The Open 2025 - Portrush

Leslie Purkiss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123652901#Comment_123652901

he hit the wrong ball! He didn’t know it was there, but he hit it!

dublin49

Scheffler offended the golfing Gods ,suggesting golf is not important,did the mask slip revealing a Nihilistic side .

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123654837#Comment_123654837

Its easy said when you are a multi millionaire and have never had to work a **** job for a living. He could stop golf now and live comfortably for the rest of his life.

But perhaps now he is financially secure he is just saying that his family and friends are more important than winning at a sport? Id like to think that Rory, Shane and all the other golfers would also say their wife and kids are more important to them than golf.

I dont think his comments deserved the reaction they got.

Golfgraffix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123654688#Comment_123654688

he’d already hit his ball, the shot was already taken. He could have hit 100 buried balls if wanted to

FixdePitchmark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123654866#Comment_123654866

I'd say his Christianity is a significant element..He believes in the overall scale of life and existence, golf is way down the line.

Whilst this is not an accepted modern approach. It creates a monster psychology for him in sport.

I wouldn't say he is using this in a fake way or a method. It is just his reality.

IIt is fascinating, have seen all sorts of approaches before but this is new.

coillcam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655214#Comment_123655214

Probably because Ireland is quite a secular country now, makes it seem slightly unusual for faith to be considered a big part of anyone's success in life. Europe in general is secular too.

Pausing that thought for a moment though. Katie Taylor would be someone local who places her faith as a big role in her life and success.

However in the USA, a large number of athletes will acknowledge their faith during interviews. Not just a tattoo or piece of jewellery but directly thanking god or Jesus in some way.

FixdePitchmark

It is kinda cool too that the best player in world taking it all for what it is , golf..a bit of fun and just a competition.

Refreshing when you see carry on of Lowry and Hatton and some weekend warriors trying to break 90 or 5 hours...throwing clubs and generally a nightmare on course ...

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123652957#Comment_123652957

Happened me a few weeks ago. Ball in rough and a ball underneath, half buried. Weird feeling when I played my ball and caught the other one too.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655361#Comment_123655361

I think there's a happy medium between Lowry's over the top attitude and Scheffler's incredible blandness.

He really is a very beige person, his golf is impressibly robotic and as an individual he is completely uninteresting to me.

slave1

He just has no spark

ledwithhedwith

I thought it was the most interesting interview ive heard from a golfer in years. I dont like when one sportsperson dominates though, maybe we are in danger here

newport2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655214#Comment_123655214

I think if I was born as talented as he is, had four majors to my name and over a 100 million in the bank, I'd probably believe it was all part of God's plan too.

NIMAN

Maybe he'll do the Slam, then retire and let everyone else compete.

newport2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655819#Comment_123655819

If he continues the way he is, he certainly deserves it. But I hope it doesn't happen next year, I hope he has to go through a lot to get it, like Rory did.

I think the big question with him is how long he can keep it up. Tiger had his eyes on 19 majors from the start and winning was everything. While I think Scheffler is brilliant, he wants to beat his opponents, Tiger wanted to crush them.

Scheffler's putting was outstanding this week, especially when you consider where it was a year or two ago.

slave1

We needed heavy wind and rain for a non-Scottie win, I think this is his only top 5 at The Open, course was there for him in benign conditions.

MayoSalmon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655778#Comment_123655778

I mean this could be said for almost 90% of golfers....the demographic that takes an interest in this sport are generally uninteresting people whether they are Irish, American, Italian etc.

This is why the likes of Tiger and Bryson are so needed in the sport.

Jack Daw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656037#Comment_123656037

What exactly constitutes an interesting person though?

I'll be honest I find most of the supposed "characters" in all sports over the years quite tedious and I'd argue his comments in his press conference were far more interesting than 99% of pre tournament press conferences across all sports.

The problem with Scheffler is that he's too consistent. The golfers that tend to excite people were ones who made mistakes but then had to produce spectacular shots to make up for the mistakes like Seve and Mickelson.

Golf is a sport that is generally more interesting to watch when it is played badly than when it is played well. The masters was really exciting this year because of McIlroys incompetence in the final round.

crusd

On the McIllroy extra ball, I was imagining a scenario where someone watching recognised the ball from a club match play a few years back where their opponent magically "found" their ball in the rough and won the hole

MayoSalmon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656439#Comment_123656439

Uninteresting is usually stale white and pale which probably sums up 90% of golf lol

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655214#Comment_123655214

Insisting his caddie attend his daughter's graduation during a major shows just how much he values family. Putting your caddie's family ahead of critical tournaments shows what's most important to him.

And he wouldn't let him stay even after all the crap with the cop and being arrested.

IrishOwl...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656037#Comment_123656037

Tiger was in no way an interesting person when he was dominating the sport. He was bland and just repeated the same PC nonsense in interviews week after week. The fascinating with Tiger was down to his pure brilliance and people tuned into watch that.

He only became interesting as a person in the last 15 years, when his life was turned upside down and he was a complete mess. He had to reveal the real him in front and the cameras and people tuned in to see if he could rediscover the magic week on week

IrishOwl...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123654688#Comment_123654688

He'd already hit his ball, so what happened after is irrelevant.

Russman

For sure, Scottie is unbelievably good at the moment but lets make judgement in another 18 months or so. A lot of players had an incredible run for a couple of years in recent times. Spieth had his few years, Jason Day looked unreal for about 2 years, same with Justin Thomas, DJ had his run probably from his US Open to his Masters, Rahm was great for the couple of year up to joining LIV. Right now Scottie looks head and shoulders above everyone, but lets see how it goes. For me, its just amazing that he doesn't really hit bad shots, and gets away with the slightly iffy ones. Its almost like Monty on steroids for his consistency in terms of strike and flight (nothing else !!).

To keep it somewhat related to The Open, I thought it was very striking just how many of the guys are playing a fade off the tee these days. I mean, there was always plenty of faders but you'd always see a few draws, I saw hardly any this time. I know its to do with the modern driver but it must really be hard for someone who naturally draws it.

Trampas

Maybe because Scottie is a new father that his view on the game has changed. Also sportspeople are told what to say or not say nowadays in interviews

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656847#Comment_123656847

Americans lap that stuff up. Just do it in the background without any fuss like I'm sure lots of golfers have done it the past

IrishOwl...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123659500#Comment_123659500

Also, I wonder has he also watched what Rory went through for the 10 years or more. The constant media hype, the epic failures brought up and spoken about months, even years later. The media knows that Rory is an emotional type, capable of doing and saying anything, so it was gold to them if it went wrong. And Rory would happily bear that disappointment and grief to them.

Scottie maybe like, f**K that, I don’t want this around me every time I show up and don’t bring my best. He’ll start to get it more now if he fails in the grand slam over the next year or 2. But, he has kind put the media doomsday lovers on the back foot with that statement, there’s only so much rope the media can take if Scottie tells them he doesn’t really care about a certain loss, this grand slam, or adding another major is not going to define me or change my life in the slightest.

Whereas they knew this grand slam is what Rory craved more than anything (he basically told them as much time and time again), so his failures made for epic back page stories!

MayoSalmon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658549#Comment_123658549

Absolutely bizarre take but carry on lol

The guy was absolutely fascinating from the day he appeared on the Mike Douglas show aged 4.

cosatron

Would scottie have being this successful if LIV didn't happen. Rahm, Koepka, Johnson and Neiman have all fallen of a cliff since joining liv. Hatton and Bryson seem to be the most consisting but hardly threatening, Bryson's us open was handed to him.

Ottoman_1000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123659611#Comment_123659611

That’s not bizarre take at all. Tiger was one of the most heavily media prepared sporting individuals of all time. He even admitted that much himself. As soon as he dominated the field at the Masters in 97 it changed everything for him. His own dad even spoke about how unhappy he was with the way Tiger was presented, and that there was more to him than this robotic golfing generational freak. His father was quickly pushed away from media duties when the Tiger train took off, which was interesting, as he barley left his side up until that point.

Ottoman_1000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123659649#Comment_123659649

I think he would have, Scottie is playing a game that is almost alien to those mentioned. It’s just consistent brilliance, how long he could keep it up is another matter. But currently, he’s playing better golf, than anyone you mentioned when at their peak.