Jim Nantz has been bopping around Pebble Beach, California, since February in his 2012 GMC Yukon ever since the car he won at auction was finally delivered. By now, you probably know the story: it’s the former car of defending Masters champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, which he auctioned off for charity. (For more on the back story, click here.)
But no one bothered to ask Nantz why he was willing to pay $50,000 for a vehicle with more than 184,000 miles to it. Nantz is a collector not so much of sports memorabilia but of memories. He already tools around Pebble in the golf cart of his former broadcast partner, longtime CBS golf analyst and U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi.
But Nantz’s latest splurge is not so much out of his admiration of Scheffler’s remarkable abilities with a golf club in his hand but out of respect for a mutual friendship. The real reason Nantz purchased Scheffler’s GMC Yukon with 184,000 miles has everything to do with James Ragan, Scheffler’s boyhood buddy, who died of a rare form of bone cancer in 2014 but not before launching Triumph Over Kids Cancer with his sister Mecklin.
“Had he been healthy, he could’ve done anything,” Nantz tells Golfweek. “He had this ability to communicate. And he did do great things. He laid the groundwork for this fundraising and awareness. It was his brainchild. He worried about everyone else.”
Scheffler of Dallas and Ragan of Corpus Christi became friends while competing on the Texas Golf Association’s Legends Junior Tour for competitors ages 12-19. Due to his love of the game, Ragan was the cancer patient asked to be the master of ceremonies when Jack Nicklaus, in 2010, was the headliner for MD Anderson’s “A Conversation with a Living Legend,” its long-running series to raise money in support of the mission to end cancer. Nantz interviewed Nicklaus in front of 800 supporters, but first Ragan stole the show.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now,” said James of getting to meet two icons in the game.
Both Nantz and Nicklaus were moved by James’ infectious attitude and his story.
“Here was a kid who faced the worst of odds for survival and he felt sorry for the doctors,” Nantz said. “How can anyone that age stand up in a room like that and be facing a terrible disease and not show any self-pity?”
That day, Nantz recorded James’ outgoing voicemail message for James’ phone, which meant the world to James – he joked that he’d only swap it out if James Earl Jones did Darth Vader for him – but that proved to be just the beginning of their friendship. Nantz visited Ragan at MD Anderson when he was in Houston and called him regularly. He brought James and sister Mecklin as his guests to the 2012 NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. Nantz still remembers that’s the first time he heard the name Scottie Scheffler, it was from Ragan, who had watched Nantz wax rhapsodic about the new rising star in golf, Jordan Spieth, and warned him that his buddy was going to be even better. During the third round of the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open in late January, just a few weeks before Ragan passed away, Spieth was shooting up the leaderboard and Nantz found a chance to speak directly to his good friend whom he knew would be watching.
“Something triggered me,” Nantz recalled. “And I said something like, ‘Remember the name Scottie Scheffler. I’ve been told by his close friend James Ragan that there’s another great one in the Texas pipeline. James, I know you’re going through a lot.’ ”
The Nicklauses were so impressed with James and his relentless positivity in the face of an incurable disease, they invited him to the Tour’s Memorial Tournament, which the family hosts in late May at the club they founded in Dublin, Ohio. Nantz took James to a CBS party on Friday evening. Several members of the CBS announcing team took turns speaking. Some were humorous. Others were serious. When Nantz got hold of the microphone, he said, “I’m here with my friend James, who has bone cancer. When I stop doing this, James is the one who should replace me. Come over here, James.” And Nantz gave the floor to James to speak to the audience.
Barbara Nicklaus recalls the next day James phoned his mother and explained he was having such a good time that he wanted to skip his flight home, even though it would mean missing his high school graduation the next day.
“You can imagine how that went over with his mother,” Barbara said.
James came home as planned and delivered a TED Talk-worthy speech to his classmates.
Scheffler and his family have never forgotten the impact that James made on their lives. Coming off arguably the most dominant season on Tour in two decades, Scheffler committed to participate in a charity event during the 2024 offseason in Houston. Scottie said he and his wife, Meredith, focus their charitable efforts in their local Dallas community, but Triumph Over Kid Cancer is the exception. “It’s something we’re passionate about,” he said. “We love the work they do, so we’re happy to support them.”
The Ragans had never hosted an event of this magnitude and flashed back to the MD Anderson event with Nicklaus for inspiration. They recruited Nantz, who squeezed it in around broadcasting the Washington Commanders-Chicago Bears game near the nation’s capital, to participate. On Oct. 25, Scheffler and Nantz shared the stage for a fireside chat at The Post Oak Hotel in Houston as part of the Teeing Off on Childhood Cancer gala to raise money for Triumph Over Kid Cancer and fund research and patient initiatives at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital. So, when Scheffler’s car was auctioned off, it was second nature for Nantz to join the bidding for a cause that has become close to his heart. He joked that “just driving this SUV to the golf course should lower my handicap by at least five shots,” but that was merely a sidenote. Nantz bought the car not to say he owned the former car of the world No. 1 and two-time Masters champ but to remember James and his selflessness.
“This kid was special,” said Nantz. “He could’ve been the President of the United States. He was super-smart, incredibly gifted and composed, kind, thoughtful and he had a great life to be lived that was taken away from him.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The untold story of why Jim Nantz bought Scottie Scheffler’s car
Jim Nantz has been bopping around Pebble Beach, California, since February in his 2012 GMC Yukon ever since the car he won at auction was finally delivered. By now, you probably know the story: it’s the former car of defending Masters champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, which he auctioned off for charity. (For more on the back story, click here.)
But no one bothered to ask Nantz why he was willing to pay $50,000 for a vehicle with more than 184,000 miles to it. Nantz is a collector not so much of sports memorabilia but of memories. He already tools around Pebble in the golf cart of his former broadcast partner, longtime CBS golf analyst and U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi.
But Nantz’s latest splurge is not so much out of his admiration of Scheffler’s remarkable abilities with a golf club in his hand but out of respect for a mutual friendship. The real reason Nantz purchased Scheffler’s GMC Yukon with 184,000 miles has everything to do with James Ragan, Scheffler’s boyhood buddy, who died of a rare form of bone cancer in 2014 but not before launching Triumph Over Kids Cancer with his sister Mecklin.
“Had he been healthy, he could’ve done anything,” Nantz tells Golfweek. “He had this ability to communicate. And he did do great things. He laid the groundwork for this fundraising and awareness. It was his brainchild. He worried about everyone else.”
Scheffler of Dallas and Ragan of Corpus Christi became friends while competing on the Texas Golf Association’s Legends Junior Tour for competitors ages 12-19. Due to his love of the game, Ragan was the cancer patient asked to be the master of ceremonies when Jack Nicklaus, in 2010, was the headliner for MD Anderson’s “A Conversation with a Living Legend,” its long-running series to raise money in support of the mission to end cancer. Nantz interviewed Nicklaus in front of 800 supporters, but first Ragan stole the show.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now,” said James of getting to meet two icons in the game.
Both Nantz and Nicklaus were moved by James’ infectious attitude and his story.
“Here was a kid who faced the worst of odds for survival and he felt sorry for the doctors,” Nantz said. “How can anyone that age stand up in a room like that and be facing a terrible disease and not show any self-pity?”
That day, Nantz recorded James’ outgoing voicemail message for James’ phone, which meant the world to James – he joked that he’d only swap it out if James Earl Jones did Darth Vader for him – but that proved to be just the beginning of their friendship. Nantz visited Ragan at MD Anderson when he was in Houston and called him regularly. He brought James and sister Mecklin as his guests to the 2012 NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. Nantz still remembers that’s the first time he heard the name Scottie Scheffler, it was from Ragan, who had watched Nantz wax rhapsodic about the new rising star in golf, Jordan Spieth, and warned him that his buddy was going to be even better. During the third round of the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open in late January, just a few weeks before Ragan passed away, Spieth was shooting up the leaderboard and Nantz found a chance to speak directly to his good friend whom he knew would be watching.
“Something triggered me,” Nantz recalled. “And I said something like, ‘Remember the name Scottie Scheffler. I’ve been told by his close friend James Ragan that there’s another great one in the Texas pipeline. James, I know you’re going through a lot.’ ”
The Nicklauses were so impressed with James and his relentless positivity in the face of an incurable disease, they invited him to the Tour’s Memorial Tournament, which the family hosts in late May at the club they founded in Dublin, Ohio. Nantz took James to a CBS party on Friday evening. Several members of the CBS announcing team took turns speaking. Some were humorous. Others were serious. When Nantz got hold of the microphone, he said, “I’m here with my friend James, who has bone cancer. When I stop doing this, James is the one who should replace me. Come over here, James.” And Nantz gave the floor to James to speak to the audience.
Barbara Nicklaus recalls the next day James phoned his mother and explained he was having such a good time that he wanted to skip his flight home, even though it would mean missing his high school graduation the next day.
“You can imagine how that went over with his mother,” Barbara said.
James came home as planned and delivered a TED Talk-worthy speech to his classmates.
Scheffler and his family have never forgotten the impact that James made on their lives. Coming off arguably the most dominant season on Tour in two decades, Scheffler committed to participate in a charity event during the 2024 offseason in Houston. Scottie said he and his wife, Meredith, focus their charitable efforts in their local Dallas community, but Triumph Over Kid Cancer is the exception. “It’s something we’re passionate about,” he said. “We love the work they do, so we’re happy to support them.”
The Ragans had never hosted an event of this magnitude and flashed back to the MD Anderson event with Nicklaus for inspiration. They recruited Nantz, who squeezed it in around broadcasting the Washington Commanders-Chicago Bears game near the nation’s capital, to participate. On Oct. 25, Scheffler and Nantz shared the stage for a fireside chat at The Post Oak Hotel in Houston as part of the Teeing Off on Childhood Cancer gala to raise money for Triumph Over Kid Cancer and fund research and patient initiatives at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital. So, when Scheffler’s car was auctioned off, it was second nature for Nantz to join the bidding for a cause that has become close to his heart. He joked that “just driving this SUV to the golf course should lower my handicap by at least five shots,” but that was merely a sidenote. Nantz bought the car not to say he owned the former car of the world No. 1 and two-time Masters champ but to remember James and his selflessness.
“This kid was special,” said Nantz. “He could’ve been the President of the United States. He was super-smart, incredibly gifted and composed, kind, thoughtful and he had a great life to be lived that was taken away from him.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The untold story of why Jim Nantz bought Scottie Scheffler’s car
