THE 153RD OPEN

July 19, 2025

Scottie Scheffler

Mixed Zone

Q. That almost looked stress-free. Did it feel that way?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think the card could look stress-free, but I had two really nice par saves on the back nine that were key. I made a nice eight-ish footer on 11, another one on 14, so two really important putts I felt like.

I think anytime you can keep a clean card around a major championship, you're going to be having a pretty good day.

Q. When it's a beautiful sunny day at The Open, does it make some sort of mental adjustment about what a good score is or it's just shot by shot so it doesn't matter?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Mostly shot by shot. It may be sunny for a moment, but here the weather can change pretty quick, so try not to look too far ahead. You look at yesterday, it was bright and sunny when we were warming up, and by the time we got to the 1st tee, we were in a pretty heavy downpour.

You never really know what the weather is going to do out here. You just try to control what you can control, and for me that's just try and hit good shots.

Q. How important did that save feel on 11 for the momentum for the rest of the round?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I hit what I felt like was a pretty good tee shot there, just barely went into the right rough. As long as it's in that first cut, it's no big deal, especially to that back pin. I was kind of on an upslope, but I felt like I hit it how I wanted to, the ball just came out not how I was thinking it would. For me to miss that green completely was a pretty poor shot. I was able to somehow get that ball out onto the green and was able to hole a nice putt.

Q. Was the lie okay on 11?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It wasn't so good. I've seen better. I've seen worse.

Q. What about the shot on 14? The commentators were saying no chance, and you hit it 80 yards?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, fortunately the grass was going with me, but the ball was pretty deep in the grass. It was a pretty challenging shot. I was able to get some loft to get it up out of there.

If it was on a big downslope it would have been I'd say a more difficult shot. A little bit of upslope actually helped me get the ball up out of the grass. But yeah, it was a really nice shot to get the ball out there in front of the green and give myself a decent look at making par.

Q. Matt was impressed with your putting. How impressed are you with your putting this week, especially today? He said you didn't miss anything.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Is that what I said?

Q. No, he said that. Matt said you didn't miss anything.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was like, I don't remember saying that. (Laughter).

Q. How impressed were you with how you've putted this week? And Rory has talked about the slope of these greens. How has that played into all this for you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think there's some pretty subtle slopes in these greens. I've done a really good job just being committed to my line. Today I hit some good putts to start the round. I had a little three-putt there on the second hole, but I felt like I hit two putts the way I wanted to and I didn't let it bother me. I made a really nice putt there on the third hole to keep the momentum going. It was a little 10-footer for par, and that was what I felt like was a really important putt, and knocked it in. Then after that I felt like I did some good things out there.

Q. Do you get a sense late in these rounds? At the PGA there was a thing late Saturday, you really made a run and gave yourself some distance. Is there a feeling of let's take advantage of this now and try and take some drama out a little bit?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, I think anytime we're going around the course I'm trying to take advantage of my opportunities. Sometimes I do a better job of that than other times. If you look at the first six holes, I felt like I did some things good enough to make a few birdies and wasn't able to capitalise, and then all of a sudden on 7 and 8 I get three shots in two holes. It's more just a matter of trying to make the best of the opportunities that you can get, and sometimes I'm good at it, sometimes not as good.

Q. Do you let your mind wander during these rounds like when you're in between shots or do you feel like for those five hours or whatever, you're pretty locked in?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it would be silly to say that you can never let your mind wander, but I think most of what I can control is the time I have when we're thinking about the shot and when I'm over the ball, and most of that's just being committed to what I'm doing, so I'm not thinking about wind, I'm not thinking about how the ball is going to bounce. I have a picture of what I want to do, and that's what I'm committed to try and make happen.

Q. Why do you think you've been such a great closer the last couple years?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Your guess is as good as mine. I like being out here competing. This is why we work so hard is to have opportunities like this, and I'm excited for the challenge of tomorrow. Winning major championships is not an easy task, and I've put myself in a good position. Going into tomorrow I'm going to step up there on the first tee and I'm going to be trying to get the ball in the fairway, and when I get to the second shot I'm going to be trying to get that ball on the green. There's not really too much else going on.