‘What is the point?’ Scottie Scheffler admits emptiness at the top of golf’s pyramid

Scottie Scheffler has achieved almost everything in golf, but as he looks to add a Claret Jug to his bulging trophy cabinet, the World No.1 admits he’s still searching for something deeper.

It’s been a whirlwind few years for Scottie Scheffler.

Since the start of 2022, he’s surged from World No.15 to No.1, won three major championships, captured Olympic gold, racked up 16 PGA Tour victories, and become both a father and the sport’s most dominant force. He’s suffered the worst defeat in Ryder Cup history, been arrested during a major, and still turned up on the tee as if nothing had happened.

It’s understandable that he might feel the need to take a step back and reflect, and he certainly seemed in contemplative mood during his press conference ahead of the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

At first, it all sounded fairly standard. When asked about his success over the last few years, Scheffler couldn’t help but get emotional.

“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf?” he pondered. “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 is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special.”

So far, so expected. But then Scheffler went deep. And what came next took everyone in the room by surprise.

“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.”

The joy of winning… and the hollow aftermath

Scheffler explained that the joy of victory is short-lived – perhaps more so than he ever anticipated.

“I think it’s kind of funny. I think I said something after the Byron this year about it. 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, okay, what are we going to eat for dinner? Life goes on.”

Many successful people have described an unexpected emotional whiplash that follows when their dreams come true – an affliction that seems to have hit the game’s best golfer.

“There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, and you’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 anticlimax, he admitted, has led him to regularly question the purpose behind it all.

“That’s something I wrestle with on a daily basis. 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 we’re back here again.”

Wrestling with meaning at the top of the world

Scheffler’s words reflect a truth rarely spoken out loud by elite athletes – that achievement, while externally impressive, doesn’t always fill the internal void. In fact, for many, it can magnify it.

“We work so hard for such little moments,” he said. “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.”

That honesty is as jarring as it is refreshing. This is the best golfer on the planet, talking not about confidence, goals, or legacy – but about existential doubt.

“This is an unsatisfying venture”

As he dug deeper, it became clear that Scheffler’s struggle isn’t one of motivation, but of meaning. He still loves golf. He still loves the grind. But he’s aware now that it will never fully satisfy him.

“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,” he said.

“This is something you can have a great appreciation for… but it’s not what satisfies me.”

His faith and his young family are where Scheffler finds the purpose golf can’t offer, though he revealed it could be the thing that makes him hang up his clubs for good.

“This is not the most important thing in my life,” he said. “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. If my golf ever started affecting my home life or 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.”

It’s widely accepted that humans are motivated to avoid pain more than to seek pleasure. And for Scheffler, while the joy of winning may not last long, the pain of losing cuts deep.

“It sucks. I hate it. I really do,” he said. “I think that’s why we work so hard to not lose, but golf’s a game where you lose a lot more often than you win.

“Playing professional sports is a really weird thing to do. It really is. Just because we put in so much effort and work so hard for something that’s so fleeting. 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 or the PGA Championship – I have a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for it, but it just doesn’t satisfy. It’s an unsatisfying venture.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that this is not the place to look for your satisfaction. This is something you can have a great appreciation for and a great amount of thankfulness for being able to do this. 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.”

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