Ragan died eight years ago, aged 20, after a seven-year struggle with cancer. A brilliant young tennis player, he was playing his first international tournament in Spain when he felt knee pain. He carried on competing on the continental circuit, as the medics made their investigation. Within a few weeks there was crushing news.

“We were having a family break in Rome – me, James, mum and dad – when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma [a rare and often fatal type of bone cancer],” Mecklin, James’s sister, said. “He had only just turned 13. So he started chemo, had operations to salvage the leg, with 20 per cent of his femur and 40 per cent of his tibia cut away, and a metal knee replacement.

“He left seventh grade as one of the best athletes in the area and started eighth grade 10 weeks later in a wheelchair.

“After a year, we were told he was cancer free, but a few months later it metastasised to his lungs. There is no cure from that. All they could do was give him more chemo and operate to remove the tumour, knowing it would return and need more surgery. Still, it bought James time and although he was forced to give up tennis, he found golf. He also met Scottie.”

Two years younger, Scheffler was marked out as a highly promising junior. Their paths crossed sometime in 2009. Incredibly, Ragan got down to a scratch handicap in a year and started to play in state events. “James fell in love with the game.” Mecklin said. “He and Scottie got along straight away and became very close. I remember one time when they paired up and won this prestigious adults event at a top country club. There’s a photo of them with Dr Pepper in the trophy.

“They were kids having a great time and James wasn’t going to let the disease ruin it. He’d play in tournaments with a chemo pack around his waist hooked up to a needle in his leg. He got the most he could out of it, but Scottie was in a different class to everyone.

“What James respected so much about Scottie was that he saw someone who was younger than him with an incredible talent, who wasn’t wasting it. James would say to me: ‘I only have so many days, months, years to live, and I’m trying to make the most of what I can with my time. And people all around me are squandering the gifts they’ve been given. Not Scottie, though. He’s going places.’

“I don’t want to put words in Scottie’s mouth but I’d like to think that James had a positive impact on him. James did with everyone he came across. He was inspirational.”

There can be no doubt that the influence was a two-way street. “James told Scottie a lot,” Scott, his father, said. “He gave him this attitude that while you’ve got to give it everything you have you need to remember that it is only a game. If you’ve tried your very best that’s all you can do. Some things are out of your control.”

By 2013 it was clear that Ragan’s time was closing. He had been given three months to live the previous summer, but as per, he was redefining what was and was not possible. Scheffler made the US Junior Amateur his crusade to honour his pal. In 2010, Ragan had set up the Triumph Over Kids Cancer charity and at Martis Camp Club in California he went out of his way to publicise the foundation.

“It likely won’t save James’ life, but it will save many other kids,” Scheffler said. “He has a chance – not a great chance – but he’s a fighter.”

At the prizegiving, Scheffler broke down. “I thought of James out there,” he said. “We had been texting all week and he told me it’s never over until it is.”

Scheffler has remained close to the Ragans, helping the foundation raise more than $4 million. “He’s been wonderful to us and very giving of his time for the charity,” Mecklin, now herself a doctor, said. “Not just Scottie but his wife Meredith and his sister Callie. It’s been amazing watching his progress and I can’t wait to see him again. Yeah, he’s world No 1, but he will just be Scottie, still just the same.