Scottie Scheffler made it clear early on in this year’s pre-Open press conference: He did not want a repeat performance from last year.
“I think I’ll try to keep that stuff to myself this week,” he said with a smile.
Brace yourself — this whole topic is a bit meta. It’s about Scottie Scheffler talking about Scottie Scheffler talking. It’s the exact sort of thing Scottie Scheffler rolls his eyes at. It’s also the sort of thing that Scottie Scheffler thinks a lot about. Which brings us back to the beginning.
Anyway, by “that stuff” Scheffler was referencing his existential reflections at last year’s pre-Open press conference at Portrush, where he thought out loud about the fleeting nature of winning in a lengthy answer that spread like wildfire and, he feels, lost some context as it went viral.
He won that event, his first Open Championship and fourth major title, further cementing his status as World No. 1. He still holds that position. And his search for purpose remains compelling.
“I guess the gist of it was, what’s the point?” he said on Tuesday with a smile. “I don’t recommend anyone [rewatching] the clip. But if you’re going to write about it, please watch the whole 5 minutes. I’ll recommend it to you guys [media] but not anybody else.”
So what was Scheffler trying to say last year? He couldn’t resist the urge to clarify, again.
“I guess the point for me was like always figuring out your why,” Scheffler said. “Like, why am I doing this? Why do I want to win this tournament so badly? Why do I choose to play this sport for a living? Always figuring out your why. I think when I have a really good understanding of what my why is when I’m playing, I think that’s when I’m at peace the most.”
Some people seemed to take Scheffler’s comments as ungrateful or dismissive of his success. I don’t think that’s right. Scheffler never said this is meaningless or that none of it matters; he knows it does and he knows how much he cares. He knows there is a why. But he doesn’t always know what it is; it can be as elusive as a swing thought. Good news for this Open, though:
“Overall, I feel like I know what my why is, why I’m out here playing, and I’m excited to try and defend my title this week,” he said.
So what is his why? He didn’t spell it out exactly. But he did offer this:
“When I retire and I sit back, I’m going to miss the feeling of waking up in the morning and not being able to eat breakfast because your stomach hurts because you’re anticipating the day.”
In other words, he loves the arena, the competition, the stakes, the chase. There’s plenty of why there. Not caring has never been the issue. Figuring out what to do with how much he does care? That’s a constant work in progress.
Scheffler mentioned dealing with his frustrations, learning to “take off your hat and shake hands” regardless of outcome. He also reflected on pre-round butterflies at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, when he was still in college.
“I almost couldn’t eat for like a week before it,” he said. “My stomach hurt; I was burping up chunks of food. They were giving me stuff so I could digest things. Over time I feel like I’ve gotten better at figuring out how to manage those nerves. You have to be able to eat in order to go out and play. I can’t just be starving the whole time.”
The caring remains, though the challenges — and expectations — have shifted. Take this season, which Scheffler called “solid” but “frustrating at times” given he’s been around the lead a lot but has won just once. In one three-tournament stretch he finished runner-up to the second-, third- and fourth-ranked golfers in the world (Rory McIlroy at the Masters, Matthew Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage, Cameron Young at the Cadillac, respectively) and two weeks ago lost to Viktor Hovland in a playoff at the Travelers. At the Scottish Open last week, he missed his first cut in four years. He’s still the best golfer in the world, but he’s gotten plenty of reminders just how hard it is to stay here.
This is perhaps where Scheffler was most insightful: on the specific pressures and demands that come with being World No. 1 in the modern era.
“There’s just a lot of noise all the time at golf tournaments,” he said. “For instance, this week, I show up on Sunday [at Birkdale] thinking there’s not going to be any fans out there. We get out there on the 1st hole, and there’s fans out there. I love being able to play in front of fans; that’s a tremendous amount of fun. But like I get to the bunker on the 1st hole, and I turn around, and within six feet of me there’s literally like two cameras right in my face. I kind of turn around and look at the guys, like ‘hey, y’all, are you going to be this close all day, or could we get a little bit of room?’
“I think, just being in the spotlight all the time puts a burden on a player in this day and age. Everything is being recorded. When [someone] says hello to you, they’ve got their cell phone out. Like, you’re walking on eggshells a little bit, and that can drain people … being recorded all the time, I’m very far from a perfect person, and you know — I’m trying to find the right words, but I think just sometimes it can be hard when you’re being recorded all the time.”
Everything is content, all the time. Sport is growing. Interest is growing. It’s no wonder that why can get a little confusing when you’re at the center of it all.
But Scheffler sounded excited to get back in the arena. He was energized by this week’s firm, fast, fiery links test at Birkdale.
“I’m looking forward to getting out here on a really firm golf course,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very fun and interesting to play. St Andrews [in 2022] was really firm, but outside of that, I haven’t played an extremely firm Open Championship yet, so I’m excited to get out there and see what it’s like under competition as well.”
Good news: He says he has an answer to that very important question at the moment.
“Like I said last year, what’s the point because we just continue to want more and more. The heart’s never satisfied, and we’re always looking for more.
“But that’s also kind of the fun part: The chase.”
