Davis Riley Ignores The Disrespect, Scottie Scheffler Earns A Week Off, Harry Higgs' Touching Victory Speech
Before getting into this week's edition of Par Talk and reflecting on the golf that was played this past weekend, we of course want to offer our thoughts, prayers, and condolences to Grayson Murray's loved ones. It's an incredibly sad and confusing situation with the 30-year-old, two-time PGA Tour winner taking his own life last week.
While there isn't much to say other than that Murray's passing is gut-wrenching, CBS' Kyle Porter shared two things that stood out to him as the golf world reacted to the news over the weekend that are worth listening to.
There is no easy transition going from someone's passing to talking about something far more meaningless, like guys hitting a ball around a field, but the golf world somberly carried on and there are some storylines worth diving into.
Davis Riley Disrespected Before Finding The Winner's Circle
Davis Riley entered Sunday's final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge with a four-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler, yet most sportsbooks had the two with the same exact odds to win the event. Given the historic run Scheffler has been on, plus the fact that Riley had never won an individual event on Tour, the two having the same odds may have made sense, but that doesn't mean they weren't a bit disrespectful as well.
Prior to the start of the final round, Scheffler's odds to beat Riley head-to-head over the final 18 holes sat at -800. That is a truly insane number, and anyone who sprinkled Riley's long odds came out feeling great as he was able to shoot even par on Sunday compared to Scheffler's very surprising 1-over par.
Riley got off to a slow start on Sunday with a disappointing par on the opening hole followed by a bogey that undoubtedly breathed a bit of life into Scheffler and other chasers, but the Mississippi native steadied the ship nicely on a day that featured plenty of high scores when it was all said and done.
The former Alabama star carded two bogeys and two birdies on each nine before walking off of the 72nd green with a five-shot victory to his name. Sunday's final round was a bit of a snoozer, which is exactly what Davis was hoping for entering the day with his multi-shot advantage.
Scottie Scheffler, Enjoy Some Time Off Please
Scottie Scheffler did not have his best stuff in Fort Worth this past week, yet still managed to finish in a tie for second. Given the fact that he was arrested the previous week and became a dad just a few days prior to that, it's safe to say his mind may have been wandering just a bit, and rightfully so.
The World No. 1 will now enjoy a week off, and hopefully, he throws his golf clubs in a corner and doesn't even look at them. If there is one man who needs to decompress a bit and just feel like a normal person for a week, it's Mr. Scheffler.
With his runner-up finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge, we can still count the number of players Scheffler has lost to since April on two hands.
Over his last seven starts, Scheffler has gone: win, win, T-2, win, win, T-8, T-2.
Only nine players and a Louisville police officer have managed to slow down Scheffler this spring.
The next time we see Scheffler will likely be in a courtroom on June 3 before he tees it up in the Memorial later that week.
Harry Higgs' Perfect Victory Speech
Scottie Scheffler isn't the only player who has been on a heater as of late. Harry Higgs has now won back-to-back weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour and should be back on the PGA Tour with full status next season.
The man best known for putting on a show at the WM Phoenix Open a few years back has been all about the dramatics on the course recently.
Higgs holed out for eagle on the final hole of last week's AdventHealth Championship before earning the win in a playoff at 19-under. This week's Visit Knoxville Open had very similar vibes, and the exact same winning score, with Higgs making eagle in a playoff to win back-to-back weeks after missing the cut the three consecutive weeks prior.
While it's awesome to see Higgs, one of the more likable people in golf, get back on track inside the ropes, it was his speech after his win in Knoxville that stands out as the moment of the week. The 32-year-old paid tribute to Grayson Murray and suggested that everyone be a bit kinder to everyone around them moving forward given the fact that everyone is going through something.
Higgs being open and honest about how he's lived a comfortable, relatively stress-free life and recognizing that not everyone has that luxury is some powerful stuff.