DALLAS (AP) — Scottie Scheffler withdrew from The American Express on Monday, saying his right hand has not fully recovered from minor surgery to repair a glass puncture over Christmas.
Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player, injured his hand preparing Christmas dinner, forcing him to miss the start of the PGA Tour season at The Sentry in Hawaii.
The American Express in Palm Desert, California, is scheduled for Jan. 16-19.
“After consulting with my medical team, I have made the decision to withdraw from next week's American Express tournament to give my injury more time to heal,” Scheffler said in an Instagram post.
He remained hopeful of starting his year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a signature event that starts Jan. 30.
Scheffler is coming off a stellar season in which he won the Masters and Olympic gold, The Players Championship and the FedEx Cup among his nine titles worldwide. He was a runaway winner as PGA Tour player of the year and became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to hold the No. 1 ranking for the entire calendar year.
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FILE - PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, left, poses with Scottie Scheffler and the FedExCup Trophy after Scheffler won the final round of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen, File)
Strong winds that sent wildfires ripping through the mountains and foothills around Los Angeles on Tuesday fed a spectacle of smoke, flames and flight.
Vivid orange flames lit the sky in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where firefighters dragged hoses to meet blazes flaring up in brush dried out by persistent drought. Others fought to protect structures from the fires.
The fast-moving fires forced residents to evacuate. One woman wept as she stood next to her car as bright flames burned in the background. Another person ran alongside a line of cars as smoke filled the skyline.
Firefighters and homeowners raced to try to beat the flames back. A helicoper dropped water, while a resident used a garden hose to wet the area around his house as fire loomed.
As the Pacific Palisades fire scorched more than 200 acres, billowing smoke was visible for miles. One lone beachgoer carrying a surfboard walked along the coast beneath a dark plume from the fire. Another sat, appearing to glance over her shoulder at a white plume that nearly filled the sky. And a pair of bicyclists pedaled along the beach against an afternoon sky made twilight by the looming smoke.
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Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Will Adams uses a garden hose to keep flames from damaging his home as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A residence burns as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Flames rise as the Palisades Fire advances on homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Will Adams watches as flames from the Palisades Fire close in on his property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A lone beachgoer walks along the coast as a large dark plume of smoke passes over the beach from a wildfire from Pacific Palisades, from Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
A lone sunbather sits and watches a large plume of smoke from a wildfire rise over the Pacific Palisades, in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Bike riders make their way along the coast as large dark plume of smoke passes over the beach from a wildfire from Pacific Palisades, from Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
A person flees from an advancing wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Jerome Krausse pushes his mother-in-law in a shopping cart as they evacuate from their home in the Pacific Palisades after a wildfire swept through their neighborhood in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
People flee from the advancing Palisades Fire, by car and on foot, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
A woman cries as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
A firefighter protects a structure from the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Firefighters stage in front of the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Firefighters battle the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
