“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 two major victories at the Masters, the so-called ‘fifth major’ at The Players which he successfully defended in 2024, a total of 13 PGA Tour trophies, 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 in 2023.
Or being unable to contribute a winning point as your heavily favoured US team is 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 said about reacting to elation and disappointment. “I try not to keep any of that stuff with me for too long.”
OK then, which one lasts longer?
“I don’t know,” Scheffler admitted. “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.”
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He adds: “After I won the Masters (in 2022), 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.
But 2024 was better. He won seven times on the PGA Tour including another Masters, but not including the Olympic Gold Medal and another Hero World Challenge triumph.
In a quite remarkable feat of hitting, he was PGA Tour Player of the Year for the third straight year. His scoring average of 68.65 also gave him the Byron Nelson Award. The trinkets have been piling up.
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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 again at the Players in March, 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 a press conference at The Sentry at the start of 2024.
“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.”
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Scottie Scheffler Players: What a remarkable run in 2024
The numbers were sensational in 2024. 19 events, seven wins, and no missed cuts in an entire season. From The Sentry in January until the Tour Championship in August, Scheffler finished outside of the top 25 twice.
But what were the highlights?
March – Arnold Palmer Invitational
Scheffler’s first victory of 2024 came at the Arnold Palmer Invitational which was the second time he’d won at Bay Hill.
He beat Wyndham Clark by five shots and recorded the largest margin of victory at the event since Tiger Woods won by five shots in 2012.
March – The Players
Coming into Sawgrass on the back of a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the World No. 1 dominated The Players again – carding a 64 in the final round to win the event by one shot and retain the trophy, something a player had never done.
April – The Masters
After winning the Masters in 2022, Scheffler won his second title at Augusta National in 2024 in a similarly dominant fashion. Ludvig Aberg and Collin Morikawa tried their best, but he won by four shots and became the fifth player to win the Masters twice before turning 28.
April – RBC Heritage
Scheffler won his fourth trophy in five events at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head. He beat Sahith Theegala by three shots to win in back-to-back weeks for the second time in 2024.
June – Memorial
Collin Morikawa was the bridesmaid again at Muirfield Village. Scheffler edged him by a shot despite shooting two-over-par in the final round.
June – Travelers
Scheffler earned his sixth win of the season at the Travelers Championship by beating his pal Tom Kim in a playoff at TPC River Highlands. It was his 12th PGA Tour title.
August – Olympic Games
Scheffler was overcome with emotion when standing at the top of the Olympic podium at Le Golf National near Paris, donning the Gold Medal for the USA. He shot a final-round 62 to beat Tommy Fleetwood of Team GB who had to settle for a silver medal.
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Now have your say
What do you make of Scottie Scheffler’s Players triumph? Can he go back-to-back-to-back? Can you see another Scottie Scheffler Players win in 2025? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
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