There’s nothing like the final major of the golf calendar to turn some of the world’s best players into philosophers. Especially when that final major is The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, where an extremely dried out course is expected to lead to firm fairways and tougher conditions.
Heading into this week’s tournament, the defending Champion Golfer of the Year is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who has had a bit of a rocky season by his extremely high standards, including a surprising missed cut at the Genesis Scottish Open last week. But before Scheffler won last year’s tournament at Royal Portrush, he famously said “What is the point of it all?” when discussing what winning and on-course success means to win.
Well, something about the UK must make Scheffler a bit introspective, because he’s at it again this year. When asked about those comments and whether he plays for his legacy or history, Scheffler couldn’t resist cracking a bit of a “morbid” joke about it.
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“To be completely honest, not really. I don’t really play, like, for a place in history,” he said. “I’m not playing for anything like that because, this is going to sound a little morbid, at the end of the day, I’m going to live my life, and it’s going to end. When it ends, I’m going somewhere else, and I’m not going to be here anymore.
“Is that going to be a quote after last year’s ‘What’s the point’? (That) this year (it will be) ‘we’re all going to die’?” he added with a smile.
Yes, Scottie, that is absolutely going go to be this year’s quote.
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Rory McIlroy had some similar sentiments when asked about his thoughts on legacy and what he hopes people will think of him.
“I don’t really care,” he said. “I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me, but yeah, I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead. I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost. I don’t think I’ll be, you know, like…yeah, I don’t care.”
The two best players in the world talking about death ahead of a major championship tournament. Just what we all expected. And to be fair, they’re both right. Legacy and history are for others to determine, and worrying about it during tournaments could impact their ability to lock in from shot to shot. Golfers in particular have to be able to flush their last shot and move on to the next. Worrying about their spot in history doesn’t lend itself to that mentality.
Jordan Spieth won The Open by three shots at -12 in 2017, the last time the tournament was held at Royal Birkdale, though scores may be even lower this coming weekend. Yes, the course is firm, and will force players to make difficult choices, but conditions are expected to be mild with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60’s, no rain, and mostly light winds.
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Though at the end of the day, what difference does it make, cause we’re all going to die anyway?
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