SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER IS CHASING THE CLARET JUG AT THE BRITISH OPEN AND SEARCHING FOR WHAT IT ALL MEANS
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Scottie Scheffler has won more tournaments and majors than anyone over the last three years. He is No. 1 in the world and no one is close to him. Nothing would mean more to him than leaving Royal Portrush with the silver claret jug.
And then?
That’s where golf gets a little complicated for Scheffler, who loves his job and all the work it entails, but who found himself searching Tuesday for what it all means.
He delivered an amazing soliloquy ahead of the British Open about fulfillment. The short answer: It’s not the two Masters green jackets, the Wanamaker Trophy he won at the PGA Championship, the three Jack Nicklaus Awards as PGA Tour player of the year or the FedEx Cup.
“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,” Scheffler said.
“But at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers,” he said. “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.”
His comments came in a year when Rory McIlroy fulfilled his life dream of winning the Masters, which gave him the career Grand Slam. McIlroy spoke last month about growing weary of being asked about his next set of goals, the next mountain he wants to climb.
“I probably just didn’t give myself enough time to let it all sink in. But that’s the nature of professional golf,” McIlroy said. “They do a very good job of keeping you on the hamster wheel, and you feel like it’s hard to get off at times.”
This is where Scheffler might be different. He seems to enjoy the hamster wheel. There is no next mountain to find because he’s busy scaling the one he is on.
He loves the chase. He wants the prize. He finds satisfaction in putting in the work. The thrill comes from competition. Scheffler also hates losing, no matter what’s at stake.
“Scottie don’t play games when he’s playing games,” said his caddie, Ted Scott.
They played a match at Cypress Point this year. It was Scheffler’s fourth day swinging a club since puncturing his right hand with a wine glass in a freak accident while making ravioli.
Scheffler gave him 10 shots, and the countdown began.
Scott his his approach into 5 feet and was feeling good about his chances, right up until Scheffler’s shot spun back and hit his caddie’s golf ball. They both made birdie. Scheffler won the next hole and said loud enough for Scott to hear, “Nine.”
He won the next hole with a par and said even louder, “EIGHT.”
“He was 6 under through six,” Scott said. “I gave him the $100 and said: ‘Don’t say anything else. I want to enjoy my day.’”
This is what drives Scheffler — winning the Masters, winning a bet with his caddie, winning anything. He has won 19 times since his first title at the 2022 Phoenix Open. Strictly by his math, that would be 38 minutes worth of celebrating.
“Sometimes the feeling only lasts about two minutes,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting and fun, but it just doesn’t last that long.”
So where does fulfillment come from if it’s not winning?
Scheffler is grounded in his faith, in a simple family life with a wife he has been with since high school, a 15-month-old son, three sisters and friends that are not part of the tour community.
“I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life,” he said. “But does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.”
He often says golf doesn’t define him as a person, and he said if it reached a point where the sport ever affected life at home, “that’s going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.”
He’s had moments of appreciation, for sure.
There was one moment last summer when his wife, Meredith, was in the living room and he was in his office. He walked out with the Masters green jacket and the plaid jacket from winning Hilton Head. He had The Players Championship trophy in one hand and another trophy in his other hand.
“Wassup, Mere,” he said to his wife.
Scheffler laughed telling the story. He’s not sure why he did it, except it was fun. And then it was back to work. There’s always the next tournament.
“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?’ 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.
“It’s like showing up at the Masters every year. 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,” he said. “Because, if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes.
“Then we’re going to get to the next week.”
Xander Schauffele spent time with him at the Olympics last summer. Schauffele won two majors last year, including the claret jug. What they have in common is not lingering on laurels.
“That’s why he’s been No. 1 and hasn’t even sniffed looking backwards,” Schauffele said. “If he was sitting there looking at all his trophies every day, I’m sure he’d still be playing great golf, but I don’t think he’s that guy.”
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU CHASING OPEN BREAKTHROUGH IN ‘THICK WIND’
Bryson DeChambeau chuckled when he said it last year but there’s no denying the difference between plan and execution when playing in challenging conditions that are typically par for the course in The Open Championship.
DeChambeau missed the cut with 10 bogeys in 36 holes at the Open in 2024 at Royal Troon, where he made the comment he can do it when conditions are “warm and not windy.” In 2023, he got in all four rounds but tied for 60th at 7-over.
Of course, perfect isn’t in the forecast for the first round of the 153rd Open Championship with temperatures at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush expected to reach 70 degrees with rain and 18 mph wind gusts.
DeChambeau, 31, has come to appreciate the Open challenges — part mental, part physical and a double dose of balancing flammable emotions. He said Tuesday it’s “pretty simple to talk about but sometimes difficult to execute” the perfect approach in this tournament.
For starters this week, DeChambeau wants to keep it simple: avoid bunkers and putt better than ever.
“Just try to be as strategic as possible and put the ball in a place where I can give myself good chances for birdie but also not give myself too many difficult places to play from is the goal,” DeChambeau said.
With a top-10 in the Open at St. Andrews in 2022 on his record, DeChambeau knows he can contend if he executes that plan. Recent performances on the LIV Golf circuit in windy conditions at Miami and at Real Club Valderrama in Andalucia last week add more confidence, but DeChambeau was quick to point out this week’s conditions will be different.
“Heavy wind is a great way to describe it. It’s thick,” DeChambeau said of the Northern Ireland gusts. “It just — OK, I’m not going to say that. You know, it’s one of those situations where you’re in the environment and you go, ‘All right, this feels like a 15-mile-an-hour wind.’ And all of a sudden it plays like a 30-mile-an-hour wind, and you’re like, what the heck? So I think that’s the trick of it. If you grew up here, you play a lot of golf over here, you get quite comfortable and knowledgeable about that. I just need more reps in a sense.
“Hopefully I’ve had enough reps to be able to do that. I played well in some windy conditions. Andalucia was a good test last week in the first few days. Played well. But again, the wind is different from there to here. We’ll see how it goes this week. Hopefully it stays warm and my body stays warm.”
A big finish in Ireland, coupled with top fives at The Masters and PGA Championship, would likely solidify DeChambeau’s spot on Keegan Bradley’s roster for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
DeChambeau said he’s highly aware of the Ryder Cup decision — he is currently ranked 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking — but he is counting on the self-applied pressure to bring out his best this week.
“I feel pressure every week to play good for not only Keegan but myself, and the people that I love online and everybody that’s watching me. I absolutely feel pressure,” he said.
“I put enough pressure on myself already. For my country, for the game of golf, I do … but I’m excited for the challenge. It makes me more excited. When I feel those nerves, I’m like, OK, let’s go. It’s like I’ll walk through the fire rather than run away from it for me.”
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP TEE TIMES: DEFENDING CHAMP SCHAUFFELE, SCHEFFLER GROUPS OUT EARLY
The 153rd Open Championship begins at 1:35 a.m. ET Thursday morning at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.
Below are the scheduled pairings for the opening round and viewing options.
Thursday’s featured groups
(All times ET)
4:58 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Jon Rahm
5:09 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
9:48 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose
9:59 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland
10:10 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
First round tee times
(All times ET; (a) amateur)
1:35 a.m. — Padraig Harrington, Nicolai Hojgaard, Tom McKibbin
1:46 a.m. — Louis Oosthuizen, Guido Migliozzi, K.J. Choi
1:57 a.m. — Cameron Smith, Marco Penge, Justin Hastings (a)
2:08 a.m. — Jason Day, Taylor Pendrith, Jacob Skov Olesen
2:19 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, Daniel van Tonder, Ryan Peake
2:30 a.m. — Max Greyserman, Byeong Hun An, Niklas Norgaard
2:41 a.m. — Jordan Smith, Haotong Li, Dustin Johnson
2:52 a.m. — Darren Clarke, Davis Riley, Lucas Herbert
3:03 a.m. — Kevin Yu, Julien Guerrier, Mikiya Akutsu
3:14 a.m. — Thomas Detry, Chris Gotterup, Lee Westwood
3:25 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young, Mackenzie Hughes
3:36 a.m. — Thorbjorn Olesen, Matthew Jordan, Filip Jakubcik (a)
3:47 a.m. — Henrik Stenson, Stephan Jaeger, Sebastian Soderberg
4:03 a.m. — Kristoffer Reitan, Martin Couvra, Adrien Saddier
4:14 a.m. — Takumi Kanaya, Justin Walters, Bryan Newman (a)
4:25 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick
4:36 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia
4:47 a.m. — Sam Burns, Aldrich Potgieter, Brooks Koepka
4:58 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Jon Rahm
5:09 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
5:20 a.m. — Corey Conners, Wyndham Clark, Tom Hoge
5:31 a.m. — Denny McCarthy, Nico Echavarria, Patrick Reed
5:42 a.m. — Matt Schmid, Ryggs Johnston, Richard Teder (a)
5:53 a.m. — Dylan Naidoo, Darren Fichardt, John Axelsen
6:04 a.m. — Justin Suh, Oliver Lindell, Jesper Sandborg
6:15 a.m. — Sadom Kaewkanjana, Riki Kawamoto, Sampson Zheng
6:26 a.m. — Stewart Cink, Matteo Manassero, Marc Leishman
6:47 a.m. — Francesco Molinari, Jesper Svensson, Connor Graham (a)
6:58 a.m. — Zach Johnson, Daniel Hillier, Daniel Brown
7:09 a.m. — Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a)
7:20 a.m. — Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia
7:31 a.m. — Andrew Novak, Matthieu Pavpn, Matt Wallace
7:42 a.m. — Davis Thompson, Dean Burmester, Rikuya Hoshino
7:53 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Shugo Imahira, Sebastian Cave (a)
8:04 a.m. — Michael Kim, Bud Cauley, John Parry
8:15 a.m. — Matt McCarty, Shaun Norris, Angel Hidalgo
8:26 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Daniel Berger
8:37 a.m. — Rasmus Hojgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Romain Langasque
8:48 a.m. — Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall
9:04 a.m. — Justin Leonard, Thriston Lawrence, Antoine Rozner
9:15 a.m. — J.T. Poston, Chris Kirk, Carlos Ortiz
9:26 a.m. — Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann
9:37 a.m. — Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee
9:48 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose
9:59 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland
10:10 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
10:21 a.m. — Harris English, Nick Taylor, Tony Finau
10:32 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Johnattan Vegas, Tom Kim
10:43 a.m. — Brian Campbell, John Catlin, Frazer Jones (a)
10:54 a.m. — Nathan Kimsey, Jason Kokrak, Cameron Adam (a)
11:04 a.m. — Daniel Young, Curtis Luck, Curtis Knipes
11:16 a.m. — Younghan Song, George Bloor, O.J. Farrell
How to watch The Open Championship
(All times ET)
1:30-4 a.m.: Stream on Peacock
4 a.m-3:30 p.m.: USA Network, NBC Sports app, Peacock, Fubo
3:30-6 p.m.: Golf Channel
