Don’t bother looking up the Venmo account for the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. Scottie Scheffler deleted his.
Key Takeaways
- The favorite to win the U.S. Open addressed interactions with golf bettors
- Scheffler said people have requested payments when they lose and have even sent him funds from winnings
- Harassment of athletes has become a more public issue over the last couple of years.
The massive +275 favorite to win this week’s U.S. Open explained why he doesn’t use the peer-to-peer transaction app anymore when he was asked about interacting with fans who have skin in the game during his media session at Oakmont Country Club on Tuesday.
“I think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial benefit or anything in their outcome,” Scheffler said.
“That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling.”
Scottie Scheffler got rid of his venmo because people would request money from him if he lost a tournament 🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/DddojUoL3c
— Covers (@Covers) June 11, 2025
Scheffler, who displays a mostly laid-back and unflappable demeanor on and off the golf course, didn’t seem upset about it. He said that people wanting to pay him amounted to “a couple of bucks here and there.”
“That didn’t happen nearly as much as they requested,” Scheffler said with a hearty laugh.
Delete that app
Scheffler isn’t the first athlete to admit receiving payment requests from bettors.
San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Tyler Rogers said in 2024 that he made his Venmo account private. Rogers said he would get messages that read, “Hey, you cost me $1,500. You better pay me back.”
Former Auburn quarterback Peyton Thorne said last season that he gets Venmo requests when bettors lose, “But when they win on a parlay, no one’s ever sent me any of the money.”
Harassment at the forefront
Online harassment has become a much more public issue over the last couple of years. The NCAA released a study on Tuesday that showed a dip in betting-related abuse during March Madness in the same year that the collegiate governing body launched an anti-online harassment campaign because of higher documented cases in the past.
FanDuel recently banned a man from using its sports betting platform after he heckled and harassed track star Gabby Thomas at a Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia to attempt to win a parlay wager.
Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. dealt with death threats last month from a disgruntled overseas bettor, and other MLB players have been outspoken on online abuse they’ve received since sports betting has become more prevalent and legal in 39 U.S. states.
