On Sunday, golf\u2019s oldest major championship went to a player who expresses zero interest about any of the above. Scheffler, who just turned 29, isn\u2019t very online. His only viral moment this week, in winning the Open Championship in Northern Ireland, was a moment at his pre-tournament press conference, when he waxed about how little satisfaction he gets from winning tournaments. Scheffler does not find a lot of fulfillment <\/a>in his own golf, let alone in growing the game. He draws satisfaction from family instead.<\/p>\n Scheffler had already earned the designation of \u201cmost dominant player since Tiger Woods,\u201d but his dominance at Royal Portrush means we can use broader language. Scheffler won by four shots, taking all drama out of a tournament that had a bunch of big names (including Rory McIlroy, playing in his home country) hoping he would slip up. He led by four entering Sunday, and the man playing with him in the last group, Chinese journeyman Haotong Li, said he was playing for second. (He finished T-4.) Scheffler joined<\/a> Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player as the fourth guy to win the Masters, PGA Championship, and Open Championship before he turned 30. He is about to spend his 150th week as the No. 1 player in the world, more than anyone since Woods. He is now, indisputably, the best post-Tiger player.<\/p>\n He is an awkward fit for that mantle, given how golf tries to shapeshift around him. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s like him,\u201d Jordan Spieth, Scheffler\u2019s fellow Texas alum, told reporters Sunday. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t care to be a superstar. He\u2019s not transcending the game like Tiger did. He\u2019s not bringing it to a non-golf audience necessarily. He doesn\u2019t want to go do the stuff that a lot of us go do, corporately, anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Spieth would understand this dynamic better than just about anyone. A decade ago, Spieth was the sport\u2019s sensation. He won three majors early in his career, reached No. 1 in the world, and seemed like he would have a long ride near the top. He\u2019s a popular pitchman for Under Armour, AT&T, and a big batch of other brands. He has three kids and seems like he enjoys his life. He has not managed to have all of that and remain the best player in the world. He hasn\u2019t been a factor at the biggest tournaments in years.<\/p>\n That may sound like a setup to juxtapose Spieth with Scheffler as a Tiger-like golf obsessive who has thrown all other important things out of his life, neglected his family responsibilities, and committed himself fully to becoming a golf cyborg. But that\u2019s not Scheffler at all. He avoids a lot of the commercial work that Spieth mentioned, but it\u2019s shocking how much of himself he leaves for things other than the pursuit of golf dominance. Members of his family are with him at many tournaments, so often that his wife, Meredith, and baby, Bennett, are often referenced by their first name only on golf broadcasts, like \u201cLeBron.\u201d Scheffler enjoys playing matches with his friends in Texas, regular civilians who might carry 10 handicaps<\/a>. \u201cHe has hobbies,\u201d Spieth said. \u201cHe\u2019s always with his family. They\u2019re always doing stuff.\u201d Spieth sees a \u201cdifference in personality from any other superstar that you\u2019ve seen in the modern era in maybe any sport.\u201d<\/p>\n This internal harmony has made Scheffler mind-numbingly boring to watch. He does not hit bad shots, and when he does, his immediate recoveries are a good reminder that on the right weekend, nobody else has even a chance. Scheffler\u2019s four major wins have all been blowouts, ever since he double-bogeyed the 72nd hole at the 2022 Masters and still beat McIlroy by three.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Alex Kirshner <\/a><\/p>\n There was only one moment all weekend at Portrush in which it felt like Scheffler might not win. It came when he dumped an uncharacteristic wedge shot into the fescue left of the course\u2019s 11th hole on Saturday, as McIlroy and others lurked. Surely Scheffler would at least make a bogey, maybe worse, and the tournament would become more interesting. Or not. Scheffler hacked out of the high stuff, made an easy enough par putt, and moved on with his day. He did not make a bogey on the round. When Scheffler is cooking like this, there is nobody in the world\u2014save for an overzealous Louisville police officer<\/a>\u2014who can disrupt him.<\/p>\n DISASTER for Scottie Scheffler on 11. <\/p>\n Just kidding. Easy par. \ud83d\ude05 pic.twitter.com\/Ml7LHfnNqi<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) July 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It is a notable coincidence that Scheffler exists at the same time so many business interests are trying to make golf appear zesty and new-age. Having such a thoroughly boring world No. 1 isn\u2019t why LIV Golf exists, or why YouTube players now have so much traction, or why Tiger\u2019s new indoor golf league on a big screen<\/a> now gets air time on ESPN. Those ventures are a response to other things: golf\u2019s timeless ability to attract with well-connected and wealthy audiences, plus an influx of new recreational players since the pandemic<\/a>. But the implicit foundation of all of these things is a simple idea: that golf would be more fun if it got a fresh coat of paint. LIV plays music at its tournaments. YouTubers don\u2019t tuck in their shirts, and they talk trash with each other as they hit cool-looking shots. Tiger\u2019s \u201cTomorrow\u2019s Golf League\u201d posits that with less need for land and more technology, more people will find their way to golf.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ve Hated Billy Joel for Decades, but HBO\u2019s Big New Doc at Least Made Me Realize Something <\/p>\n The Right Has Turned on Two Wholesome, Christian HGTV Stars for an Entirely Predictable Reason <\/p>\n Netflix\u2019s New Murder Mystery Might Give You a Heart Attack <\/p>\n Owen Wilson\u2019s Apple TV+ Show Could Be Great. But There\u2019s a Fundamental Problem. There is some evidence pointing in this direction. Golf participation really is up, and it\u2019s hard to decouple that from such a massive creator ecosystem pumping golf into our algorithms at all times. But all sorts of golf tournaments have had a hard time getting people to watch them on TV\u2014even the Masters, before McIlroy delivered an iconic Sunday<\/a> this year. LIV has been a ratings flop<\/a>, earning lots of social media attention but few fans. In 2004, according to Gallup<\/a>, only 2 percent of Americans said golf was their favorite sport to watch. In 2023, just 1 percent did. All of that is to say that the jury remains out on how effective all the \u201cgrow the game\u201d efforts have been in, well, growing the game, and how much of the sport\u2019s recreational growth stems from its availability as an outdoor activity in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n That Scheffler is the best player post-Woods does raise a point, though. Spieth was astute to point out that golf\u2019s greatest player isn\u2019t bringing golf to non-golf audiences. If there is any work being done right now to make golf more appealing to people who might otherwise not be interested, that work isn\u2019t coming from the best player alive or his golf tour. Maybe it\u2019s coming from YouTubers, but maybe\u2014just maybe\u2014it\u2019s not coming from anywhere. The key to Scheffler\u2019s brilliance is that he doesn\u2019t make that his problem.<\/p>\n Get the best of movies, TV, books, music, and more.\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/4be13487-a9fb-4787-baf7-2b4b5019abba.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\n This New Travel Trend Is Absurd and Exhausting. You Might Want to Give It a Try.
\n Read More\n <\/p>\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n