Scottie Scheffler divided opinion with his comments ahead of The Open Championship last month.
Scheffler has been the dominant force in world golf over the past 18 months.
Since May of this year, Scheffler has been playing the best golf we have seen in a long time.
As a result, comparisons have started between Scheffler and Tiger Woods, and whilst the 29-year-old has a long way to go before getting even close to matching the greatest of all time, he’s certainly on the right track.
Interestingly, the Dallas native was somewhat of a slow starter on the PGA Tour. He didn’t get his first victory until 2022, and he has since gone on to rack up 17 regular tour wins and four majors.
Harris English recently said Scheffler’s Ryder Cup debut in 2021 gave him the belief he needed to go on and become the player he is today.
But has his attitude pertaining to winning golf tournaments changed throughout that period as well?
What Scottie Scheffler said before The Open Championship
Scheffler raised eyebrows before The Open with his comments regarding the lack of fulfilment he gets from winning.
He said: “I think it’s kind of funny, I think I said something after the Byron this year about like, it feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes,” he said. “It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling.
“To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home, I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf, to have an opportunity to win that tournament. You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, okay, what are we going to eat for dinner? Life goes on.
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport. To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling.
“To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world because what’s the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.
“There are a lot of people who make it to what they thought was going to fulfil them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like, ‘What’s the point?’ I really do believe that, because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so badly?”
Many questioned the veracity of Scheffler’s remarks.
However, just last year, he echoed exactly the same sentiment.
Scottie Scheffler’s true opinion about winning in golf is clear
Back in 2024, Scheffler took part in a question and answer session for Identity Sports.
He discussed a wide range of topics, including his faith and life on tour.
And the world number one opened up on what winning actually means to him.
He said: “I mean playing on the Ryder Cup team was something I had dreamed about since I was a kid. I really don’t know exactly what to say about it. It still hasn’t really sunk in that is something I have done, I guess.
“I think it’s kind of weird always dreaming of playing on the PGA Tour and playing in these tournaments and accomplishing these things and me now having a small taste of what it’s like to be on Tour – life does not feel any different, if that makes sense? It’s kind of weird.
“For instance if I went home and my wife didn’t like me, when you go home at the end of the day you still have got to look yourself in the mirror and live your life.
“Being out on Tour is significantly different from my friends at home, because I live basically two different lives. I spend half of my time on the road and half of my time at home and it’s kind of strange because you just have these two totally separate different worlds.
“Finding community out on the road was extremely important to me, as I got out on Tour, and finding a good group of people to spend our time with and be in community with and get to know the Lord.
“I have had some of my best friends, Sam [Burns] being one of them out on Tour. If I was travelling by myself like I was when playing the Korn Ferry Tour and messing around life would be a lot different.
“But having worldly success does not really change how we view ourselves or different people, it does not really matter at the end of the day, and sometimes when you get a taste of success you realise that it does not really matter that much.“
So there you have it. Scheffler’s thoughts on winning haven’t changed over the past 12 months.
In fact, it’s bizarre that anybody questioned him in the first place. He is clearly a man of his word and the proof is in the pudding regarding his actions.
The fact that he lives a very happy and contented life away from the golf course has undoubtedly helped him produce his high level of golf over the past couple of years.
The scary thing for his rivals is that he will most likely continue to get better and better over the next decade or so.
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