Scottie Scheffler has admitted that he was surprised by just how much he enjoyed having the Claret Jug in his possession after his victory at last year’s Open Championship.
Scheffler is gearing up for the Scottish Open, as he continues his preparations for the final major of the season at Royal Birkdale next week.
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Of course, Scheffler’s most recent major win came at The Open Championship 12 months ago, with the world number one dominating over the final three days in Northern Ireland.
Scottie Scheffler says what surprised him about his Open Championship win
Admittedly, Royal Portrush did not play at its toughest for the majority of the tournament. Everyone inside the top 50 finished the week under par.
Nevertheless, it was hugely impressive how Scheffler seemed to be playing a completely different course at times. The only time during the final round where it appeared that he may be in any danger of opening the door for the chasing pack came when he made a double bogey on the eighth.
He made a birdie on nine and did not drop another shot.
The result moved Scheffler to within a US Open victory of completing the Career Grand Slam. And as he prepares to try and defend his crown, he attempted to explain what the last 12 months have been like.
“I’m not really a good reflector, I’m really not. Sorry, a short memory. I don’t really sit around too much and think about the past, to be honest with you,” he said.
“I feel like I’m in the middle of my career and probably the end of my career is more a time to reflect. Right now I’m just focused on what I need to do, and maybe I should sit and enjoy things more, but that’s just not my nature. My wife is better at that than me. I’m not good at that.
“One thing I will say is that I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Claret Jug. Like it was something to me that I always understood the history and the significance, and you see the names on there and how far it goes back. And it’s like the perfect size trophy, not too big, not too small, and you get to drink out of it; that’s an added bonus.
“It was something that is very special to me. And you know, it will be very tough to hand it back on Tuesday next week, but I’ll be fighting like heck to get it back on Sunday.”
What Scottie Scheffler did with the Claret Jug after his win at Royal Portrush
Scheffler provided one of the most iconic moments of the season at last year’s Open when he spoke to the media about golf not providing huge fulfilment.
Some misunderstood the point he was trying to make. Scheffler noted how strange it can be to win a tournament and immediately start to think about the next event.
But it seems that he did manage to savour his victory at The Open last year. Scheffler was asked about what he did with the iconic trophy.
“You know, after The Open last year, we had, I call it a party. We had like a dinner with some of our friends at home, some of our really close friends. And we had from the PGA Championship, the Wanamaker, and the Claret Jug there, and it was really fun. We drank out of both of them,” he said.
How do you think Jon Rahm will get on at the Scottish Open?
“Yeah, I’d say that was probably the most fun memory. We got some good pictures, all my buddies drinking out of it. My manager’s son, 10 years old at the time and he had some lemonade out of it. Little stuff like that. It’s really fun for me to be able to go home and enjoy the successes with my friends and family as well.
“I’d say those are always the memories that really last. It’s pretty rare in this game when you get to achieve something that you have longed for for a long time. It’s fun for me to be able to go home and celebrate with the people that are closest to me and that helped me get into that position, as well.”
Scheffler is in a unique position heading into this year’s event. There is an argument that he is perhaps not the favourite to win at Royal Birkdale.
Last year saw his first top five finish at The Open. He has now had at least three top fives at each of the other three majors.
Scheffler has also not always been able to keep his emotions in check when he is not in total control on the golf course. And players often surrender much of that control when playing in The Open.
Nevertheless, he has arguably had one of the most incredible one-win seasons of all-time so far this year. So it should surprise absolutely no one if he ends up getting to keep the Claret Jug for another year.
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