THE 153RD OPEN

July 20, 2025

Scottie Scheffler

Press Conference

MIKE WOODCOCK: I'm delighted to welcome to the interview room the Champion Golfer of the Year, Scottie Scheffler. Scottie, congratulations on a tremendous performance. You played tremendous golf throughout the week, but today you were very calm and collected. Can you tell us just what it means to win this championship and to lift the Claret Jug?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yes, it's a very special feeling. It takes a lot of work to get to this point in my career.

This was a tough week. It was challenging. The golf course was playing really tough, and I had to focus very hard over the course of the weekend.

Really the only blemish over the last 36 holes was the double on 8, but did a good job of resetting and coming back with a birdie on 9.

I guess this one was different than the PGA in terms of I had a decent lead to start the day. PGA, I felt like I struggled a bit on the front nine and was able to kind of push forward and win it on the back nine, whereas this one I felt like I built up a lead. It got a little close there after the double on 8, but like I said, bounced back on 9 and was able to keep a pretty sizable lead for most of the day.

Q. I've never seen anyone so happy to share the spotlight as you were just then. Did Bennett's arrival make things even more memorable for you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, he was trying to get up that hill on the side of the green. I don't think he's ever been up a hill that big before. I felt kind of bad for him. He just kept falling down. That's part of the learning curve and growing up.

Yeah, it's very cool to have him here. He obviously has no clue what's going on. He just wants to spend some time with me. I hadn't really seen him much of the day. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Q. As much as you have concentrated on your golf over four days, can you share what it's like coming up the 18th with the trophy in hand? It's supposed to be one of the great walks in golf with the grandstands, the horseshoe, just what that felt like. Surely it lasted more than two minutes, right?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It's hard to tell. No, it's a very cool walk. It's a very special walk. To be honest with you, walking up 18, I didn't really know if I was going to get that much support from the crowd. The crowd, I think, wanted somebody else to win this week, and I kind of got to play spoiler a little bit, which was fun as well.

It really was, it was a great reception. I heard a lot of the fans supporting me out there today. It was a really cool environment to be able to play in. You had a lot of guys out there supporting the local favourites, and you had some people from the States coming out and supporting us. It was a really interesting day, but it was a lot of fun.

Q. I'm sure this takes a while to sink in, but do you start to appreciate what you accomplished as you're heading up there?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think so. Being able to walk up 18 with the tournament in hand is a really tough thing to describe. It's a really cool feeling. I have a lot of gratitude towards being able to accomplish something like this. It's taken a lot of work -- not only a lot of work, but it takes a lot of patience. It's a high level of focus over 72 holes of a tournament. This was, I felt like, one of my best performances mentally. We did a really good job of staying in it all week.

Like I said, to only have one double -- really only one over par hole in the last 36 holes of a major championship, that's how you're able to win these tournaments, just being able to do stuff like that. It takes a high level of focus. Teddy and I did a really good job this weekend of being committed to what we were doing and holing some key putts when I needed them.

Q. Speaking of the focus you just talked about, obviously you're pretty stone faced through four straight rounds. When it was over, you let out a pretty good yelp. Can you describe that release of emotion? Is it a blackout moment? Do you know in that moment what you're doing? Just from then to seeing your family and knowing it's done, what that emotion is like.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think -- like I said, it takes a high level of focus. I had a good-sized lead most of the day today, but it's a major championship; you don't know what's going to happen. The golf course is challenging.

I made a double on a hole where I felt like I was going to have a good chance to make a birdie. You just don't know what's going to happen. So it doesn't ever really feel like the tournament's won sometimes until the ball is in the hole.

Golf is a funny game. You've got to stay focused for the entire tournament. I did a good job of that.

When I see my family afterwards, that's a pretty special feeling. It's one that's very hard to describe. It's something I'm very grateful for and something that I'll hold onto for a long time.

Q. Easy question, to go back to that quote earlier this week about it's going to be awesome for two minutes to win The Open. Obviously your name appears now alongside some of the great names of this sport. Is it going to be longer than two minutes?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think we live now in a day and age where clickbait is kind of what people look for. You can shorten a five-minute clip into three words. I think it really underestimates what I was trying to communicate. Maybe I didn't do as effective of a job as I hoped to in communicating that.

At the end of the day, I have a tremendous amount of gratitude towards moment like these. I literally worked my entire life to become good at this game and play this game for a living. It's one of my greatest joys of my life to compete out here. To be able to win The Open Championship here at Portrush is a feeling that's really hard to describe.

I'm very fortunate to be able to come out here and live out my dreams. I just grew up a kid in Texas that wanted to play professional golf. I grew up wearing pants to the golf course because that's what I wanted to do. I saw professional golfers like Justin Leonard, Harrison Frazar, those types of guys on TV wearing pants, and I was like, I want to be like those guys. So I used to wear pants to grow up to play golf. It would be 100 degrees out. I'd be way too hot. People would make fun of me. But that's what I wanted to do; I wanted to be a professional golfer, so I wore pants.

I don't know why I'm so lucky that I get to live out my dreams, but it's something I'm very grateful for. If somebody was going to listen to the comments I had this week, I would encourage them to listen to all of it, and I hope I did a good job communicating that, yeah, this is amazing to win the Open Championship, but at the end of the day, having success in life, whether it be in golf, work, whatever it is, that's not what fulfills the deepest desires of your heart.

Am I grateful for it? Do I enjoy it? Oh, my gosh, yes, this is a cool feeling. I can't wait to get home and celebrate this championship with the people that have helped me along the way. But at the end of the day, it doesn't fulfill the deepest desires of my heart.

It's just tough to describe when you haven't lived it. It's something I actually talked to Shane about this week was just because you win a golf tournament or accomplish something, it doesn't make you happy. It doesn't -- maybe for a few moments, maybe for a few days, but at the end of the day, there's more to life than playing golf. I'm pretty excited to go home and celebrate this one.

Q. Sorry to transition to a golf question.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Love a transition. Please.

Q. What went wrong on 16 today?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: On 16, it's just a hard hole, I guess. (Laughter).

Q. Seriously, what was your first impression of the hole and making three birdies in four days?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: My first impression of the hole was the first day we played it, it was raining and blowing in out of the left, and I smoked a 3-wood to 30 feet, and I thought it was a pretty amazing shot. And then I was playing against Sam Burns in a practice round, and he hit 3-wood to about 25 feet and made it. I was like, shoot, just hit a great shot and I lost this hole still.

It's one of the coolest views that I've seen in the game of golf, to be honest with you. Teddy and I were standing there, I think it was on Friday. We were kind of looking out. It was a day in which you had a bunch of rain and there was rainbows on the other side, and you're looking out over the golf course on the right, and you've got the huge bluffs by the ocean and it's just mounds and hills, and the town is in the distance. It's a really, really cool hole.

I was fortunate to be able to enjoy the walk with a putter versus having to go down there into the ravine and try to hit a wedge out. I'm very grateful for the tee shots this week, but like you said, disappointed with a par today.

Q. Even a year ago, people -- the only weakness people could find in your game was your putting, but this week was sensational once again with the putter. Can you just tell us how happy you were with your putting and the kind of changes that you've made in the last one, one and a half years?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I feel like I've done a lot of good work with Phil over the last couple years. Phil is a great guy for me to be able to bounce stuff off of. He's a tremendous coach and a great friend as well. We've made some real good progress.

I felt like I grew up being a great putter. My ball striking wasn't always the best. I felt like I got it done with my short game, especially from a young age because I was a little guy basically until I was a junior, senior in high school. So I grew up having to be good at chipping and putting.

I had a couple years out here on Tour where I didn't putt as well as I felt I could have. I knew it was in there. It was a matter of figuring out the right things to go and find it.

Phil's been just tremendous for me. Kind of helped me be more athletic, giving me the confidence I need to go out there and just be committed to what I'm doing.

If it was two or three years ago and I had a week like I had last week on the greens where I felt like I was hitting good putts and they weren't going in, kind of a frustrating week overall, I would have maybe questioned things or tried something different this week, but basically the conversation was on Monday and Tuesday, when I was discussing things with Phil, it was basically like Phil goes, how did you feel last week? I'm like, man, I felt like I did pretty good. I felt like I was hitting my lines, but the ball just wasn't going in. The only thing I want to check is make sure my setup is good and make sure I'm lined up where I think I'm lined up at. Phil checked it, and we kind of went from there. I was lined up where I thought I was, so I didn't really put much thought to it. Came out this week and putted nice.

Q. I don't know if you saw that Tiger's first major win to fourth major win and your first to fourth were both 1,197 days apart. Then Bones made a comparison on the broadcast this week. What does it feel like to know that those comparisons are getting louder and louder?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I still think they're a bit silly. Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf.

I don't focus on that kind of stuff. That's not what motivates me. I'm not motivated by winning championships. I don't look at the beginning of the year and just say, hey, I want to win X amount of tournaments, I want to win whatever it is. I don't do that. I have dreams and aspirations that I think about, but at the end of the day, when I wake up to practise, I feel like what motivates me is just getting out and getting to live out my dream. I get to play professional golf, and I feel like I'm called to do it to the best of my ability.

When I wake up in the morning, I try and put max effort in each day I get to go out and practise. When I'm working out, when I'm doing the cold tub, doing recovery, I feel like I'm just called to do it to the best of my ability. Outside of that, I don't place much emphasis on winning tournaments. I don't place much emphasis on things that I can accomplish. It's just mostly about putting in the proper work and coming out here and competing.

Q. Somewhat similar question, how often do you think about records won? And front running, big wins, and like some 120 weeks at the top, how much more better can you get? Do you often think about that?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not really. I think -- I've always done my best when I'm able to live in the present. For instance, like looking back on this week, if I just showed up in Memphis thinking that I'm the best and I don't need to practise to be good at golf and just walk in resting on my accomplishments, I'm probably not going to have a good week. If I come in feeling down on myself or thinking about my poor starts this year, then I'm probably not going to be in a good spot as well.

For me, I always rely on the effort that I put in. When I step on the first tee, I remind myself that I'm prepared and I just try to go out there and compete. That's all I'm focused on. I don't focus on winning the tournament. I don't focus on things that I can accomplish in the game of golf. I just try to get the most out of myself each day and compete as hard as I can when I'm inside the ropes.

Q. Looking at you from the outside, it seems like one of the big priorities of your life is to maintain some kind of semblance of normal family life, private life in the face of a very abnormal life where you're very famous and wealthy and everything. We see a lot of people, not just in sports, but music or any other aspect of life when fame is thrust on them not know how to do that or not even know they have to do that, that that's something to look out for. My question to you would be how did you know, if you agree with the premise, that it's important for you? How did you know that was something you'd have to do? How were you seemingly prepared for that when you became famous?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think that's a pretty good description. I would say my greatest priorities are my faith and my family. Those come first for me. Golf is third in that order.

I've said it for a long time, golf is not how I identify myself. I don't identify myself by winning tournaments, chasing trophies, being famous or whatever it is. Like when I go home, if I go to -- there's two Chipotles that I eat at at home. Actually not really one anymore. There's one right where I grew up, kind of near SMU's campus. If I was to go to that Chipotle and try to eat nowadays, it would be very difficult for me. There's another one in a different part of town that I'm not going to tell you where it is, but if I go there, nobody recognizes me ever. (Laughter).

So famous is just one of those things. In some circles, like right now I'm the best player in the world. This week I was the best player in the world. I'm sitting here with the trophy. We're going to start all over in Memphis, back to even-par, show goes on. It's hard to describe what it feels like because, yeah, I don't feel any different because I've won a golf tournament. This is not the be-all, end-all for me, but I'm extremely grateful for it.

I kid you not, I have worked since I was two or three years old to have a chance to play professional golf for a living, and now I've been able to win tournaments I've just dreamed of playing in. It's an amazing feeling, and I'm so grateful to be able to live out my dreams.

Like I said, my faith and my family is what's most important to me. I try to live as normal of a life as possible because I feel like a normal guy. I have the same friends I had growing up.

I don't think that I'm anything special just because some weeks I'm better at shooting a lower score than other guys are.

Q. With three out of four majors now in the bag, have you let your mind wander even for a second to the U.S. Open next year and a potential career grand slam?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, no, I just got off the golf course a few minutes ago. That's one of those funny things that I think, since Rory accomplished that this year, it's on the front of everybody's mind, just because it is such an historic accomplishment in the game of golf. What a tremendous thing for Rory to be able to accomplish. To win all four major championships is pretty dang special. It's for sure a career achievement.

Like I said, I don't focus too much on that stuff. When this season ends after the Ryder Cup for me, I'll get home, and I'll assess kind of where my game's at and things I can improve on and then kind of go from there. I don't think about winning tournaments. I just look at the body of work I have and just think about ways to improve.

Q. One serious and one slightly flippant question. The first one, as you came up the 18th, they cut to pictures of Bennett, and he was clapping as you came up. Then they also had him with a plastic golf swing. I'm going to ask first of all, what's his golf like? Has he already started swinging? Secondly, we were in the mixed zone with Rory, and Rory said in a historical context you could argue that there's maybe only two players in the history of game that have been on a run like Scottie has for the last 24 to 36 months. It's incredibly impressive. Do you feel that, and what's your response when Rory says something like that?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'll start with the first part. Show pictures of Bennett, yeah, he was clapping. Sometimes he claps when he hits a golf ball himself. We try to show him the sign for more food, but he thinks it's just claps. It could have been the sign for more food as he was just hungry.

I have a nephew that's kind of obsessed with golf like I was at a young age. I think we were in the backyard at Colonial, maybe earlier than that, it was at my sister's bachelorette party, so my brother-in-law came and stayed with me with his two kids. Hayes was back there hitting golf ball after golf ball. Bennett loves older kids, so he looked at him and he was like, hey, I want to try that. He started swinging a club back and forth. I put a golf ball down, and he hit it. To be able to occupy a one-year-old with anything is probably a pretty good thing for them to be able to focus on.

He likes it. He doesn't know what a golf ball is, but he's either eating his golf club, or he's hitting something with it, whether it be a piece of furniture or sometimes other kids. We're working on it. (Laughter).

Yeah, it's pretty special to be able to celebrate here with my family. I hope Bennett's able to get into golf one day. The game of golf has taught me a tremendous amount. I feel like every day you go out and play golf you're looking in the mirror, and I've met some of my best friends through the game of golf. It's a very special game. You call penalties on yourself, and it's just -- you learn a lot of good life lessons by playing golf. I hope he can play one day, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.

To your second part, I don't put too much thought to it. Like I said, I do my best by living in the present. Right now what that looks like is we're heading back to the States hopefully tonight and get back home as quick as we can and celebrate this win with the boys at home. It will be fun.

Q. Could we just go back to the very first minute after you won the championship. You had a very modest response to winning, as you often do. Then when you saw your son, you threw your hat up, and you became a different person. I was just wondering if you could walk us through that one minute internally.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Every time I'm able to win a tournament, the first person I always look for is my wife. Where we walk off each day is usually on the right side, and I didn't see her at first. So I was like, oh, my gosh, where's Meredith? What happened? She's not there.

As I kind of circled around the green, I saw my dad standing there. I was like, okay, perfect, my family must be down there, so I saw Meredith. She's always the first person I want to celebrate with. She knows me better than anybody. That's my best friend. It takes a lot of work to be able to become good at this game, and I wouldn't be able to do it without her support.

She does a tremendous job of taking care of everything for us at home and giving me the ability to put in the amount of time and effort that I put into the game of golf because it's a lot. It's not a lifestyle that's suited for everybody. We live a different lifestyle than some of our friends at home, travelling the way we do, but we're very grateful for it. It's a fun life for us, and being able to celebrate winning tournaments like this, I feel like my whole team, I feel like the whole team should be -- their name should be on the trophy with me because it really does, it takes a village.

I have a great team around me, and it all starts with my coach Randy. Everybody's humble. They work together. Nobody has all the answers, and I feel like we just -- we have a great time, and we love being able to practise and work towards these things. It would be even more fun getting home and being able to celebrate.

MIKE WOODCOCK: We'll draw things to a close. Scottie, congratulations again. Champion Golfer of the Year Scottie Scheffler.