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<\/a><\/p>\nThe numbers are familiar already. One victory. Four runner-up finishes. Playoff losses at the RBC Heritage and the Travelers Championship. A run of 35 consecutive top-25 finishes before his Scottish Open flameout.<\/p>\n
A ranking this season among the top 15 in the four major statistical categories: Strokes gained total, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach and strokes gained putting.<\/p>\n
And yet \u2026<\/p>\n
Scheffler finds himself being asked what\u2019s different this year. Had Matt Fitzpatrick not nearly holed his approach shot on the first extra hole at Harbour Town in April or had Scheffler not missed a putt from inside five feet on the first extra hole of his playoff with Viktor Hovland at the Travelers the tone would be different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a very solid year, but \u2026 frustrating at times because I\u2019ve been close and I haven\u2019t been able to get it done like I have been in years past.\u201d \u2013 Scottie Scheffler<\/p>\n
The single biggest difference has been Scheffler\u2019s approach play. He\u2019s led the tour in that category the previous two years and he\u2019s 13th this year but his proximity to the hole has declined. He led that category last year and this year he\u2019s 103rd on tour, his approach shots on average five feet farther away than a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a very solid year, but \u2026 frustrating at times because I\u2019ve been close and I haven\u2019t been able to get it done like I have been in years past,\u201d Scheffler said in his pre-tournament media session, reiterating what has begun to sound like a mantra in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
It was a year ago, days before his name was etched into the Claret Jug, that Scheffler found himself in a philosophical discussion about what drives him as a golfer and the fleeting feeling of accomplishment he finds with each victory.<\/p>\n
Scheffler explained that the thrill of winning quickly fades but the satisfaction of having done the work and made the effort tends to endure. While winning trophies is the goal, Scheffler suggested he\u2019s driven by a more fundamental desire.<\/p>\n
When the topic was broached on Tuesday, Scheffler said it was \u201cweird\u201d that he talked about those feelings last year and he hoped he explained himself properly.<\/p>\n
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The popularity of Scheffler, shown signing autographs at Royal Birkdale, has not waned. Oisin Keniry, R&A via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess the point for me was like always figuring out your why, like why am I doing this? Why do I want to win this tournament so badly? Why do I choose to play this sport for a living? Like always figuring out your why,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, when I have a really good understanding of what my why is when I\u2019m playing, I think that\u2019s when I\u2019m always at \u2014 like I\u2019m at peace the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Scheffler may have preferred to focus on the particular challenges of sun-baked Birkdale this week, he again described what has driven him to be the best in the world for an extended period of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think sometimes I get really soaked into the competition. I get really into like the heat of the moment, and I think that\u2019s sometimes why you\u2019ll see me get frustrated. That\u2019s why I kind of posed the question like why do I want to win this tournament so badly? Like it would almost be easier if I didn\u2019t want to win this badly,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf losing didn\u2019t hurt so much, it might be easier to come out and play. But then again when I retire and I sit back, I\u2019m going to miss the feeling of waking up in the morning and not being able to eat breakfast because your stomach hurts because you\u2019re anticipating the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose feelings are hard to replicate, and it\u2019s a hard thing to describe until you\u2019re in the moment, but when you\u2019re able to succeed and have some success in the game, those are very great gifts that I\u2019m extremely thankful for. But I would say my why has never really changed. It\u2019s just always about resetting and getting back to remembering why I play golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not about historical achievement for Scheffler. As much as he wants to win tournaments, Scheffler said he doesn\u2019t want to be judged by the numbers on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, which have already assured him a spot in the hall of fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily want to be remembered for winning the tournaments that I won. I\u2019d much rather be remembered for the way that I did it than the tournaments that I won. So if I\u2019m doing things the right way, treating people the right way \u2013\u00a0 like I said, a successful week for me is when I approach things the right way, when I\u2019m committed to what I\u2019m doing,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019d much rather be remembered for doing things the right way than the guy that won all the tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being remembered for both may yet be Scheffler\u2019s most impressive accomplishment.<\/p>\n
TEE TIMES<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a9 2026 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scottie Scheffler goes into the Open Championship in the midst of a good season, just not as good…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,1899,192927,3026,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-693923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-open-championship","tag-royal-birkdale","tag-scottie-scheffler","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286081555.jpg\")
Scottie Scheffler goes into the Open Championship in the midst of a good season, just not as good as in years past. Tom Shaw, R&A via Getty Images<\/p>\n