Embarrassing Scottie Scheffler gaffe caught by World No1 after late tee arrival

American star is the best player on the planet but announcer still pronounced his name incorrectly on day three

Frustrated Scottie Scheffler was the victim of an embarrassing gaffe on the first tee at the Tour Championship.

But it was frustration with himself and not the announcer that left the World No.1 feeling irritated at East Lake.

Scheffler is the best in the business and known to everyone around the planet as he’s the finest talent in the sport.

But despite his fame, the man with the microphone on the first tee failed to get his name right as he bizarrely announced him ahead of his first drive in a fashion which sounded like ‘Shauffler’ and more akin to his Ryder Cup team-mate Xander Schauffele.

Asked if he heard the starter phonetically incorrectly pronounce his name, he said: “Yes, I did.” An enquiry as to whether it had ever happened to him before saw him reply: “I feel like I have for sure. Yeah, people used to call me Xander. Just par for the course there.”

Scheffler also dismissed any concern over his late arrival to the first tee as he added: “Not really. I was maybe a minute later than I normally am. No big deal.”

The World No.1’s opening didn’t get any better as he bogeyed the first two holes, but he fought back to complete a 20th successive round in the sixties.

His move left him training leaders Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood by four shots with one round remaining and he was peeved at his own errors.

Scheffler said: “Felt like another frustrating day. I felt like I did some things well, I was just a little bit off on my reads most of the day. I hit some good putts that just didn’t fall. After the start I did a good job bouncing back and getting back into it. Overall I didn’t shoot myself out of the tournament, which making bogeys around this place can very easily do that.

“Proud of the turnaround, but man, I wish I could have gotten a little bit more out of the round. I par the first two holes instead of bogey them and I hole a couple putts, I would have had a pretty special round if that was the case because I still shot four-under without really holing anything and getting off to a bad start.

“Without that, I did some good stuff out there. Just got to continue to do that and hole a few more putts.

“It’s not bad breaks. I felt like I just was barely off on my reads. Hitting a lot of good putts. Hit a good putt on 12, looked like it hopped off something; burned the edge on 13, made a good one on 15, burned the edge on 16; 17th I hit two good shots in there, I’m putting right across the middle of a spine where the ball is going to break off of it all the way to the hole, so that was tough. Then two good shots into 18.

"Overall I did some good stuff. I just need to capitalise on it.”