Scottie Scheffler talks to the media in front of the 2025 player championship.
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Scottie Scheffler is almost as efficient in his words as he is with his golf shooting. He talks as he swings – accurately. Which means that when he says something to grab his ear, it’s worth listening to twice as much.
Enter the Tuesday press conference in front of the player championship. Whereas the other oppressors – namely that of the PGA Tour Jay Monahan Commissioner, who preceded Scheffler in the friend – concentrated at the point From the agreement-or-palate between PGA Tour and Liv Golf supporters, Scheffler’s concentration was largely in the action between ropes; His golf specifically.
And then he threw this part of the wisdom: “I feel like every time Golf is playing, he is looking at a mirror and learning more and more about yourself.”
This came in response to a question if it was tougher to win by coming from behind or winning in an explosion. Scheffler drew it; He is used to divert the questions that ask him to contextualize his achievements. But that penetration – to learn something whenever you play – spoke directly about the beauty and understanding of his chosen sport. “You are trying to manage your emotions, manage your skill set. If you play Golf means learning about yourself, then what has Scheffler discovered?
Last year at the event, Scheffler said, he achieved a lot. A solid neck led him to receive internal treatment and improvise his shaky shoot. He was proud of how he responded along the way to his second consecutive victory of players.
“I would say that last year this tournament was one of the best shows I had in my career, for sure,” he said, an extremely honest acceptance. “I think the way I played injured on Friday and Saturday to keep myself in the tournament developed a lot, a lot of heart.”
The way he talked about TPC Sawgrass was also telling. If you learn something from the way you play, the way you prepare says something to you too. The mindset you bring says something. Scheffler seems to appreciate the challenge of this chess table Pete. An opportunity to prove what he is capable of.
“I think there is a lot of genius in the golf course,” he said, scoring holes in his mind. Nr. 1 requires a finger pale and a draw in green, while no. 2 requires a draw from tee, no. 4 and 5 a pallor from tee, no. 6 and 7 a draw, etc.
“It requires different shots in each hole. You have to work the ball in both ways. You have to play shots, ”he said with admiration. And from year to year the challenge is different.
“In a soft year, if it’s soft and windy, you should really check your golf ball, hit a lot of cute shots, check your rotation around the greens, and then if it is strong and windy, you also control your spin, but another way at another height. I say, the golf course can simply challenge you in different ways, and I think this is what makes it a great test. “
How does he see the game, he is showing. A reporter asked Scheffler what golf means; His answer was simple but specific.
“One of the things I want to do at home with my friends is going out and playing golf,” he said. “It is very rare for you to be able to spend that time very uninterrupted with someone, and I feel like when you are playing with gambling or having fun with your friends is just one of the most cheerful things you can do.
“It’s one thing I love. I like to be able to compete. I like to be able to joke, laugh at myself and go out and have fun and compete a little. Golf is great for that. ”
It would be incomplete to talk about Scheffler’s relationship with his career without mentioning his belief; He informs his approach to competition and so it was interesting to hear reference results as out of his control.
“My goal is to be so prepared that I can be when I go to the first peak, and from there I can just go out and enjoy competing and not worry about the results because they are already located,” he said.
This is, of course, more easily said than it is. Scheffler’s only human, which means that leaving his best leg, pressure and context, remains his constant focus. And so, the way he measures success is much more about the process than the results.
“When I think of success, I don’t think to be the best player in the world. I think about my stay in the Golf course and my preparation. These are the two things I focus on. If I can prepare when I go to the first thesis and if I can have a good attitude on every blow, this is a successful week,” Scheffler said. So how has this passed so far this season, through the sudden return of a hand injury?
Scheffler used as an example of last week’s Arnold Palmer.
“I would say about about 60 tournaments of the tournament I had a pretty good attitude,” he said. “I think I allow Bay Hill maybe get me one more touch than I should have.” Here he was referring to the icy greens and the unpredictability of the golf. “(I) hit the right road, I have a muddy ball and I’m like,” How can you get a mud ball when the greens are dead? “And then now I’m standing there hitting a pond and having mud in my ball and I have no idea where it will go.”
Sixty holes from 72 means that Scheffler is doing very well. But it is hardly 100 percent. “The other are some things mentally probably where I wish I could have some things back,” he concluded. In other words, there is room for improvement.
So if you play Golf means looking in a mirror, it is clear that Scheffler is mostly pleased with what you see. He seems to have someone looking back what he likes to compete. Who loves the challenge. Who stays focused on the small things. Who is trying to appreciate his broad achievements without letting them affect his process. Who is happy to be here but is not JUST happy to be here.
There must be a pleasure to see your reflection and realize that the best in the world is looking back. But in choosing a Scheffler mirror caught in something deep, something that separates it from a camera: it is unable to reflect the past. This tells you while you are in that correct moment. Which means that what you did last year or a year ago does not do you very well.
“Last year is last year,” he said. He feels grateful for that success, he added. He lived lived “a full life” in just one year. But now? “My goal is to be as prepared as possible when I go to the first peak and then I want to have a good attitude when I go out and play over every blow.”
Next to an approach that has reflected them well so far.
Dylan Dothier is an elderly writer for Golf Magazine/Golf.com. Native Williamstown, Mass. Dothier is a graduate of Williams College, where he graduated in English, and he is the author of 18 in Americawhich details last year as an 18-year-old living out of his car and playing a round of golf in every state.
