What has been particularly remarkable about the way Scottie Scheffler has gone about his business in 2024 is how little emotion he has shown on his way to becoming the best player on the planet.
Scottie Scheffler has had an unbelievable year, winning eight times worldwide. He added a second major title, while he also won four signature events, The Players – for a second time in as many years – an Olympic gold medal and The Tour Championship.
Scheffler rarely lets his emotions get the better of him. That is why it was particularly surprising when he was in tears on the podium at Le Golf National, and extremely jarring when Scheffler lost his cool at the BMW Championship as he struggled at Castle Pines.
With that, it is difficult to picture what Scheffler is really like behind the scenes. It is hard to imagine that he has the kind of superstar aura which stops everyone in their tracks whenever Tiger Woods is nearby. But few would have expected that he is a joker either.
Scottie Scheffler reacts to Sam Burns naming him as USA’s class clown
Ahead of the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal, Sam Burns was asked to name the class clown within the American team – and he opted for his good friend Scheffler.
That was put to the world number one in his own press conference, and he suggested that Xander Schauffele would be a much better candidate for that title.
“Sam picked me as the class clown? I don’t know. Xander’s pretty – I think, if you put all of us in a room, Xander, I think, would probably have the loudest voice. I think, when a lot of people end up in the room, I’m usually fairly quiet. I usually just sit in the back and I kind of like watching,” he said.
“So if I were to pick, I would say Xander would be the main class clown.”
A world number one without a superstar ego
It is good to hear Scheffler mentioned as a contender for that title. For years, there was speculation concerning how much Woods enjoyed the team dynamic given the success he had individually.
It did appear, from the outside, that Woods only started to really enjoy and embrace team competition a lot more as he got older and became a veteran. But it was hard to not put two and two together when he would struggle in the Ryder Cup.
Scheffler embracing being a part of the team could be important as he looks to bounce back from his disappointing Presidents Cup debut in 2022. Even if he does not see himself as the class clown, he can take the positive from teammates enjoying being in his presence, rather than perhaps being even slightly intimidated by his quality.
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