— Said he would “serve fried chicken” if rival Tiger Woods visited him for dinner at the 2013 U.S. Open. Woods is Black.

Clutch

When world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is on the course he usually is as cool as a corpse, but for a few minutes in 2018, with his future on the line, Scheffler was as jittery as any Sunday hacker on the first tee of the club championship.

On the final hole of qualifying school to earn his Korn Ferry Tour card for 2019, Scheffler pulled off an easy approach shot to an easy pin placement over the green and had to get up-and-down to assure his status, avoiding a return to the mini-tour grind.

“I have this really hard chip off a down slope, down towards the green. The green’s on a down slope, it’s a fast chip, and I’m standing over it,” Scheffler said. “That was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been.”

Scheffler chipped it close, made the putt, shined on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, and, three years later, won the 2022 Masters.

Hard cell

Some golfers can ignore everything, but Jordan Spieth is hyperaware of his surroundings. Augusta National is unique in that it does not allow anyone, whether patrons or press, to carry a cell phone with them on most of the property. Instead of having thousands of smart phones pointed and poised to capture every shot, fans pay attention.

Spieth loves that.

“It’s amazing,” the 2015 Masters champion said. “What’s really cool about it is, you just feel that everyone’s very, very present. They’re not focused on if they got the right shot that they’re sending, and maybe they don’t even know where your ball went, right? … It’s very nice because you feel like everyone’s there with you all the time.”

Chip-ins

Jason Day, 36, upon learning he will be paired with his idol and friend Tiger Woods, 48, on Thursday and Friday: “As long as I beat that old man, I’m happy.” … Min Woo Lee fractured the ring finger of his right hand last Saturday by dropping a dumbbell on it at the gym. He didn’t swing a club for six days, resumed full preparation Friday, and practiced with it bandaged on Tuesday.

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