On a day where the blazing sun shone brightly over Royal Birkdale ahead of The British Open beginning Thursday, one might have thought the world’s best golfers would be drilled on the challenge of tackling the scorched links in England’s northwest.
The conditions were to die for, or so it seemed, with the chatter with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy taking a decidedly morbid tone when the topic turned to the only two certainties in life – death and taxes.
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A year after Scheffler asked a big question of himself – days before plundering Royal Portrush he pondered the point of what he was doing – the world No.1 was quizzed as to whether his legacy mattered.
Scheffler is the world No.1 with four majors including two Masters and his famous triumph at Royal Portrush last year. He has a growing family and sits among the most iconic athletes in the world. But worrying about history does not bother him.
“To be completely honest, not really. I don’t really play, like, for a place in history,” he said.
“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.”
When pressed to elaborate on this response, Scheffler groaned as memories of last year’s philosophic chat came rushing back.
“Is that going to be a quote after last year’s ‘What’s the point’? (That) this year (it will be) ‘we’re all going to die’?” he said.
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With McIlroy was later asked to weigh in on the same subject, it was hard to avoid. For the record, the Northern Irishman is not that fussed either despite the fact he has defended a Masters and completed a career Grand Slam, among other goals.
“I don’t really care. I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me but, yeah, I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead,” McIlroy said.
“I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost. I don’t think I’ll be, you know … I don’t care.”
The importance of legacy might be a hot topic in golf at the moment given the pitfalls Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have faced but for Scheffler, he is driven by the competition rather than what people will think of him once his career is complete.
“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,” he said.
“Like when I die (and people say), ‘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.”
And as for taxes? That was a curly question McIlroy faced after discussing everything from the pressure on home town heroes Tommy Fleetwood and co to whether the major calendar is too crammed to why St Andrews if his favourite Open course.
After completing the career Grand Slam when winning at Augusta in 2025, the 37-year-old said it would be an honour to be presented with a Knighthood in keeping with his achievements in golf, but he missed out in the King’s gongs last year.
When asked whether he was aware whether the delay was due to “some kind of tax issue”, the 2014 British Open champion looked somewhat bemused but reiterated it would be a massive honour if he was to become Sir Rory McIlroy.
“I have no idea (what is going on there). If that honour were bestowed on me one day, that would be amazing, but yeah, I have no idea,” he said.
What might help his cause on that front is winning a second British Open to add to his 2014 success down the road at Royal Liverpool.
Royal Birkdale is a course that he likes but he is still tinkering with his swing after finished tied for 7th last week, with McIlroy captured on video berating himself for being “so bad at golf” on the final day of the Scottish Open.
Asked how happy he was with where his game is at, McIlroy said; “It depends what hour of the day you get me, I think.”
“I felt really good the first two days in Scotland and then felt like my game just sort of deteriorated as the week went on. Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn’t feel very good,” he said.
“I’ve done a good bit of work the past couple days, again, getting the TrackMan out, seeing what my numbers are, and just trying to match up the feels of my swing with what I’m seeing.
“Also, like, I played 30 holes on Sunday. I felt a little bit tired yesterday, so I didn’t make it on the course, but that allowed
me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit. (It) felt good on the range (and) felt good out on the course today. (I’m) definitely trending in the right direction.”
Scheffler was seeing silver linings after having a rare weekend free due to missing the cut at The Renaissance Club in a tournament where Australian Min Woo Lee finished runner-up to Tom Kim.
He revealed that a mate had prepared a lengthy text message advising him on what he could do given he had a weekend without title-chasing responsibilities but thought better of sending it when unsure of the American’s mood.
The 30-year-old, who instead played 18 holes at Royal Birkdale on Sunday, was in a positive mood but said the obligations of being defending champion added stress to the week when revealing he asked for some space while during a practice round.
“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,” he said.
“But 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?’
“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.”
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