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Eli Manning, the two-time Super Bowl champion, was at it again at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Ahead of the first FedExCup playoff event, he pranked the PGA Tour pros by using a remote-controlled FedEx delivery truck tee marker around where pros set up their opening shot.

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Collin Morikawa was the first victim. As he prepared to hit his opening shot, Manning’s moving tee marker beeped and rolled towards Morikawa. Morikawa looked around in confusion, laughed, before he softly kicked the truck. He laughed again, adding, “That’s kinda great,” before he picked it up to inspect it.

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Suddenly, Manning’s voice pinged through the speaker, and he said, “Please, no touching the FedEx truck.” Morikawa placed it on the ground and looked for the man behind the prank. Eventually, Manning came rushing to the course and laughed along with Morikawa and his team.

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Manning’s prank was pretty elaborate, and it definitely wasn’t limited to Morikawa. The result was a string of golfers doing a double-take at the toy creeping across the tee box. In fact, several of them were convinced someone had left it unattended before realizing Eli Manning was the one behind it.

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Some pros recognized the man behind the prank without any introduction, in fact. Tom Kim needed less time to work it out, pointing and cracking up as he called Manning out by name almost on sight. Michael Kim, meanwhile, tried to prank Manning right back by nearly, but softly, hitting a shot into the truck as Manning laughed and named his truck “Michael.”

But Ludvig Åberg, as is obvious in this video shared by the PGA Tour, wasn’t prepared for the gag. As he came onto the course, ready to take his first swing with utmost seriousness, a small truck came right by his feet. He looked at it warily, treating the truck like a genuine tournament hazard, before he realized what was going on.

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He admitted the moving object triggered a real flashback to his caddie, Joe Skovron, warning about standing too close to the bunkers. “Joe’s always on me because I tee up so close to the bunkers, but I’m always like, sometimes wheeled it in front of it. I got flashbacks,” Åberg said, laughing.

Justin Thomas also wasn’t far off when the stunt caught up with him. He was standing casually with his caddie when the small moving toy touched his feet. Thomas was visibly startled and jumped. He looked around, realizing who the real culprit was, and scooped the little truck up. Thomas then pretended to stuff the truck in his golf bag, pranking Manning right back.

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Ben Griffin greeted the truck with a confused “Hello? Anyone home?” Manning leaned into Griffin’s pre-tour resume as a mortgage loan officer, asking him half-seriously for refinancing advice. Aldrich Potgieter got the most visceral reaction of the group, visibly startled when the truck suddenly lurched towards him mid-routine. It prompted a deadpan response from Manning: “Be the ball, very nice.”

Between the bits, Eli Manning stayed in character as a FedEx courier chasing “18 million packages” a day. That said, it’s not the first time Eli Manning has pulled this kind of stunt at TPC Southwind.

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Last season, he went full undercover as an actual FedEx courier. He completed his attire with a uniform, sunglasses, and a bucket hat, hiding fake packages around the course.

Rickie Fowler had no idea what hit him when Manning walked up to him and said, “A package for Mr. Fowler.” Even Keegan Bradley’s reaction became the highlight of the whole video. “I didn’t know that was you. I’m like, who is this freak over here? Oh my God.” It has become an annual bit for Manning at FedExCup Playoff openers.

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But with Scheffler looking to win his second title of the season, Manning is hardly the only entertainment of the week.

Scottie Scheffler’s 61 headlines a wild weekend at TPC Southwind

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler tied the TPC Southwind course record with a Friday 61 to seize a three-shot lead over Sungjae Im and Viktor Hovland. Elsewhere on the leaderboard, Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy has struggled to find any rhythm, sitting four over through two rounds. Heading into the final round, he sits T66. It would be impossible for him to catch Scheffler if that is his goal.

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The Saturday round saw little movement from most pros, including Scheffler. Following a Saturday-round 68, he stayed at the top with a two-shot lead over Sungjae Im and Sam Burns. Scheffler and Burns will now be in the final pairing on Sunday, something that the former considers “weird.”

However, the rest of the field is in just as much of a tussle. The first playoff event, the St. Jude Championship, has no cut. After R4, only the top 50 in FedEx Cup points advance to the BMW Championship.

Meanwhile, for Scheffler, a victory here would be essential. A win this week will give him 750 FedExCup points, widening the gap between Matt Fitzpatrick (2nd) and him in the FedExCup rankings. Technically, no player can catch up to him even with a win this week. The second-ranked player in the rankings, Fitzpatrick, for example, trails him by 794 points. And if the PGA Tour Player of the Year debates are anything to go by, winning here should be a priority for Scheffler.

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Roshni Dhawan

467 Articles

Roshni Dhawan is a Golf Writer at EssentiallySports, covering the financial and human side of the professional game. Her reporting centers on player earnings and tournament economics, from net-worth profiles of pros such as Sahith Theegala to the prize-money breakdown at the 2026 U.S. Open, alongside explainer features that introduce readers to the tour's lesser-known names, including her profile of Harry Higgs. She also reports on everything that define a tournament week, covering on-course conduct, rules decisions, and the fan and media reaction that follows, with much of her 2026 work centered on the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Roshni's background is in research and brand strategy, which informs the accuracy and structure she brings to her coverage. She works methodically, prioritizing verification and the detail that a strong earnings or profile piece depends on.

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Pulkit Prabhav

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