Scott Stallings couldn’t stop drinking Dr. Pepper.
He pounded double-digit sodas daily, munched on unhealthy foods and wouldn’t exercise. In 2015, his testosterone level was out of alignment; he couldn’t sleep; he lost all of his energy. He was diagnosed with acute adrenal fatigue and needed surgery.
His life was in jeopardy.
“Well, I’m just happy to tell you that you’re not going to die,” a UCLA endocrinologist told him. “Nobody’s in my office unless that’s an option.”
That was his wakeup call. All of this amid a three-month suspension from the PGA Tour, his body transformed from 230 pounds and 30% body fat to a ripped 185 pounds and 10% body fat.
Stallings, 35, could be the greatest comeback story at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit this weekend. After opening as the first-round leader, he shot 1-under-par 71 Friday to fall into a tie for 21st at 8-under 136. He is seeking his first Tour victory since 2014 — before he turned his life around alongside Knoxville-based physical therapist Adam Kerley.
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“We’ve had an amazing journey together,” Kerley said. “He was super talented and had some great success early in his career, which was awesome, but he didn’t connect the dots of how he was treating his body and how that would affect his longevity.”
Stallings and Kerley began working together on a consistent basis a year after Stallings won the Greenbrier Classic. In June 2012, he called Kerley, who had just got on a plane, from the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. He couldn’t feel his foot; his leg felt weak.
Stallings didn’t participate and went home to see a doctor. He was diagnosed with a herniated disc and needed surgery, but Kerley told Stallings, 27 at the time, to pump the brakes. Instead of rushing, he scheduled the appointment at least three or four weeks out.
He planned his surgery for July 20, a Friday during the True South Classic at Annandale Golf Club in Mississippi. After weeks of three-a-day physical therapy sessions, Stallings found his groove and went to the tournament: finishing at 24-under-par 278 with 64s in the second and third rounds to win the True South Classic.
“We were able to avoid a disastrous situation early on in the process,” Kerley said, “and that told both of us that we were kind of meant to do something together. What really developed from that was the awareness that he needed to make some changes.”
Stallings never had the surgery and isn’t irritated by back problems anymore. Two years later, Kerley began traveling to tournaments with him.
But it was all downhill from there. He missed the cut 14 times in 27 events in 2013, and 16 times in 28 the next year. In 2014, he won the Farmers Insurance Open with a 9-under-par 279, but his next highest finish was tied for 32nd place.
He never altered his lifestyle habits.
Stallings began taking DHEA, a steroid that boosts testosterone production. He later learned the substance was banned by the Tour and considered quitting the sport because of his guilt. He self-reported himself and took a three-month suspension.
Getting away from golf was a blessing in disguise.
“He had really taken a physical turn downward, really struggling for energy,” Kerley said, adding Stallings’ testosterone level was in the 90s — it should’ve been between 500-800 nanograms per deciliter. “The situation that had developed inside his body had come to a point of putting him in an internal state that wasn’t good.”
Stallings called his wife, Jennifer, on his drive home from the frightening doctors visit and apologized for the way he treated his body. He vowed he would change. Kerley said he’s “nowhere close to that guy anymore and will never be again.”
He trained with CrossFit champion Rich Froning, described as the “Michael Jordan of CrossFit.” They attended Tennessee Tech together in the mid-2000s. While golf was at a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he found a quarantine workout group that included UFC fighter Scott Holtzman and Washington Nationals catcher Yan Gomes.
Stallings completed two of the three events since golf’s reboot. He tied for 48th at the RBC Heritage and tied for sixth at the Travelers Championship with a 15-under-par 265. Right now, he’s well on his way to improving once again at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“The sport that we play is forget what you’ve done and look forward to the next,” Stallings said after he shot 65 in the first round. “Same thing with good, bad shots and everything indifferent. Nice to play well today but go out and do it again tomorrow.”
At last year’s inaugural tournament in Detroit, he tied for 64th place.
A 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic win, being his fourth Tour victory and first in six years, would validate his transformation.
“Underneath it all has been appreciating the gift we have in our bodies,” Kerley said, “and he’s an amazing steward of that responsibility.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporting intern at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
