Scottie Scheffler is looking to make a final-round charge at The Players Championship 2024, but he's been playing most of the week with a bad neck that got tweaked on Friday morning in the second round.
Now the defending champion is playing the final day at TPC Sawgrass with black tape on his neck that is sticking out from his white shirt. What is that tape, and why is Scheffler wearing it?
Scheffler is wearing a special kind of tape used to create stability within the muscles around his neck.
The product is called kinesio tape. Kinesio tape is essentially a really strong tape that, when applied correctly, can support muscles, joints and tendons like a brace would, yet without restricting motion in the same way braces, compression bands or wraps might. Made of cotton, it doesn't cause the rashing a latex-based material could cause.
One of the more popular makes, KT Tape can be worn for up to five days when applied, including in the shower and pool. It comes in a roll that can be cut -- kind of like gauze -- for up to 20 applications. It retails for $12-13, depending on where you shop.
It's become a popular product for athletes to use when their muscles are bothering them or have been tweaked, but the injury isn't bad enough to keep them sidelined.
For Scheffler, kinesio tape allows his neck to feel tolerable and allows him to continue playing golf without having to withdraw from the tournament.
"I don't know if y'all could hear many of our conversations out there today, but basically when I get the club to about halfway back I start feeling a lot of pain in my neck," Scheffler said Saturday. "So, from here to there it's very difficult to get the club back."
Scheffler is looking to become the first player to ever successfully defend The Players Championship title, so he will stop at nothing in an effort to stay in a tournament where he is right on the cusp of being in contention late on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
