MIKE WOODCOCK: Good afternoon, everyone. We’ll make a start. I’m delighted to welcome our defending champion Scottie Scheffler to the interview room.

Scottie, a lot going on this week with returning the Claret Jug and so on, but one of the many incentives is the opportunity to become the first player since 2008 to retain the Claret Jug. Again, that was Pádraig here at Birkdale. How much would that mean to you if you could see that through this week?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, that would be nice. Yeah, another good week here for The Open. This will be a firmer golf course. This is the first forecast I remember seeing it had no rain in it for the week. If it holds, it should continue to firm up, and we’ve got some warm weather as well. So it should be a really nice week.

Q. Hi, Scottie, sorry to come in straight so brutal, but how was your weekend off? Quite a rare one. What did you get up to?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: When you said “brutal,” I thought it was going to be worse than that.

Q. You haven’t heard the follow-up yet (laughter).

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, let’s see. On Saturday I went over to the gym, worked out, and we travelled down here in the afternoon and got settled into the house. I played 18 on Sunday. Played nine holes yesterday and today, so getting used to the golf course.

Yeah, you never want to have a weekend off, but going into a tournament when you’re defending, there’s always a bit more stuff to do. So it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, albeit it was quite frustrating.

Like you said, I got down here a bit earlier, just getting used to the course and getting some extra rest in a week where there’s some more demands on your time isn’t the worst thing, even though quite frustrating.

Q. It must feel quite weird, though. I go to football every Saturday, and if I’m at home, my wife gets the right hump with me. Does it feel strange to you to not be playing golf competitively over a weekend?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t really know how to elaborate on that, to be honest with you.

It’s funny, one of my buddies who plays out here had a long text to me about what you can do when you miss a cut. He was like, hey, you can practise at the facilities. You can still go to the gym. You can also go to the next tournament. It was basically all my options. He never sent it to me, but he told me about it. I was like, oh, you should have sent it; I was a bit lost.

I would say missing a cut is probably the hardest thing. I don’t think it hurts as much as coming close to winning and finishing second. I felt like coming in second at Travelers hurt more than
missing the cut, but missing the cut is significantly more frustrating is how I would describe it.

Q. Lots of chatter about the course being firm and fast. What were some of the intricacies that that means from a player’s perspective?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The ball’s just going to run for forever pretty much. The fairways this week — here’s how I would say it. The fairways this week are really tight, so you get a lot of cross-winds. They can be difficult to hold just because they’re so fast and they’re so firm. So there’s a lot of thinking off the tee on whether or not you want to just hit driver up there somewhere and kind of play from the rough most likely, or do you want to start hitting some irons, getting it in some fairways and hitting some longer shots into the greens?

On each hole there’s a good bit of strategy; there’s a decent amount of thinking. If it wasn’t as firm as it is now, there wouldn’t be as much decision-making, but I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges, I think, for us as players, just to try and control your ball and figure out where it’s going to end up. You’ll get a couple weird bounces here and there as well.

Q. What are your first impressions of Royal Birkdale? Are there any holes that have caught your eye in particular?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: First impressions were really good. I think it’s pretty obvious — the one thing I found interesting is it’s so obvious as to which holes had been redone. They look like they’re not even on the same golf course. You look at 14, 15, 16, those green complexes and the amount of slope that they have off of them are pretty severe and quite challenging. The 5th hole is kind of like that, 7th hole as well. It was pretty obvious like, oh, these are the holes that got redone because they look like they’re on a different golf course.

Those are the things that stood out to me the most. Overall, I think it’s really solid. Like I said, the fairways are tight, and there’s some thinking you have to do off the tee. You’ve got to be hitting the ball, I think, really sharply around this place if you’re going to make some birdies. There’s some very, very challenging holes, especially the par-3s.

Q. At this time last year, you came and told us what’s the point of being No. 1? People wondered whether you were having a crisis of soul, and then you went out and won the tournament. How is your mindset this year, and do you have any other crisis of soul you want to relate to us?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, I think I’ll try to keep that stuff to myself this week. It’s weird I said that stuff last year. I guess the gist of it was what’s the point. I felt like if you listen to the whole thing — I don’t even feel like I recommend anyone doing that. If you’re going to write about it, please watch the whole five minutes. I’ll recommend it to you guys but not anybody else.

I 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. I think, when I have a really good understanding of what my why is when I’m playing, I think that’s when I’m always at — like I’m at peace the most.

That’s kind of what I was describing to you guys because I felt like I’m sitting here at the end of another season, I’ve played some good golf. So like, what’s the point? If I win this week and I don’t win the next week, you’re going to be asking the same questions. For me, it was just — I don’t want to start rambling again because that’s what I did last year and we got a little bit off the rails. So I might stop it there.

Q. Do you feel at peace?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I feel at peace, yeah. I think sometimes it’s not like — it’s never the best thing to miss a cut, but like I said, sometimes having a couple days off, resetting, getting some time away — throughout the year, it’s like — when you look at other sports and if you look at a football team that’s made it really far each year in the NFL, it’s really hard to continue to do that each and every year.

I feel like I’m at a point in the season where we’ve played a lot of golf. I’ve played a lot of high-level golf for a few years now. Later in the season, I think sometimes you get a little bit more tired. I think that’s almost probably why I started going off the rails last year in the press conference. I’m like, come on, guys, I’ve just been answering the same questions week in and week out; I don’t know what else to do.

I think just towards the end of the season, you get a little tired. Like I said, I got a couple days off, reset. Reset the mind. Reset the body. And just kind of get back to feeling even and at peace.

Going into this tournament, I really do. I’ve had a very solid year, but like I said, frustrating at times because I’ve been close and I haven’t been able to get it done like I have been in years past. Overall, I feel like I know what my why is, why I’m out here playing, and I’m excited to try and defend my title this week.

I’m looking forward to getting out here on a really firm golf course. I think it’s going to be very fun and interesting to play. St Andrews was really firm, but outside of that, I haven’t played an extremely firm Open Championship yet, so I’m excited to get out there and see what it’s like under competition as well.

Q. Have you made any equipment changes this week or even at the Scottish to prepare for the links golf?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The only real thing I switch in my bag sometimes is between a 3-wood and a 5/7-wood. The last few weeks I’ve been using the 3-iron, so I just kept it in the bag over here. Outside of that, no.

Q. With the extra couple of days, did you work on anything in particular in your game?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not really. Just making sure the body’s moving the way I want it to and just trying to make solid contact. Outside of that, just a lot of it’s just getting used to another golf course.

Q. When the final putt drops here on Sunday, I think it’s 8½ months until the Masters tees off in the next major. There’s obviously quite a compact run of majors from Masters until now. As a player, do you like that kind of schedule, or would you prefer if it was spread out a bit more?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Gosh, I don’t know. I really don’t know. I wish I had something better for you. I’m trying to think.

Q. A lot of people say it feels like they’re too close. It just goes bang, bang, bang.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The season for us is getting quicker and quicker, to your point. The season is getting more condensed and things are happening a lot faster. Like you said, it goes by pretty quick.

To your point, I felt like we were at the U.S. Open a couple weeks ago. It does happen pretty quickly. Maybe there could be more of a break, but that’s one of those things that’s so far out of my control, I couldn’t even begin to think about it. That’s why you spooked me with that a little bit. I don’t have a very good answer for you.

I think the game is starting to trend that way. Got to get — all you can do is just play the tournaments when they’re set up. I’m glad to be here now.

Q. There’s so many stories about you as a 10-, 11-year-old in Dallas wanting to be a Tour player wearing long pants in the summer in the middle of Dallas. Now that you are a Tour player, was it ever a challenge for you to put shorts on?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No. I’d like to think I’ve gotten less dumb since I was a kid. There’s one good decision I made is to start wearing shorts every now and then when it’s hot out.

It’s always fun kind of looking back. It’s good when you get to a tournament like this — like I said, I always dreamed of becoming a professional golfer. I dreamed of playing golf on the PGA TOUR. I dreamed of having a chance to play in this tournament. To be returning the Claret Jug this week is a very, very cool feeling.

I’m not the best at reflecting, but I think sometimes when you show up to an event and you’re the defending champ, you’re forced to reflect a little bit just because there’s pictures of you holding the trophy. There’s pictures of my family and I celebrating, Ted celebrating and everything. You’re forced to reflect a little bit. Those are some really great experiences, and I’m proud of the accomplishments that we’ve been able to make in the game.

Like I said last year, what’s the point because we just continue to want more and more. The heart’s never satisfied, and we’re always looking for more. But that’s also kind of the fun part: The chase.

Q. Scottie, every day the bale is full of some kind of stats, first to do this, second to do this, 15th to do this, only four players have done that. How much does that motivate you? I’m not talking about your driving stats or your putting stats. I’m talking about the seventh player to do this, 14th player to do this, now 21st on the all-time list. How much do these stats mean to a player like you, and how much are they motivating? For us, it’s an extra line or two in our reports, but for you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: To be completely honest, not really. I don’t really play, like, for a place in history. 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.

Legacy and all that stuff was never really something that motivated me. For me, it was always competition. I loved playing golf. I loved waking up with butterflies because I’m going out to play a tournament and I get a chance to compete today. I love those feelings, and when I retire, I’m going to miss them.

For me, I was always trying to get out, play, get the most out of myself, and I love the challenge of trying to play golf. I love trying to get the most out of myself, trying to manage not only my body but my mind as well, and trying to control this little golf ball and to get it to do the things that I want to do with it.

Those are the things that motivate me and try to get the most out of myself. I’ve never been one to play for history or legacy or anything like that.

Q. During the course of the year, what were some highlights of the things that you did with the Claret Jug?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not a whole lot, to be honest with you. I have a room in my house where I keep some trophies, and I have kind of like my little — I call it the golf room. It has all my crap. It has some stuff I can work on my clubs with and trophies and some pictures and whatnot. Right now it’s a bit of a mess, to be honest with you. It doesn’t really look presentable.

For instance, if you were to interview me at my house, I’d have to do some serious cleanup in the golf room because I’m a bit embarrassed at how it looks. They’re kind of sitting in the corner next to the Wanamaker. Every now and then when I’m in there working I kind of take a peek.

Really the only thing we did was after The Open we came back and had a party with some of our friends at home, and we brought the Wanamaker and the Claret Jug and were drinking out of both of them, and just had a celebration with friends and family, and that was really the only thing that I did with it. I’m not really — to be honest with you, I don’t know what else I’d do with it. It’s a very, very cool trophy and cool to look at and share the memories with our friends, but other than that, I don’t know where I’d bring it. Definitely having it at home is cool for sure.

Q. And going a little deep here, but how did you find what your why was, and has it changed at all?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, my why hasn’t really changed. It’s always important just to kind of reset yourself and remember why I’m doing this. Am I doing this for — I think sometimes I get really soaked into the competition. I get really into like the heat of the moment, and I think that’s sometimes why you’ll see me get frustrated. That’s 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’t want to win this badly.

If losing didn’t hurt so much, it might be easier to come out and play. But then again when I retire and I sit back, I’m going to miss the feeling of waking up in the morning and not being able to eat breakfast because your stomach hurts because you’re anticipating the day.

Those feelings are hard to replicate, and it’s a hard thing to describe until you’re in the moment, but when you’re able to succeed and have some success in the game, those are very great gifts that I’m extremely thankful for. But I would say my why was never really changed. It’s just always about resetting and getting back to remembering why I play golf.

Q. When was the last time you felt like you couldn’t eat breakfast?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Couldn’t eat breakfast? I think I’ve gotten better at it over the years. I always remember when I was in college, it was before the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, I had played — the U.S. Open at Oakmont was my first major I had played in, and I remember the butterflies then. I had shot under par the first round at Oakmont, and I shot over par the second round. I shot like 69-78 and missed the cut by one. It was extremely disappointing.

I was extremely motivated to try and get back to that stage. The next year I had a great finish to the qualifier to get in, and I was extremely motivated to go back out and play my best. The week before, I got this indigestion in my stomach where I wasn’t able to eat, and your body responds to stress in certain ways. So going into U.S. Open at Erin Hills, I almost couldn’t eat for like a week before it. My stomach hurt; I was burping up chunks of food. They were giving me stuff so I could digest things.

I think I’ve gotten to a better place mentally where it doesn’t stress me as much. Over time I feel like I’ve gotten better at figuring out how to manage those nerves. You have to be able to eat in order to go out and play. I can’t just be starving the whole time. I think I’ve gotten better at just battling through those butterflies.

Q. I was intrigued by what you’re saying; if you’re an NFL team and you win the Super Bowl, it’s hard to sustain that excellence the next year or two years. Maybe this is what you were implying, but do you ever apply that to yourself and think maybe there’s some mechanism in the universe, where maybe after a year you win two majors, maybe you are going to finish second a bunch; maybe it’s hard to keep that up for reasons that are hard to define but are just part of competition.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, I think the reasons that are hard to define is more like you can’t win every single golf tournament. You just can’t do it. Nobody’s been able to do it. In golf, no matter what, you lose a lot more often than you win. I think it’s more just like mentally, especially in this day and age, there’s just a lot of noise all the time at golf tournaments. I think golf is unique in a sense, too, with the mental grind the sport entails. There’s just a lot more stuff that’s going on at tournaments.

For instance, this week, I show up on Sunday thinking there’s not going to be any fans out there. We get out there on the 1st hole, and there’s fans out there. I love being able to play in front of fans; that’s a tremendous amount of fun. But like I get to the bunker on the 1st hole, and I turn around, and within six feet of me there’s literally like two cameras right in my face. I kind of turn around and look at the guys, like hey, y’all, are you going to be this close all day, or could we get a little bit of room?

I think, just being in the spotlight all the time puts a burden on a player in this day and age. Everything is being recorded. When they say hello to you, they’ve got their cell phone out. Sometimes you can be like you’re walking on eggshells a little bit, and that can drain people.

For me, that’s why I say I can’t play so many tournaments a row because of the demands you have in a given week, and being recorded all the time, I’m very far from a perfect person, and you know — I’m trying to find the right words, but I think just sometimes it can be hard when you’re being recorded all the time.

Q. You mentioned history; we’re all going to die someday and all that kind of stuff.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Sorry.

Q. No, it’s true.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Is that going to be a quote after last year’s “what’s the point”? This year we’re all going to die.

Q. What are you going to do next year for 2027? No, what I was going to ask, if you look back at historical figures, whether they’re athletes or generals or whatever, even when they’re alive, there are a lot of them who were very concerned about their place in history and very concerned about how they would be viewed after they died, and you could see that in their diaries and all that. Truly there’s no — you don’t really think about that? Your legacy doesn’t matter at all?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it matters more to me just in terms of the competition. There’s things I would like to accomplish in the game, but at the end of the day, I have never once thought about how I’m going to be remembered. To me, it truly doesn’t matter from a sense of like accomplishment. Like when I die, hey, Scottie won four majors and 20 tournaments and he won this much money. That has zero effect on me.

It’s more like from a competition side, it’s more just the things that I can try to achieve in the game. That’s something just for me just trying to get the most out of myself, like do you want to be able to win tournaments, you want to be able to put yourself in those positions. That’s what I love about the game.

History to me — yeah, I guess maybe just isn’t that important. I’m not really sure how to elaborate on that, to be honest with you. If I could be remembered — like I don’t necessarily want to be remembered for winning the tournaments that I won. I’d much rather be remembered for the way that I did it than the tournaments that I won. So if I’m doing things the right way, treating people the right way — like I said, a successful week for me is when I approach things the right way, when I’m committed to what I’m doing.

But I’d much rather be remembered for doing things the right way than the guy that won all the tournaments. For me, competition is extremely important. I love being able to go out and compete, but over time I’ve gotten much better at just being able to take your hat off and shake hands.

I’ve met some great people in the game of golf. Some of my best friends in the world I met through playing golf. When I was young, I took myself a bit too seriously. I’ve gotten better as I’ve gotten older of letting the competition be the competition, and when you’re done, taking your hat off and shake hands and we’re on to the next week. History for me has never been the most important thing.

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