Scheffler to miss start of season after Christmas dinner injury

• Published27 December 2024

World number one Scottie Scheffler will miss the first two weeks of the 2025 PGA Tour season after undergoing surgery on a hand injury sustained cooking Christmas dinner.

The American, 28, has withdrawn from the opening tournament of the campaign at The Sentry next week.

Scheffler is then expected to miss the Sony Open, also being played in Hawaii, before returning to action at The American Express Championship in California, being held between 16-19 January.

The news was announced in a statement released on Friday by Scheffler’s manager, Blake Smith, who said: “On Christmas Day while preparing dinner, Scottie sustained a puncture wound to the palm of his right hand from a broken glass.

“Small glass fragments remained in the palm which required surgery. He has been told that he should be back to 100% in three to four weeks.

“His next scheduled tournament is The American Express.”

Scheffler was recently named the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year for a third consecutive season.

He won nine titles, with seven coming on the main tour in the United States including triumphing for the second occasion at both the Players Championship and The Masters.

Scheffler also earned an Olympic gold medal in Paris and his victory at the Tour Championship secured a first FedEx Cup success in an eventful season that also saw him warm up for the second round of the US PGA Championship in a jail cell after being arrested on his way into Valhalla Golf Club.

All charges were later dropped.

All you need to know about the teams and drivers in 2024.

Alpine – Esteban Ocon (car number 31), Pierre Gasly (10)

The all-French pairing of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are in their second season together at Alpine.

Aston Martin – Lance Stroll (18), Fernando Alonso (14)

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, now 43, is partnered by Lance Stroll at Aston Martin. Stroll is the son of team owner Lawrence.

Ferrari – Charles Leclerc (16), Carlos Sainz (55)

This is the final season that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both line up at Ferrari, after the shock announcement Lewis Hamilton will join the Italian team in 2025.

Haas – Kevin Magnussen (20), Nico Hulkenberg (27)

Haas, like every other team on the grid for 2024, originally stuck with an unchanged line-up, following a difficult 2023 campaign where the US-based team finished bottom of the constructors’ championship. German Nico Hulkenberg and Dane Kevin Magnussen are their drivers.

McLaren – Lando Norris (4), Oscar Piastri (81)

McLaren made a sluggish start to the 2023 season but strong results from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri allowed them to bounce back and beat Aston Martin to fourth place in the constructors’ title race.

Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton (44), George Russell (63)

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is waving goodbye to Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season after 11 years with the Silver Arrows, while team-mate George Russell is now in his third season with Mercedes.

Red Bull – Max Verstappen (1), Sergio Perez (11)

Red Bull celebrated their sixth constructors’ crown, and second in a row, in 2023 thanks to Max Verstappen’s continued domination over the rest of the field.

Red Bull won 22 of the 23 races in the dominant season in F1 history, with Verstappen taking the chequered flag first 19 times and team-mate Sergio Perez doing so twice.

RB – Liam Lawson (30), Yuki Tsunoda (22)

Red Bull’s sister team were given a makeover for the new season – with Alpha Tauri morphing into RB.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix, the New Zealander joining up with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.

Sauber – Zhou Guanyu (24), Valtteri Bottas (77)

Alfa Romeo became Sauber for the 2024 season and the team decided to stick with the same driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

Williams – Alex Albon (23), Franco Colapinto (43)

Alex Albon scored 27 of Williams’ 28 points in the 2023 season. For 2024, he has been partnered with Franco Colapinto since the Italian Grand Prix after Logan Sargeant was dropped.

Russell Fuller

Tennis correspondent

@russellcfuller

• Published7 hours ago

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from this week’s WTA event in Auckland because of a back problem.

The 22-year-old was due to play Robin Montgomery of the United States in the first round of the ASB Classic on Tuesday.

Raducanu will now fly to Melbourne to continue her preparations for the Australian Open, which begins on 12 January.

“Tried my best to be ready,” she said. “I love Auckland and the fans here, but unfortunately I picked up a back niggle and won’t be ready in time.

The 2021 US Open champion sprained ligaments in her foot in Seoul in September and could only play three further matches last season.

She won them all, on national duty for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, but will now head into the first Grand Slam of the season with no match practice.

Raducanu suffered fewer injury problems last season, but only played 10 matches after Wimbledon, and also missed March’s Miami Open with a back issue.

She has hired the renowned fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, who has been in Auckland with her.

“I just needed a more tailored approach and I needed someone more dedicated to me alone as an individual and I’m looking forward to what comes with this,” Raducanu told reporters earlier this month.

“It definitely adds another dimension to the way me and [coach] Nick [Cavaday] work,” she added.

“It’s all become, in a very positive way, integrated and together and connected, and we can see already things transfer on to the tennis court that we do in the gym.”

Raducanu is currently ranked 56th in the world and so will not be seeded for the Australian Open.