Deep thoughts with Scottie Scheffler
World No. 1 wonders 'what's the point?' and endorses LIV bid for ranking points
Scottie Scheffler says winning isn’t as fulfilling as you’d think (Stuart Franklin/R&A via Getty Images)
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — After winning the British Open and reaching No. 1 in the world, David Duval had a existential crisis. “Is this all there is?” he asked himself. His career was never the same after that.
Scottie Scheffler has already done more than Duval ever did. He owns two green jackets and three majors and has been atop of the world rankings for 113 consecutive weeks since a runner-up finish at the 2023 PGA Championship — the longest streak of any player not named Tiger Woods.
Yet on the eve of the Open Championship in which he’s — as usual — a favorite to win, Scheffler sounded a lot like Duval once did.
“There are 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 in his Tuesday press conference at Royal Portrush. “I really do believe that, because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?”
Scheffler has this game as close to figured out as any current golfer gets in a sport that has more futility than success. Since finishing two shots back of Brooks Koepka at Oak Hill in that 2023 PGA, he has been on a tear. He’d already won six times in 104 starts to that point, but he’s been at another level since.
He’s won 12 times (including the Olympics and two Heros) during his more than two-year stint as world No. 1 and accumulated a total of 71 career top-10 finishes.
The run has kept Scheffler at the top of the rankings and propelled his winning percentage to 11 percent, and his top-10 percentage has hovered around 49 percent over the last two years.
To put Scheffler’s career in perspective is to look at the greatest names in the game.
Tiger Woods’ winning percentage is 21.6 percent. Jack Nicklaus’ 12.5 percent. Ben Hogan’s 21.3 percent. Byron Nelson’s 18.1 percent. Sam Snead’s 14 percent. Arnold Palmer’s 9 percent. Phil Mickelson’s 6.7 percent.
The 11 percent is not the greatest (it would be even with Nicklaus if you add in the Olympics and Heroes), but it’s still an astounding figure in golf. Yet for Scheffler, his generational success gives him pause. The why is something that the 29-year-old struggles with.
“That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis,” he said. “It’s like showing up at the Masters every year; it’s like why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly?
“I don’t know because, if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes. Then we’re going to get to the next week, ‘Hey, you won two majors this year; how important is it for you to win the FedEx Cup playoffs?’ And we’re back here again.”
Winning is not, per se, a drug that he has to have, but more of a validation for the work and effort he put in before the victory. Scheffler sees his job as working hard and putting in the work and practicing, all while living out his dream of playing professional golf.
“So we really do — we work so hard for such little moments,” he said. “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.”
Whatever euphoria Scheffler feels by winning and proving better than the rest is fleeting.
At the same time, what Scheffler described as the “euphoric” feeling of winning was gone before sundown.
“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,” he explained. “You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, ‘OK, 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 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.”
To date, Scheffler has coped well despite that lack of fulfillment — certainly much better than Duval did when he was on top of the world. How long just putting in the work and punching the clock at trophy ceremonies can sustain him remains to be seen.
No. 1 endorses LIV inclusion in rankings
If it were up to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, everyone should be part of the Official World Golf Ranking system established in 1986 by International Management Group executive Mark McCormack.
In an off-again, on-again attempt by LIV Golf to earn world ranking points, it has reapplied for membership last week. They had withdrawn their initial application in March 2024, citing “a resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility, and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists.”
Now, 16 months later, LIV is back at the altar hoping for a forgiving and understanding suitor. Is the tide turning?
“I think having the ability to rank all the golfers in the world is really important,” Scheffler said when asked about the LIV application. “When you have guys always playing a different schedule, it can be tough to rank player versus player.”
 |
|