On Sunday, Scheffler’s march on Royal Portrush was a masterclass and further proof that his approach to the game he continues to conquer is unlike anyone else’s.
Ireland — Hours before Scottie Scheffler sent his first Sunday tee shot into the air, tapped in for a kick-in birdie and began his 18-hole coronation, the player who last won The Open when it came to Portrush fired an iron 183 yards toward the fourth green and watched as his ball trickled in.
The crowd erupted; Shane Lowry threw his hands in the air. When he turned toward his caddie, cameras caught his remark.
„This game“, he said, „will drive you mad.“
To nearly every player in the field this week, that adage about golf rings true in a different way. For Lowry, who wears his heart on his sleeve, the volatility of the sport he has dedicated his life to is palpable in his expression following every shot. For someone like Rory McIlroy, as he showed on Masters Sunday at Augusta this year, the emotion is an inextricable part of his game.
Then there’s Scheffler.
Whenever he is on the golf course, his emotions appear guarded, as if he has placed them inside an encrypted safe only he knows how to unlock. Xander Schauffele described it as „blackout“ mode — the way Scheffler’s flow state is one where he is in his own world, unbothered by anything else but hitting the next shot and hitting it better than anyone else could.
Scheffler has, at times, given us glimpses of what seems to unlock his frustrations: a putt that breaks in a different direction than he thought; a wedge that doesn’t go as far as he expected; a slope that doesn’t make the ball react the way he thought it should. Rarely do those things throw him off his game.
„You won’t see that much emotion as he continues to strike it like this“, Jordan Spieth said. „The only time you’re going to see it is when he’s on the greens if he misses putts because he’s not missing many shots.“
On Sunday, Scheffler’s final march on Royal Portrush was a masterclass, the latest display of his dominance on his way to his fourth major championship and the third leg of the career Grand Slam. It was further proof that Scheffler’s approach to the game he continues to conquer is unlike anyone else’s.
„I don’t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon“, Schauffele said. „And here’s Scottie taking that throne of dominance. He’s a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us.“
Throughout the day, Scheffler’s march to victory looked stress-free to the naked eye. He prodded his way along for the first four holes, making three birdies and barely reacting as the crowd that was rooting for McIlroy couldn’t help but feel defeated. On the fifth green, Scheffler calmly drained another birdie putt to go up by seven shots. All he got was a light smattering of claps. Then, when he left his approach shot on the par-3 sixth hole short of the green, the galleries cheered his misfortune.
Scheffler chipped up to the surface, stared down the 16-footer for par and made it.
