PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The same player has occupied No. 1 in the golf world rankings for the past 43 weeks and 77th overall going back to 2022. Still, that player can walk down his 5th Avenue with a golf club on his shoulder and act like this: You won’t be known as your local postman.
Scotty Scheffler has won seven times on the PGA Tour since 2022, including the Masters, but there’s nothing about him that exactly fits the aura and profile of recent stars like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. . The pinnacle of sports.
And this is the problem. That doesn’t bother Scheffler, 27, who spent his childhood in North Jersey before his family moved to Dallas.
Besides his insanely consistent golf swing and near-perfect ball striking, that’s probably the biggest reason he remains at the top of the sport with no signs of slowing down.
Scheffler doesn’t define his life by golf, how many tournaments or major championships he wins, or by his rankings.
“I don’t really think about things like that,” Scheffler said ahead of this week’s title defense at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
When asked what allows him to remain grounded and unaffected by what he’s accomplished, Scheffler responded, “That’s a great compliment, thank you.”
“I think it’s mostly because of my faith, but I also had a great education,” Scheffler said. “I have great parents. I have a great wife. We have great friends at home. I mean, I have a lot of people around me who don’t really care if I won last week or not. Masu [in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which he did].
“At the end of the day, if I had hit 75 on Sunday, I think Monday would have been about the same as this week. Other than that, I might have gotten a few extra texts on my phone.”
For the record, the day after winning at Bay Hill, Scheffler showed up at TPC Sawgrass to work on his game. Most players won’t be near the golf course for the next tournament the day after they win. They would be sleeping and relaxing somewhere.
Not Scheffler, who became the silent assassin in the game.
“It’s ridiculous how good he is at golf,” Justin Thomas, who will be paired with Scheffler in the first two rounds, said Wednesday. “I think it also says something about him in that he doesn’t get noticed. He doesn’t care about social media. He doesn’t care about popularity. He just loves golf. , just a grinder, just wants to play really, really well and practice a lot, and that’s what he does.”
Scheffler’s idol, Tiger Woods, held the No. 1 ranking longer than anyone in the history of the sport, defining his aura and star power. However, there is something unique about Schaeffler that allows him to have neither.
“I don’t know what more you could ask for from a super megastar,” said Max Homa. “I saw someone on the internet say he’s boring. And I think that’s what you dream about. Be the best player in the world, set records and win a lot of majors. To be a player, you want to play like this.” People who are tired of golf will want to play as balanced a game as possible. You would think that would be something made in a lab. ”
Homa called Scheffler “the most consistent.” [player] I’ve really seen it. ”
“I’ve never seen anyone hit the ball like that every day,” Homa said. “He had a week last year where he lost by one point at Memorial.” [shot]And I think he had an 18-stroke lead over the leader. That’s scary. ”
For those who don’t know, putting has been the bane of Scheffler’s existence for much of the past year. He switched to a mallet putter, putted better than he remembered, and went winless in 19 tournaments before winning at Bay Hill for the second time in the past three years.
Asked on television at Genesis last month about Scheffler’s putting holding him back, McIlroy suggested using a mallet putter.
Asked about Wednesday, McIlroy joked: “I’m not going to give him any more advice, that’s for sure.”
Homa said that whenever he sees Scheffler give interviews after a win, “he really seems to understand.”
Everything but star and fame.
“I noticed him walking down the street,” Homa said. “If I were a golf fan, I would be amazed at his amazing accomplishments.”
