Golf - Dubai Desert Classic 2025 - Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - January 19, 2025 Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy in action during the final round REUTERS/Amr Alfiky/ File Photo
(Reuters) - Rory McIlroy had some humorous advice for Scottie Scheffler on Tuesday ahead of the world number one's return to action this week following surgery to remove glass fragments from his right hand after a December cooking accident.
Scheffler's start to the 2025 PGA Tour season was delayed after he punctured his hand on broken glass while making ravioli on Christmas Day, and McIlroy was asked what he thought upon first hearing of the incident.
"I think he made enough money to hire a chef. It's like why are you cooking yourself?" McIlroy told reporters ahead of this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.
Scheffler earned a whopping $62 million between tournament winnings and bonuses in 2024, a year in which he picked up seven titles on the PGA Tour and was named the U.S.-based circuit's player of the year for a third consecutive season.
World number three McIlroy, who played with Scheffler in a made-for-TV exhibition in December against LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, also revealed he was hoping for a more exciting story behind the world number one's injury.
"I was hoping it was going to be more of a fun story than that," McIlroy said of Scheffler's hand injury.
"Firstly, (I was) just concerned and hoped he was OK. It sounds like he is, it's good that he's teeing it up this week. Yeah, get a chef."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
