Golfer Scottie Scheffler has given one of the greatest press conference responses of all time with a five-minute-long answer questioning the short-lived euphoria of winning golf’s biggest tournaments. Talking to reporters ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, Scheffler questioned whether a true sense of meaning can be derived by hitting the white ball.
For the record, Scheffler does an incredible job of hitting the little white ball: he is one of the hottest favourites to win the year’s final major championship. In fact, Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in a golf tournament since The Players Championship. He has added three more trophies to his display during this run of form, including the Wanamaker Trophy from the PGA Championship.
But Scheffler is not very happy at the hard work to satisfaction ratio in the sport. Here’s his long answer that’s now gone viral:
“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 kind of euphoric feeling. To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home, I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament. 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 began.
“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. To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special. But at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. 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.
“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; it’s like, 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. Then we’re going to get to the next week, hey, you won two majors this year; how important is it for you to win the FedExCup playoffs? And we’re back here again.
“So we really work so hard for such little moments. I’m kind of a sicko; 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.
Story continues below this ad
“I don’t know if I’m making any sense or not. Am I not? It’s just one of those deals. 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, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not,” said Scheffler in a remarkable response.
Watch: Scottie Scheffler’s amazing 5-minute-long response
Scheffler was not done. The golfer went on to add: “I love playing golf. I love being able to compete. I love living out my dreams. I love being a father. I love being able to take care of my son. I love being able to provide for my family out here playing golf,” he continued. “Every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. When I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. That’s why I talk about family being my priority because it really is. I’m blessed to be able to come out here and play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that’s going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.
“This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? Because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me.”
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
