Rickie Fowler has given his perspective on the recent remarks made by Scottie Scheffler and Padraig Harrington regarding the sense of fulfilment that comes from winning golf tournaments.
Scheffler consistently leads the world rankings right now, while Harrington dominates the PGA Tour Champions.
Before The Open Championship, the 29-year-old golfer stated that winning offered fleeting satisfaction.
On the other hand, Harrington, weeks after his US Senior Open victory, expressed his disagreement, saying he was still celebrating his win.
The American star’s comments sparked plenty of debate among fans, players, and media alike. So where does Rickie Fowler stand on the matter?
Rickie Fowler shares his view on Scottie Scheffler and Padraig Harrington’s comments
With six PGA Tour victories to his name, Fowler’s perspective carries weight. He was asked whether he aligns more with Scheffler’s or Harrington’s outlook on winning, and he said:
“Yeah, you can ride the wave a bit whether it’s a win or a good finish. I feel like there’s – if you’re just taking or measuring success off winning, other than where Scottie’s been the last few years, you’re going to be disappointed quite often.
“Yeah, there are a lot of times where you’re having to look at the glass half full out here, especially in times where you’re maybe struggling and might just be a solid weekend or top-20, top-10. So yeah, the wins, a lot of times you don’t really get either much time or time to necessarily celebrate; you might be playing the following week, but there are times to look back and reflect.
“It’s the good memories. But as far as the actual moment, yeah, like Scottie said, it’s pretty brief and quick. It’s like life doesn’t stop; it keeps going. But there is something to like what some of the other guys have said is you can kind of build off that or ride the wave of just quality golf in general. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a win.”
The key point that seems overlooked is that Scheffler wasn’t saying he doesn’t care about winning, he was talking about not defining himself solely by his results on course.
His focus is on being a better father and husband above all else – something few could argue with.
Annika Sorenstam endorses Scottie Scheffler’s opinion
Sorenstam, an LPGA star from the mid-90s to early 2000s, also prioritises family. Before The Open, she supported Scheffler’s family-focused comments.
“I appreciate his comments. He said the word ‘grateful’ many times, and he appreciates his success, it’s cool to win but it doesn’t really fulfil the deepest desire in his heart, which I know is his family. I think that was a good thing to share.
“Maybe people need to start realising that we’re human beings who play golf, we’re not golfers trying to be human beings. At the end of the day that’s really what’s so important. You shouldn’t be judged on your score and what you do, life is about so much more than that.“
Scheffler’s approach might not resonate with everyone in golf circles, but there’s no denying it suits him just fine.
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