If you’re betting on Scottie Scheffler to win at Bay Hill this week—and many people are with the World No. 1 being an overwhelming favourite—you might want to think again. Because the two-time Arnold Palmer Invitational champ just lost a tune-up match over the weekend to . . . a 10-handicapper.

OK, so we should add that this regular hacker (and one of Scottie’s buddies) was getting strokes. A LOT of strokes as Scheffler revealed last year that his historic season was hurting him in his home games by making him play to a plus-seven handicap. (As they should! The guy has won two of the past three Masters!)

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So we can assume he was basically giving his friend a shot-a-hole during their recent round when he lost. That’s a lot to overcome, even if you’ve got the green jacket hanging in your closet. Anyway, here’s how Scheffler explained it, and why he loves playing with friends who aren’t fellow tour pros.

“I still love cutting it up with my buddies on weekends,” Scheffler told reporters at Bay Hill on Wednesday. “I played last weekend and one of my buddies who is not a very good golfer, he’s like a 10 handicap, he beat me in our side bet for the day. And I was talking with Phil and that’s kind of one of the great things about golf is I can go out with a guy who is going to shoot 90 and I can give him enough strokes to where we’ll have a good competition. That’s what makes it so fun about the game of golf.”

And most golfers would agree. Heck, we just heard about Marc Leishman shooting 61 at his childhood club in Australia—and losing to a 12-handicap. That’s the beauty of the system. Especially when you know the people you’re playing aren’t sandbaggers. Just listen to how Scheffler described the ending of this most recent match at home.

“I mean, he holed a bunker shot on 18 to win. So it was kind of—I got out of the way because I thought he could potentially shank it, and he ended up holing it,” Scheffler said. “So it was kind of one of those—it was pretty fun. I didn’t like losing, then I told him, I was like, Thanks, man. Now I got to go play a golf tournament next week, so appreciate the confidence boost that I just lost to a 10 handicap.”

That hurts, but we’re guessing Scottie will bounce back quickly from that tough loss. He’s facing an elite field this week in the PGA Tour signature event, but he also won’t have to give any strokes.

Main Image: Richard Heathcote