Golfer Scottie Scheffler Drops Out of PGA Tour Event After Christmas Dinner Hand Injury

Scottie Scheffler has withdrawn from the first event of the PGA Tour’s 2025 season-opening tournament due to injury.

“On Christmas Day while preparing dinner, Scottie sustained a puncture wound to the palm of his right hand from broken glass,” Scheffler’s agent Blake Smith said in a statement shared via the PGA Tour’s official X account on Friday, December 27. “Small glass fragments remained in the palm which required surgery.”

Scheffler’s recovery time will be about “three to four weeks,” per the statement. He is now unable to participate in The Sentry tournament in Maui, Hawaii, which is held from January 2 to 5. The decision came shortly before the tournament’s commitment deadline which was at 5 p.m. ET.

While Scheffler, 28, will not be in Hawaii next week, he is expected to return for The American Express tournament in La Quinta, California, which commences on January 16.

Sheffler is the reigning PGA Player of the Year and is ranked the No. 1 golfer in the world. In June, he made history with his sixth PGA Tour win. Sheffler celebrated the win with his wife, Meredith Scudder, and their newborn son, Bennett, whom they welcomed in May. Following the win, Sheffler became the first golfer to earn six PGA Tour wins before July since Arnold Palmer accomplished the feat in 1962.

“This golf course produces a lot of the exciting stuff coming down the stretch so it was nice to be out there competing,” Scheffler said in a press conference after his victory. “It’s great competing against one of my good buddies in Tom Kim, but it’s also very difficult at the same time. I want what’s best for him so sometimes it can be hard and I think, for both of us, battling against each other out there. But, it was a lot of fun and I’m proud to be sitting here with the trophy.”

Two months later, Sheffler competed in the Paris Olympics for Team USA. He brought home a gold medal for Men’s Individual Stroke Play. In August, Sheffler returned to the PGA for the 2024 FedEx Cup which he won as well. The win came with a $25 million prize.

“I’m just proud of the work that we put in,” Scheffler said at the time, per ESPN. “It’s hard to put into words what this year has been like for me. It’s been pretty emotional. There’s been a lot of stuff that’s gone on outside of golf. It’s been a bit of a wild year.”