloved tool.
“They were a little cheaper on-site, so I got a couple extras,” he said.
