On the eve of The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, the world number one and most dominant player since Tiger Woods made headlines for querying the point of it all.
Four rounds and 21 birdies later, Scottie Scheffler stood on the 18th green with the Claret Jug in one hand and son Bennett in the other, while his rivals were wondering exactly the same thing.
Scheffler admits his unprompted philosophical introspection for meaning followed a deeply personal inner search for his ‘why’.
Why he plays, why he cares and why he invests so much time, effort and energy into being the best in the world.
“It would almost be easier if I didn’t want to win this badly,” he said this week at Royal Birkdale.
It was a fascinating insight into the mind of an elite athlete but Scheffler admits he strayed a bit too far.
“I think I’ll try to keep that stuff to myself this week,” he added. “It’s weird I said that stuff last year.”
Yet he couldn’t resist.
With every interview filmed, clipped up and shared around the world, those in Scheffler’s position can be understandably cautious during press conferences.
But he was asked about the importance of his legacy and could not help but open up once more. And like last year, it was fascinating.
“I don’t really play for a place in history,” he said.
“I have never once thought about how I’m going to be remembered.
“To me, it truly doesn’t matter from a sense of accomplishment. Like when I die, ‘hey, Scottie won four majors and 20 tournaments and he won this much money’. That has zero effect on me.