Scottie Scheffler explains classy gesture after "snippy" Presidents Cup interview

Scottie Scheffler insisted there was "just no place for that" after a spectator yelled during his opponent's backswing on the final day of the 2026 Presidents Cup.

Scheffler helped the United States golf team complete a thrilling comeback victory over the International side in Chicago. 

Brandt Snedeker's red, white and blue were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat on home soil, trailing by three points heading into the singles, but they dominated the final day, winning nine of the 12 matches to seal a 17-13 victory.

The world number one also drew widespread praise for his act of sportsmanship during his battle with Nico Echavarria. 

On the 14th hole, a fan shouted "Go Scottie!" during his backswing, causing the Colombian to hit an errant drive. 

Scheffler confronted the spectator and, after missing his birdie putt to win the hole, decided to concede Echavarria's par putt even though his opponent was 30 feet away. 

"There's just no place for that," the four-time major champion told reporters. "I was very frustrated.

"It was honestly a big distraction, I think for me, just because we compete and work so hard to put ourselves in these moments. 

"When you have some fan who decides to insert himself into the tournament, you can say, I think, whatever you want to players, but I think there's an amount of respect there. 

"You should get about 30 seconds when you're over the ball and hitting your shot or getting ready for your shot where fans are pretty silent.

"It just didn't really sit well with me. 

"He would never hit a shot as poorly as he hit, I think, off the 14th if there wasn't a fan yelling in his swing. It was just very frustrating. 

"I don't really want to talk about it all that much. It was frustrating."

Echavarria told media that Scheffler was a class act. 

"It didn't happen just once," he said. "It was a tough environment. 

"Yeah, it's unfortunate that in some way the crowds can affect performance like that. 

"But we have the number one player in the world who's a class act. 

"I wasn't expecting for him to give me that putt for par, and he did, and we tied the hole."

Whilst Scheffler drew praise for his gesture, the four-time major champion also attracted some criticism after appearing agitated during an interview with NBC's Cara Banks. 

Scheffler was benched for the Saturday foursomes session and Banks asked the golfer for his reaction.

Some suggested that Banks was just doing her job and it was a fair question, though others added it was more important to talk about what had just transpired on the course. 

But Scheffler only wanted to talk about his 2&1 win over Echavarria. 

"I mean, do you want to talk about today's match?" he said. 

"I just played some golf out there, you want to talk about that?"