Smith recalls the time when Scheffler was 11 or 12 years old and sat down on a den caddie in a bunker to watch Kris Cox hit sand shots for 45 minutes. When Cox left, Scheffler grabbed his sand wedge and started spinning shots out of the same bunker to the same target with astonishing results.
“All of a sudden I heard screams of glee and Scottie said, ‘Randy, come and watch this.’ He would throw down a ball and hammer it onto the downslope and pull it back with a ton of spin. He discovered that the harder he hit it, the more spin he could put on the ball.
“That’s when I discovered that Scottie Scheffler had the greatest pair of hands I have ever seen, and he still does to this day.”
It is rare that a PGA of America Coach has a front-row seat to history. But Smith has witnessed the personal development and evolution of a superstar in Scheffler, who followed Leonard and others to the University of Texas and became a three-time All-American while enduring a steady growth streak that took him from 5-foot-9 to 6-3 in four years.
“It has really been cool over the past 40 years (at Royal Oaks) to see so many young people turn their love and respect for golf into such successful careers,” admits Smith, who now carries the title of PGA of America Golf Professional Emeritus and Director of Instruction at age 72 after helping more than 100 young players earn college golf scholarships since he arrived at Royal Oaks in 1977.
“As for Scottie, he wasn’t just good at golf. He’s a great athlete who was an outstanding basketball and baseball player. He hurt his leg playing basketball when he was a senior in high school.
“In college, he was still in a big growth spurt and his body was hurting. He grew so quick that he was sometimes in pain. By the time he was a senior at Texas, he started working out and becoming comfortable with his body. At that point, he played better than ever.”
A Special Relationship
Scheffler, who turned 28 on June 21, has developed a special relationship with Smith during the past 20-plus years and recognizes that Smith always knew just the right thing to say and had just the right formula to cultivate improvement. The key to their long relationship? Fun.
“Randy inspired me from a young age; he has pretty much taught me everything I know about the game of golf,” says Scheffler. “He made sure golf was always fun. I have a tendency to take things really seriously. Randy has always done a good job keeping things loose for me, especially from a young age.”
You might say Scheffler is a chip off the Randy Smith block when it comes to golf demeanor. Both are no-nonsense, hard-hat workers whose hallmarks are humility. Smith, who has won more than a half dozen PGA of America national awards, is one of the most decorated and honored teachers and coaches in PGA of America history. Named PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year (1996) and Teacher & Coach of the Year (2002), Smith was inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame in 2005.
Family Atmosphere
In essence, Smith has developed a “family” atmosphere at Royal Oaks while working with hundreds of skilled players. He is beyond happy for the success his latest protégé, Scheffler, has achieved. Smith’s son, Blake, manages Scheffler and two-time U.S. Open and three-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, so Randy and Blake are often seen at tour stops taking care of their players.
After Scheffler won his second Masters green jacket in April and won the RBC Heritage the next week, Smith was asked what he and Scottie had been working on the past few weeks that had also elevated Scheffler to the winner’s circle in The Players a few weeks prior.
“We aren’t working on anything,” said Smith. “That’s one thing I learned a long time ago – if your guy is playing good, don’t change a thing. We made a very minor tweak before the Masters, but a good teacher or coach knows when to offer encouragement and just let the big dog hunt. As long as Scottie can feel the clubface, he’s a happy camper. Really, we don’t work on technique at this stage of his career. I don’t think I’ve put him on video to look at his swing for a year or year and a half now.”
Smith knows how much Scheffler appreciates the long hours his teacher-coach-confidant has spent with him over the past two decades. And last Christmas, Scottie delivered a special gift to his father-like instructor at Royal Oaks.
“Scottie and my son, Blake, came in with a nice box and surprised me at Christmas,” reveals Smith. “It was a Masters Rolex watch personally engraved to me. I got a little sentimental, but it was a great, great gift. Scottie gave me a hug and said ‘thanks for everything.’ That meant the world to me.”
—Roger Graves