Scottie Scheffler might be the best golfer in the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that golf brings him deep contentment.
Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world who’s on the brink of a tournament that could eventually lead the 29-year-old to a career Grand Slam, told reporters at Royal Portrush Golf Club on Tuesday that he, despite his success in the sport, doesn’t equate being at the top of his game with a “fulfilling life.”
“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, speaking from The Open Championship in Northern Ireland.
“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.”
The man who won two Masters green jackets, the Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship, three Jack Nicklaus Awards as PGA Tour player of the year and the FedEx Cup, was clear in his message: despite all the winning he’s done, the success feels fleeting and isn’t truly filling up his cup.
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“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,” Scheffler said. “It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes.
That doesn’t mean Scheffler embraces losing, however. “It sucks (losing). I hate it, I really do. We work so hard for such little moments. I’m kind of sick, o; 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.
“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.”
His soliloquy echoes comments he’s often made in the past, insisting that golf does not define him as a person. He said Tuesday that if it reached the 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.”
“That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis,” Scheffler said about the more unfulfilling aspects of the game. “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, because if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes.
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