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The Guardian
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘I don't think I'm special': Scheffler plays down latest major win after Open cruise
Scottie Scheffler has insisted that he does not think he is anything special despite winning his fourth major in three years after a dominant Open victory at Portrush. The 29-year-old American won by four shots from Harris English to complete the third leg of a career grand slam, and afterwards he was compared to Tiger Woods by the Open winner last year, Xander Schauffele, and the 2019 champion, Shane Lowry. Scheffler also doubled down when he was reminded he said before the Open that winning the Claret Jug would be awesome for only two minutes, and that his family and faith were more important. 'I don't think that I'm anything special just because some weeks I'm better at shooting a lower score than other guys are,' Scheffler said. 'Am I grateful for it? Do I enjoy it? Oh my gosh yes, this is a cool feeling. I can't wait to get home and celebrate this championship with the people that have helped me along the way. But at the end of the day, it doesn't fulfil the deepest desires of my heart. I don't know why I'm so lucky that I get to live out my dreams, but it's something I'm very grateful for. 'If somebody was going to listen to the comments I had this week, I would encourage them to listen to all of it, and I hope I did a good job communicating that this is amazing to win the Open Championship. But at the end of the day, having success in life, whether it be in golf, work, whatever it is, that's not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart.' Pressed by reporters, Scheffler said: 'Just because you win a golf tournament or accomplish something, it doesn't make you happy. It doesn't – maybe for a few moments, maybe for a few days, but at the end of the day, there's more to life than playing golf. I'm pretty excited to go home and celebrate this one.' Scheffler also played down comparisons with Tiger Woods. 'I still think they're a bit silly. Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf.' Scheffler, who lifted the Claret Jug with one arm while holding his 14‑month‑old son Bennett, also revealed that his love of golf was already being passed down to his offspring. 'It's very cool to have him here,' Scheffler said. 'He obviously has no clue what's going on. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'Bennett started swinging a club back and forth. I put a golf ball down, and he hit it. To be able to occupy a one-year-old with anything is probably a pretty good thing for them to be able to focus on. 'It's pretty special to be able to celebrate here with my family. I hope Bennett's able to get into golf one day. The game of golf has taught me a tremendous amount. I feel like every day you go out and play golf you're looking in the mirror, and I've met some of my best friends through the game of golf. 'It's a very special game. You call penalties on yourself, and it's just – you learn a lot of good life lessons by playing golf. I hope he can play one day, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.'
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘I don't think I'm special': Scheffler plays down latest major win after Open cruise
Scottie Scheffler has insisted that he does not think he is anything special despite winning his fourth major in three years after a dominant Open victory at Portrush. The 29-year-old American won by four shots from Harris English to complete the third leg of a career grand slam, and afterwards he was compared to Tiger Woods by the Open winner last year, Xander Schauffele, and the 2019 champion, Shane Lowry. Scheffler also doubled down when he was reminded he said before the Open that winning the Claret Jug would be awesome for only two minutes, and that his family and faith were more important. 'I don't think that I'm anything special just because some weeks I'm better at shooting a lower score than other guys are,' Scheffler said. 'Am I grateful for it? Do I enjoy it? Oh my gosh yes, this is a cool feeling. I can't wait to get home and celebrate this championship with the people that have helped me along the way. But at the end of the day, it doesn't fulfil the deepest desires of my heart. I don't know why I'm so lucky that I get to live out my dreams, but it's something I'm very grateful for. 'If somebody was going to listen to the comments I had this week, I would encourage them to listen to all of it, and I hope I did a good job communicating that this is amazing to win the Open Championship. But at the end of the day, having success in life, whether it be in golf, work, whatever it is, that's not what fulfills the deepest desires of your heart.' Pressed by reporters, Scheffler said: 'Just because you win a golf tournament or accomplish something, it doesn't make you happy. It doesn't – maybe for a few moments, maybe for a few days, but at the end of the day, there's more to life than playing golf. I'm pretty excited to go home and celebrate this one.' Scheffler also played down comparisons with Tiger Woods. 'I still think they're a bit silly. Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf.' Scheffler, who lifted the Claret Jug with one arm while holding his 14‑month‑old son Bennett, also revealed that his love of golf was already being passed down to his offspring. 'It's very cool to have him here,' Scheffler said. 'He obviously has no clue what's going on. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'Bennett started swinging a club back and forth. I put a golf ball down, and he hit it. To be able to occupy a one-year-old with anything is probably a pretty good thing for them to be able to focus on. 'It's pretty special to be able to celebrate here with my family. I hope Bennett's able to get into golf one day. The game of golf has taught me a tremendous amount. I feel like every day you go out and play golf you're looking in the mirror, and I've met some of my best friends through the game of golf. 'It's a very special game. You call penalties on yourself, and it's just – you learn a lot of good life lessons by playing golf. I hope he can play one day, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.'
BBC News
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Scheffler 'living dreams' but 'more to life than golf'
Scottie Scheffler says he is "living out his dreams" after winning the Open Championship at Royal Portrush, but reiterated in his moment of triumph that there is "more to life than playing golf".American Scheffler anesthetised his rivals on the final day in Northern Ireland, with a composed exhibition of front-running to maintain his overnight four-shot lead. The 29-year-old world number one has now won four majors in three years, as well as an Olympic gold medal, and needs just the US Open to become one of seven men to complete a career Grand he started this week by questioning why he even plays a sport that has earned him £65m in prize money alone. Scheffler said on Tuesday it was "not a fulfilling life" and that the zealous pursuit of wins is "something I wrestle with on a daily basis".Speaking in the aftermath of his Open success, he conceded that he perhaps did not make his point as well as he had hoped, but stood by his senitments."We live in a day and age where clickbait is what people look for and you can shorten a five-minute clip into three words," Scheffler said. "I think it underestimates what I was trying to communicate. "I've worked my entire life to become good at this game and play for a living. It's one of the great joys of my life and to win The Open is a feeling that's hard to describe."Am I grateful for it? Do I enjoy it? Oh, my gosh, yes, this is a cool feeling. But having success in life is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart. "Just because you win a golf tournament doesn't make you happy - but I'm pretty excited to celebrate this one." 'When I saw my family, that was pretty special' Scheffler said he intends to leave for home in Texas later on Sunday and "celebrate with the people that have helped me along the way".After he tapped in on the 18th an hour or so earlier - and the crowds offered their throaty approval - the first person he looked for was wife spotting her, and 14-month-old son Bennett, who was toddling on to the green, Scheffler's typically muted response changed. He hurled his hat into the sky, roared with delight, and lumbered with arms outstretched towards trio embraced before Scheffler retrieved his hat and left the green with a bemused Bennett nestled in crook of his left arm."When I saw my family, that was a pretty special feeling," said Scheffler, who insisted earlier in the week that he would quit golf if it started to impact upon his family."It's one that's very hard to describe. It's something I'm very grateful for and something that I'll hold onto for a long time."
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Think you understand Scottie Scheffler? Think again.
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — This here was going to be about Scottie Scheffler trying to find his way. His way around the fifth Open Championship appearance of his career. His way around the links at Royal Portrush. His way, perhaps, to the three-quarter mile marker in golf's career Grand Slam. A golf story. Advertisement Except then Scheffler started talking, and the room started shifting, and his management started squirming. Who cares about pot bunkers when this happens? Out of nowhere, the honest-to-goodness best golfer, perhaps the most unexplored mega-star in all professional sports, decided to let everyone inside. 'Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf?' Scheffler responded Tuesday morning, answering the final question of his pre-tournament press conference. '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.' All well and good. But Scheffler kept pulling on the thread. '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,' he continued, raising eyes away from notebooks and iPhones. '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.' Maybe it's the Irish air. Maybe it's getting one year closer to 30. Whatever it is, Scheffler, an athlete often capable of saying a lot and revealing little, poured forth an answer that is likely to stay with him for a long time. Now pens were moving. 'There's a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they're like, what's the point?' Scheffler said. 'I really do believe that. Because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.' This version of Scheffler — Nihilist Scottie — has shown face before. Last summer, prior to the Paris Olympics, he was asked about the possible significance of winning a gold medal and carving a place in the pantheon of sports. He responded by shrugging and giving the least-Olympic answer imaginable: 'I don't focus much on legacy. I don't look too far into the future. Ultimately, we'll be forgotten.' The moment made for some easy quips. — Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) August 1, 2024 Tuesday, though, went further. And wit wasn't necessary. This Scheffler is worth understanding. He kept going … 'We work so hard for such little moments,' he continued. 'I'm kind of sicko; I love putting in the work. I love getting to practice. I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don't understand the point.' Advertisement The room laughed. Both in agreement and amazement. 'I don't know if I'm making any sense or not,' Scheffler said to longtime Associated Press golf reporter Doug Ferguson, the one who uncorked all this. 'Am I not?' He was. But the faces looking back at Scheffler couldn't quite believe what they were hearing. '(Golf) is one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart?' Scheffler said, before answering a question that wasn't asked. 'Absolutely not.' Scheffler's stream of consciousness was worth hearing because it was free of intention. This wasn't planned. His team didn't craft this. Nor was it a self-serious, esoteric illumination. No. This was real and honest and open — as if Scheffler was trying to figure it out as he went along. At 29, he has now sat atop the world rankings for 148 of the last 173 weeks, won two Masters and emerged as one of the faces of the PGA Tour. Winning more than $130 million on the golf course doesn't mean he doesn't question his day-to-day existence just like the rest of us. He kept going … 'Every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard,' Scheffler said. 'When I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. I'm blessed to be able to come out here and play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living. 'This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That's why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me?' The questions Scheffler is asking himself are likely different than many would assume. A certain staid version of Scottie Scheffler was fairly cemented long ago. The guy who aw-shucks his way to win after win. The wholesome family man. The devout Christian. Not exactly Nietzsche. But Scheffler's ability to avoid tying his identity to being the world's best golfer is actually a helluva explanation for why he's the world's best golfer. Advertisement Raymond Prior, a performance psychologist who's worked with several major champions, explained in a conversation with The Athletic this past spring the difference between those who care about the big picture versus those who question what that picture reveals. 'What the research tells us is the more you're trying to smother your inner experience, the more f—ed you are, pardon my language,' Prior said. 'I can have whatever thoughts and feelings without necessarily needing to do anything with them. I can shift my focus to, what if I just did the thing in front of me, which is technically the only thing that I actually have to do. I don't need to manage other people's opinions. I don't need to insure my legacy. I don't need to save myself from my past. The only thing I need to do is get this golf ball started and see how it plays out.' Going further, the emptiness Scheffler feels between who he is and the game he plays does, in fact, have a place in his faith. Take a look at Ecclesiastes. Or just leave it to an Irish poet to sum things up. As W.B. Yeats put it: 'Where there is nothing, there is God.' Scheffler wrapped up his Tuesday press conference by making it clear he maintains 'a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation' for his accomplishments and his place in the game. At the same time, one more time, he wanted you to understand — life is larger than a golf ball. 'I love being able to come out here and compete,' he said, 'but at the end of the day, it's not what satisfies me, if that makes sense.' It does.
RNZ News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Midday Sports News for 19 June 2025
Golfer Dame Lydia Ko needs just one more major victory to complete a career grand slam and feels the PGA Championship is one that she could win. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
