Scheffler, who grew up in Dallas and went to UT, joined the set of ESPN’s famed pregame program as a guest picker ahead of the No. 1 Texas Longhorns’ primetime SEC showdown with No. 5 Georgia Saturday. That meant he sat alongside Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Rece Davis and Desmond Howard to make his picks ahead of the Saturday slate.
Here are five takeaways from Scottie Scheffler’s College GameDay appearance.
I spent a few minutes trying to figure out the last time a golfer was ranked World No. 1 while his alma mater was No. 1 in football, too. I think we can comfortably agree on Justin Thomas, who wasn’t technically No. 1 during football season — but when he reached the top in May 2018, Alabama was a few months removed from a national championship and a few months away from starting the following season at No. 1. Good enough.
Saturday marks a good day for the Longhorns, though. While Texas has started its season 6-0, it hasn’t yet reached Scheffler’s win total for 2024 (seven on the PGA Tour, plus Olympic gold) and takes on Georgia on Saturday night.
It wasn’t a shock who Scheffler picked.
“Texas only given up three touchdowns all year,” Scheffler said. “I think Texas is the No. 1 team in the country and I think they prove it tonight.”
Scottie played the Louisville pick perfectly
Scheffler was inevitably going to be asked for his pick on the University of Miami’s showdown with Louisville. Scheffler was, as you may remember, arrested by the the Louisville Metro Police in May in a bizarre incident on his way into Valhalla ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship. While charges were eventually dropped, Scheffler has a connection with Louisville he’ll never forget. So how to play the pick? Scheffler did what he does best: deadpan, understated, subtle grin.
“Not to bring anything personal into this with Louisville, great city, love the people… but Miami is gonna smoke them,” Scheffler said.
“Honestly, jail was a touch boring because you’re just sitting there staring at the wall,” he told the panel.
Scottie didn’t get any awards this time
The last time Scheffler was on the show was September 2022; he was coming off a career year that included a Masters victory and the Jack Nicklaus Award. His college coach, John Fields, made a surprise delivery to Scheffler on set.
This year? Scheffler won the Masters and was a dominant World No. 1. The Player of the Year award has yet to be announced, but we like Scheffler’s chances. Still perhaps his fellow pickers decided he didn’t need any additional accolades.
Still, he broke out the green jacket
“Scottie Scheffler, sweet jacket pal,” McAfee said. Sweet jacket, indeed. As the reigning Masters champion, Scheffler is permitted to wear his green jacket in public — though not without restrictions.
Jon Rahm, who won the 2023 Masters, spoke last year about the rules around the jacket. Augusta National, he said, doesn’t like expected public appearances, so it’s all but assured that Scheffler gave the club a heads up about going on GameDay.
“There’s a dress code that comes with it,” Rahm said. “You learn about this quickly when you have to sign documents and things about what you are doing. Obviously, we all know the rules around Augusta National, right? And they tell you you are representing Augusta National and the jacket is Augusta National.”
And while jacket-wearers often don an accompanying tie, Scheffler’s white button-down look was apparently within Augusta’s dress code.
“They don’t like to be surprised so they need to give approval for everything. I can’t be photographed with the jacket and having alcohol. It just goes on and on,” Rahm explained.
And he knows the lyrics
McAfee launched into a spirited rendition of “The Eyes of Texas,” much to the delight of the UT faithful behind him. But after the opening few lines he made an admission:
“I don’t know the lyrics.”
But Scheffler does, so he took over from there. Singing, joking, picking games — there’s not much this guy can’t do.
Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.
