Scottie Scheffler's actions spoke loudly in 2025. So did his words - FOGOLF

The past 12 months had a little of everything – a career Grand Slam, Ryder Cup chaos and so much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.

Biggest golf moments of 2025 No. 3: Scottie Scheffler’s actions spoke loudly in 2025. So did his words

We by no means want to diminish Scottie Scheffler’s 2025 accomplishments, of which there were several. Instead, we wish to make sense of them. And that leads us to ask:

Did Scottie Scheffler’s best moment of the year come in a press conference?

Please stick with us. The moment came in mid-July, at a press conference ahead of the Open Championship – which he went on to win for his fourth major title. Two months earlier, he won his third major, at the PGA Championship, and his successes made the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson ask: What was the longest amount of time that Scheffler had celebrated a win, and, opposite of that, what was his most crushing loss?

Scheffler then talked for about five minutes. You may have already heard his answer, but we’ll present it again below, and follow-up questions from Ferguson are written in italics.

“I think it’s kind of funny – I think I said something after the Byron this year about like it feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling.

“To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home, I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament. You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, OK, what are we going to eat for dinner? Life goes on.

“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport. To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world because what’s the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.

“There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like what’s the point? I really do believe that because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?

“That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. It’s like showing up at the Masters every year; it’s like why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don’t know because, if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes. Then we’re going to get to the next week [and be asked]: ‘Hey, you won two majors this year; how important is it for you to win the FedExCup playoffs?’ And we’re back here again.

“So we really do; we work so hard for such little moments. I’m kind of sicko; I love putting in the work, I love getting to practice, I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point.

“I don’t know if I’m making any sense or not. Am I not? It’s just one of those deals. I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.”

What do you find fulfilling?

“I love playing golf,” Scheffler said. “I love being able to compete. I love living out my dreams. I love being a father. I love being able to take care of my son. I love being able to provide for my family out here playing golf.

“Every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. When I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. That’s why I talk about family being my priority because it really is. I’m blessed to be able to come out here and play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that’s going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.

“This is not the be-all, end-all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? Because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me.”

That’s why I asked the question the way I did. What is losing like for you? Is that OK?

“It sucks,” Scheffler said. “I hate it. I really do.”

That’s part of the competition.

News

Scottie Scheffler ahead of the Open at Portrush.

“That is,” Scheffler said, “and I think that’s why we try to work so hard to not lose, but golf’s a game where you just lose a lot more often than you win. That’s just a simple part of it. In basketball or football, when there’s only two guys out there, you can win a lot more than you lose.

“I think I was looking at stats – it was one of the best tennis players; it might have been Federer or Djokovic or somebody. They only won like 48 percent of their points or something like that.

“Playing professional sports is a really weird thing to do. It really is. Just because we put in so much effort, we work so hard for something that’s so fleeting. It really is. The feeling of winning just doesn’t last that long.

“When I sit back at the end of the year and try to reflect on things, like having that sense of accomplishment from winning the Masters tournament, from winning the PGA Championship, I have a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for it, but it’s just hard to explain how it doesn’t – it just doesn’t satisfy is how I would describe it. It’s an unsatisfying venture.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is this is not the place to look for your satisfaction. This is something where you can have a great appreciation for and a great – like a great amount of thankfulness for being able to do this. Like I said, it’s literally one of the most fun things I can do in my entire life. I love being able to come out here and compete, but at the end of the day, it’s not what satisfies me, if that makes sense.”

Yes, this was more than the “one-shot-at-a-time” material usually served at such gatherings.

So what’s the takeaway?

In July, I wrote the following – and I stand by it five months later:

You don’t hear such admissions from athletes, so it’s jarring. We’re conditioned to watching those who desire to conquer all – though there’s no such thing. For a golfer, there’s always another tournament. For a doctor, there’s always another patient. For a writer, there’s always another story. So cherish the victories. Cherish that you made your fans cheer. And cherish getting a chance to try again.

And then go home. To use some of Scheffler’s words, go fill the deepest wants and desires of your heart, whatever that may look like.

But really, if Scheffler’s figured out the ever-confounding issue of proper work-life balance, watch out.

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