Why Scottie Scheffler leaves the celebrating to others
From the Masters, to The Players, and World No 1, Scottie Scheffler has had plenty to get excited about. But as he prepares to defend his title at Sawgrass, you won’t find him getting drunk on success or freaked out by failure
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same…” Rudyard Kipling’s talismanic line from If, written nearly 130 years ago, feels made for the drama presented by victory and defeat in sport.
Especially golf, where even a year for the history books brings far more in defeat than it ever does in victory. The gaps between, the lows that dominate those fleeting highs of success, have sent some incredible talents into despair and the wilderness.
But not Scottie Scheffler. The ups have brought a major victory at the Masters, the so-called ‘fifth major’ at The Players, a total of six PGA Tour victories, and the coveted World No. 1 spot.
The downs? Try being the record holder for the biggest defeat in Ryder Cup history – on the end of a 9&7 foursomes shellacking by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg.
Or being unable to contribute a winning point as your heavily favoured US team are sent packing in yet another famous European victory.
How did Scheffler deal with both? How does he cope with both triumph and disaster as Kipling put it?
“Life goes on after wins, life goes on after losses,” he deadpans when posed the question at The Sentry at the start of the year. “I try not to keep any of that stuff with me for too long.”
OK then, which one last longer?
“I don’t know,” Scheffler admits. “You think about the Ryder Cup, that would probably be one of the tougher ones for me to swallow – going over there, not winning a match and feeling like I played good enough to win a couple of matches, our team not being able to win.
“I just kind of went on with my life. I really did. We just went on vacation. Then we were over there with some great friends, had the trip of a lifetime.”
He adds: “After I won the Masters, we just went home. So I don’t really know what to say. I don’t like to lose at all. I hate the feeling, and I love the feeling of winning, I really do.
“It’s a tremendous feeling, it’s a great thing to have at the end of years and years of hard work. It’s extremely gratifying to see the fruits of that labour and be able to win.”
Scheffler’s, of course, has enjoyed plenty of that. 2023 brought two victories – three if you count the 20-player invitational Hero World Challenge at the end of the year – along with 13-top 5s and 17 top-10s in 22 starts.
In a quite remarkable feat of hitting, he was PGA Tour Player of the Year for the second straight year. His scoring average of 68.6 also gave him the Bryson Nelson Award. The trinkets have been piling up.
Scottie Scheffler at The Players: ‘For me, it’s all about the preparation’
That doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
“I feel like I harp on preparation a lot, and so when I turn up to tournaments I want to be as prepared as possible,” he reveals.
“Then, when I step up on the first tee, I have a little conversation with myself, that I did everything that I could do to play good this week.
“I’m prepared. I’m going to have a good attitude, and then I’m just going to go out there and have fun and compete. For me, it’s all about the preparation, because then I can let go of the results.
“If I show up to a tournament ready to play, and I don’t play as I hope to, that’s OK. I did what I was supposed to do in order to play well, it just didn’t happen that week.”
By the time he arrives at TPC Sawgrass to defend that little gold trophy at the 50th Players next month, there may be even more metal on the mantelpiece.
For those so inclined, and that Ryder Cup aside, there have been plenty of moments in which to party. That may appeal to Scheffler’s wife, Meredith, but as his earlier Masters anecdote intimated, the bunting has been scarcely on show at Scottie Towers.
“I’ve always been one to kind of keep my head down,” he explains. “I’m not very good at celebrating, I don’t think. My wife is very good at that and I’m kind of the opposite in that sense. She’s always very excited.
“I’ve been able to reflect a little bit on where the game has taken me the last few years and it’s very special, but I try not to focus too much on the past or the future, just try and stay in the present and just kind of keep my head down.”
That begs the final question, asked by a prescient journalist at the press conference at The Sentry.
“If we can’t talk about the past or the future, what are we supposed to be doing with you sitting here in the present?”
“Well, we could talk about my pro-am today. I hit a good shot into 1.”
Scheffler’s remarkable run
The numbers were sensational. 23 events, two wins, and no missed cuts in an entire season. From The American Express in January until The Open in July, Scottie Scheffler didn’t post a single finish outside of the top 12.
But what were the highlights?
February – Phoenix Open
Scheffler’s 5th PGA Tour victory, and his first since the Masters in 2022, saw him become just the seventh player to defend in Arizona.
Sharing the lead at the halfway mark, he was two clear going into the final round and eased ahead of Nick Taylor.
March – The Players
Coming into Sawgrass on the back of a top 5 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the World No. 1 dominated The Players – bearing Tyrrell Hatton by five strokes. It was the largest margin of victory for 17 years.
April – The Masters
Tied for 10th in his defence of the Green Jacket, Scheffler also led the AT&T Byron Nelson at half-way but went on to finish tied for 5th. It was the first top 10 he’d posted in the event
May – PGA Championship
Again sharing the lead after 36 holes, Scheffler tied for runner-up as Brooks Koepka claimed his fifth major title.
June – US Open
Scottie keeps coming close, finishing tied for 3rd at the Charles Schwab Challenge and third on his own at the Memorial Tournament. At the US Open, he claims the bronze medal position once again as Wyndham Clark takes the trophy. It his third top 10 in a row in America’s national championship.
July – The Open
After tied 4th at the Travelers and tied 3rd at the Scottish Open, Scheffler’s streak finally comes to an end when he squeaks into the cut at The Open in difficult conditions at Royal Liverpool. He finishes tied for 23rd.
December – Hero World Challenge
Scheffler ended 2023 with a bang when seeing off Sepp Straka by three shots in the 20-player invitational.
Now have your say
What do you make of Scottie Scheffler’s Players triumph? Can he go back-to-back? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
