THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to the BMW Championship. You're making your sixth appearance here. Can you talk about what it's like to be back at Caves Valley.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Good to be back at Caves Valley. Was here four years ago. Golf course is a little different now than it was back then. Golf course is in good shape. They definitely made it significantly harder, so should be a good challenge for us this week. Looking forward to getting the week started tomorrow.
Q. What's it been like just adjusting with Mike on the bag this week?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It's been good. Mike's a great guy. He works really hard and does a good job. We're both learning a new golf course this week, so it's been fun.
Q. Does that change preparation how you go about it, talking with him, getting to know what you like, how he works?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, he'll ask some questions about things -- basically, he's just going to try to fill in as best he can this week. Just asking little stuff. A lot of it is just more routine, like, hey, how do you like me to give you the numbers? When I say I'm hitting a hold shot, he's like, well, what does that mean?
Just little stuff like that that we're figuring out as the week goes on.
Yeah, I'd say most of it is just little stuff like that. He's like, hey, what's your hydration? When do you like to eat? Just little stuff like that. I think there's a lot of little stuff that caddies do that go kind of unnoticed throughout a round, and Michael is doing his best to try and figure those things out. I'm trying to also help remember what those things are as well.
Q. What was the process? Did you know him a long time?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Ted's good buddies with him. I always liked him. He's a young guy, works hard. Chris was very nice to let Cromie come work with me this week. He had a good finish to the season. He was a little bit on the outside looking in, but played really good and was close at the end. It was really nice of him to lend his caddie for the week. That was very kind of him.
Q. Is there anything in particular when you've got somebody other than Ted on the bag, a responsibility or anything that you feel falls on you a little more during the week that maybe Ted does more often that you don't have to worry about or think about when he's out there?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think -- so like for instance, when you look at Sunday last week, I think that was definitely a bit more of a surprise for me and Ted. Brad did a great job stepping in, but Brad is a friend, he's not a professional caddie.
I think when you have a professional on the bag, it's a bit different, and Michael is someone -- it's not that I don't trust Brad to do the numbers. It was just something that I think both of us probably thought it was a good idea to be double-checking each other.
Going into this week, it will be kind of more of a normal routine for me in terms of preparation over the shot and stuff like that. Doing the numbers myself, it's just a bit more work doing that over a four-day event, and that can take a toll on you. It's nice for me to be able to walk up to the ball, see the shot that I can imagine hitting, and then when the numbers come, we start trying to really dial it in.
Q. Distance control is a thing that I feel like is what we always talk about. Is there anything in particular that you feel like you've worked on over the years that gives you that ability to fly shots, shape shots, and still control the distances that you work on the range?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think over the years I've worked very hard on kind of all aspects of my game, but that was something I really looked at going into the '22 season. I felt like I was in a really good spot with my swing, and then it was kind of time to start to create more shots.
That's where I felt like my distance control became really good. Just having the ability to hit all different kinds of shots I think is important. You've got to be able to curve the ball both ways and control height and spin and stuff like that.
Some weeks are really good, some weeks not as good, but overall, I think for the most part we do a pretty good job.
Q. I apologize if you've already answered. Are you optimistic that Teddy will be back next week?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm not going to answer anything like that. If that's why you came out here, you're not going to get much. I think Ted's where he needs to be right now, and I think caddieing is probably the last thing on his mind, as it should be.
I've been able to talk to him a few times. The family is in good spirits. Everybody seems to be doing well. I'm not going to comment any further on anything going on with his family.
Q. Scottie, do you have a take on Keegan's captaincy and whether he should, if he's playing well, name himself to the team and be a part of your group?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I guess you're going to have to ask the captain that question. I think, looking at our squad, I think we have a really good group of guys. I think Keegan can only help that. I think if it's something that Keegan wants to be part of the team and wants to play, I think he's a guy we'd all love to have on the team. The intensity that he's brought as a captain -- I mean, he has definitely exceeded my expectations as far as a captain. He's done a great job.
He's passionate about the Ryder Cup. He cares a lot about us as players. It's been a lot of fun kind of watching him develop in this role, and we're excited to get the Ryder Cup started.
Q. Do you have an example of what he's done kind of above and beyond?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: He leaves some messages in our locker every now and then, a lot of text messages. I just feel like, since Keegan is out here a lot versus some of the other captains we've had in the past -- not that they've done a bad job. It's different having him here week in and week out. He's a guy that we know well. I loved all of our previous captains, but I think it's just different when we're showing up, like hey, you want to play a practice round this week? We see him in dining. He's just around a lot more, so I think there's more opportunities for him to be kind of a part of our lives out here. I think that's really important as he steps into that captain role, knowing the players as well as he does.
Q. Does he seek your feedback as to what the rest of the team should look like?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think we all have a little bit of back and forth, but ultimately Keegan is the one doing all the research. He's got great assistant captains that are doing a great job of supporting him in that role. They'll do most of the decision-making when it comes to rounding out the team.
Q. Scottie, he has said that he's hoping guys are going to go to Napa. Have you made a decision on that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: My plan as of now is to go play in Napa. Outside of some extenuating circumstances, yeah, I'll probably be playing in Napa.
Q. Do you get a sense that most are going to? Is that the kind of discussion point like it's going to be a good idea?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think when you look at the last Ryder Cup, I think that was maybe a bit too much time off for us. It's one of those deals, it's tough. When you get to the end of the PGA TOUR season, I think you're a little bit tired. You look at a year like last year I had, when it came to the end of the season, I was pretty worn out. It took a lot out of me. It was important for me to get rest.
I think now with the way the schedule is, I think there's like four weeks after the TOUR Championship before the Ryder Cup, and that's plenty of time to get rest while still staying competitive. It's important for me to get out and get some competitive reps before the Ryder Cup. I felt like last time was maybe a bit too much time off.
Q. Any idea about the crowd might be like in Bethpage and how it will compare to what you saw in Rome?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I love answering questions about the Ryder Cup, but this is ridiculous. We're at the BMW Championship. The Ryder Cup is over a month away. If you want to talk about this week, let's talk about this week. If not, I've got practice to do. I'm getting ready for a golf tournament.
Q. What do you like about changes that have been made to the course?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: They definitely tried to make the golf course harder. I think they definitely accomplished that goal. I think they changed two holes from par-5s to par-4s and didn't really move tee boxes or anything like that. So that's eight shots there already in score to par. I think sometimes we get a little bit obsessed with score to par in terms of golf course design. What we look for as players always is rewarding good shots and punishing bad ones.
So far this golf course seems really challenging. We'll see how it plays over the course of four days, but it's in fantastic shape. The greens are really good. Got a decent amount of rough, plenty of pitch on the greens. There's definitely going to be some challenges out there. It's a pretty strong test this week.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports