Given all that Scottie Scheffler has accomplished — ascending to World No. 1, winning six times, including the Masters and the Players Championship — it’s easy to forget that he is only 26.
But that is perhaps one of Scheffler’s greatest strengths: his old-soul sensibility. He’s been working with his instructor, Randy Smith, for nearly two decades, and Scheffler says that one of the greatest lessons Smith instilled in him was to keep his emotions in check, and resist getting too high or too low.
“Randy always taught me to keep a level head,” Scheffler said in an interview with Rolex, for whom he is a testimonee. “I am a very competitive person so for me, it was always about toning down my competitiveness. Randy used to always tell me that when you go out there and play, you never want to show a crazy amount of emotion.”
Scheffler’s ability to keep his emotions under control when the pressure ramps up is one of the primary keys to his success on the course. But it hasn’t come easy — even if his recent form makes has made it look effortless. Scheffler spent a year on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 before earning his PGA Tour card. And even then it took a number of close calls before Scheffler finally notched his first Tour win at the 2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
“Looking back now, I was hoping to just get out on the course and win a PGA Tour event but that’s not how it went which I found very frustrating in my first year,” Scheffler said in the interview. “Playing Monday qualifiers and not being able to get through despite shooting six or seven under was hard to deal with.”
With the benefit of hindsight, Scheffler said his younger self could have benefitted from words of wisdom that he now holds dear.
“If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to be patient and keep trying to improve a little bit at a time,” he said. “Patience is always a good thing. Especially in a career like this, you need to ride the ups and downs; take the rough with the smooth. Golf is a very difficult game and definitely not one that I am going to master anytime soon.”
With those challenging days seemingly behind him, Scheffler is gearing up for his Masters defense at Augusta National. His Champions Dinner menu is set, and he’s confident that his preparation strategy is sound. As for what he’s looking forward to the most?
“I think going into the Champions Locker Room at the start of the week will be really special,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having lunch in there.”