Scottie Scheffler on being a winning golfer not an identity, "not a fulfilling life".

[RoyalMustang]

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/45745697/scottie-scheffler-take-success-golf-point

 

Scottie gets it. I love this attitude. He wants to win more than anyone duing the tournament, but at the end of the day, who he is as a person isn't tied to his identity as a golfer. That's a superb distinction that takes some real maturity to understand. Sure, the world may know him as the world's best golfer. But he may prefer to be remembered by his friends and family as "if my car broke down at 3am and I needed help, he's the guy that would take my call and drive out to help me ". I know I would. 

 

I see so many people that tie their identity to a sport, a culture, a group, a fanbase. Tons of pros are like this: all they know is golf. All of their friends and staff are part of the golf world. They literally have no identity outside of golf. No hobbies, no interest in educating themselves. Just golf. It's like this for elite amateurs as well in all sports. I know folks who literally carry "I'm a golfer" around on their sleeve with their conversations, their clothing choices, their lifestyle choices. When I raced bicycles at the elite level, we'd be sitting around all morning (stages typically start at 1pm and end about 5pm) and 2/3 of my team would be sitting aound, talking about pro cycling in Europe. Or bike tech. Or power meters. Or nutrution. The other 1/3 would be talking about good books, the current economic and finance climate, or philosophy (we had a few that had liberal arts backgounds). One was getting his MBA at the time, another going to med school, a 3rd a remote working chemical engineer for Daimler. Those folks were a lot more interesting than the "I'm a pro bike racer" folks.  

 

That begs the question: if all that disappeared tomorrow, who would you be? If I'm rendered a quadrapalegic tomorow and can no longer golf, have I lost my identity? For me personally, no. I love golf, I play golf, and I want to get better at it. It's fulfilling. But being a golfer is not part of who I am as a person. if it all goes away, it's inconsequential to who I am as a person, father, husband, neighbor, and citizen. 

 

I also love his perspective on winning. It's fleeting and not fulfiling long term. The process is what counts more than the result. I won a national title in a different sport a decade ago, something I'd been training towards since my late teens. The joy lasted about 24 hours. Then I was back to my routine, wondering what was next. Ask anyone back in the day who broke 4 minutes for a mile (when breaking 4 minutes was a big deal) and they'll say the same. Lifetime goal, checked off. What's next? a 3:56 mile of course. More efficent training, better nutuition. But only a loser would go though life as "Hi, I'm XXX and a 4 minute miler. Nice to meet you". 

[TiScape]

W/o reading any more than the title of this thread.

Was this a feature in People magazine?

*I picture the cover with him in a cardigan w/his family, sitting on a porch…

[LinkLow]

I really liked this, especially the "it lasts for 2 minutes" part. That's pretty relatable for just about all of us.

 

I know I personally learn a lot more out of a round shooting over par than I do a bogey-free round under par. It's nice to have those days where everything goes right, but "fleeting" is just about the best word I can think of to describe that. Can't even imagine trying to do things at that level and being able to compartmentalize as well as these guys can.

 

Pretty dang comforting to hear the #1 ranked player in the world describe things in such a realistic way. 

[BSI99]

This is maybe the most open an elite athlete has been about how unfufilling winning can be. The only other guy who comes to mind is Jokic but he doesn't articulate it to this extent. 

[RoyalMustang]

5 minutes ago, LinkLow said:

I really liked this, especially the "it lasts for 2 minutes" part. That's pretty relatable for just about all of us.

 

I know I personally learn a lot more out of a round shooting over par than I do a bogey-free round under par. It's nice to have those days where everything goes right, but "fleeting" is just about the best word I can think of to describe that. Can't even imagine trying to do things at that level and being able to compartmentalize as well as these guys can.

 

Pretty dang comforting to hear the #1 ranked player in the world describe things in such a realistic way. 

 

Totally. I wasn't a huge Scottie fan because he plays so well and I always root for an underdog, but he genuinely seems like a normal guy, with normal friends who aren't pro golfers or part of his entourage. My buddy sees him over at Inwood tavern every once in awhile, just being a regular guy, hanging out. If Tiger was from Dallas, I don't think he's be seen too often over at Inwood swilling Irish Car Bombs and playing darts. 

[LinkLow]

7 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Totally. I wasn't a huge Scottie fan because he plays so well and I always root for an underdog, but he genuinely seems like a normal guy, with normal friends who aren't pro golfers or part of his entourage. My buddy sees him over at Inwood tavern every once in awhile, just being a regular guy, hanging out. If Tiger was from Dallas, I don't think he's be seen too often over at Inwood swilling Irish Car Bombs and playing darts. 

 

lol I'm the EXACT same way. He does seem like a good guy, I've heard too many stories about him from locals around here to think otherwise. 

[TiScape]

16 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Totally. I wasn't a huge Scottie fan because he plays so well and I always root for an underdog, but he genuinely seems like a normal guy, with normal friends who aren't pro golfers or part of his entourage. My buddy sees him over at Inwood tavern every once in awhile, just being a regular guy, hanging out. If Tiger was from Dallas, I don't think he's be seen too often over at Inwood swilling Irish Car Bombs and playing darts. 

Tiger saves his Irish Car bombs for inside the car…

 

*my apologies 😞

Edited July 15 by TiScape

[UncleJohn’sBand]

1 minute ago, TiScape said:

Tiger saves his Irish Car bombs for inside the car…

 

*my apologies 😞

[BSI99]

19 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Totally. I wasn't a huge Scottie fan because he plays so well and I always root for an underdog, but he genuinely seems like a normal guy, with normal friends who aren't pro golfers or part of his entourage. My buddy sees him over at Inwood tavern every once in awhile, just being a regular guy, hanging out. If Tiger was from Dallas, I don't think he's be seen too often over at Inwood swilling Irish Car Bombs and playing darts. 

Depends on the waitress situation at Inwood

[Cellis]

I get the PGA season is fast paced and grueling, but I find this part a little odd. I don't see why you would have to ask yourself this when it is the pinnacle of the occupation you chose.

[tatertot]

11 minutes ago, Cellis said:

I get the PGA season is fast paced and grueling, but I find this part a little odd. I don't see why you would have to ask yourself this when it is the pinnacle of the occupation you chose.

Part of the mindset is the grind of tournament golf never ends, winning is never enough. If you win a major, great ... but the next day you're at the range trying to keep in going and prep for the next tourney. It's a cycle that, once you're addicted to it, you can't get off.

[tatertot]

59 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/45745697/scottie-scheffler-take-success-golf-point

 

Scottie gets it. I love this attitude. He wants to win more than anyone duing the tournament, but at the end of the day, who he is as a person isn't tied to his identity as a golfer. That's a superb distinction that takes some real maturity to understand. Sure, the world may know him as the world's best golfer. But he may prefer to be remembered by his friends and family as "if my car broke down at 3am and I needed help, he's the guy that would take my call and drive out to help me ". I know I would. 

 

I see so many people that tie their identity to a sport, a culture, a group, a fanbase. Tons of pros are like this: all they know is golf. All of their friends and staff are part of the golf world. They literally have no identity outside of golf. No hobbies, no interest in educating themselves. Just golf. It's like this for elite amateurs as well in all sports. I know folks who literally carry "I'm a golfer" around on their sleeve with their conversations, their clothing choices, their lifestyle choices. When I raced bicycles at the elite level, we'd be sitting around all morning (stages typically start at 1pm and end about 5pm) and 2/3 of my team would be sitting aound, talking about pro cycling in Europe. Or bike tech. Or power meters. Or nutrution. The other 1/3 would be talking about good books, the current economic and finance climate, or philosophy (we had a few that had liberal arts backgounds). One was getting his MBA at the time, another going to med school, a 3rd a remote working chemical engineer for Daimler. Those folks were a lot more interesting than the "I'm a pro bike racer" folks.  

 

That begs the question: if all that disappeared tomorrow, who would you be? If I'm rendered a quadrapalegic tomorow and can no longer golf, have I lost my identity? For me personally, no. I love golf, I play golf, and I want to get better at it. It's fulfilling. But being a golfer is not part of who I am as a person. if it all goes away, it's inconsequential to who I am as a person, father, husband, neighbor, and citizen. 

 

I also love his perspective on winning. It's fleeting and not fulfiling long term. The process is what counts more than the result. I won a national title in a different sport a decade ago, something I'd been training towards since my late teens. The joy lasted about 24 hours. Then I was back to my routine, wondering what was next. Ask anyone back in the day who broke 4 minutes for a mile (when breaking 4 minutes was a big deal) and they'll say the same. Lifetime goal, checked off. What's next? a 3:56 mile of course. More efficent training, better nutuition. But only a loser would go though life as "Hi, I'm XXX and a 4 minute miler. Nice to meet you". 

It's not just sports, either. I've worked for people who identify themselves with the job they have.

 

Everyone of us has a master ... it defines who we are.

[Barfolomew]

Being master of a little plastic ball is just a side hustle..... too many never learn that 

[mosesgolf]

He basically said family is the most important thing to him in the world and that he's is going to be a legend in his spare time.  

[PJE]

How old is Scotty? 29 I think? 
He’s figured something out that a lot of people never do or figure out late in life.  What you do for (gainful) employment only defines your “soul” for better or worse, if you allow it. 

I don’t think the key to self regulation is necessarily having friends outside of your field, it’s having other interests and the resistance to allowing your job to infringe upon your personality, character, and self esteem. 

Edited July 15 by PJE

[RoyalMustang]

1 hour ago, BSI99 said:

Depends on the waitress situation at Inwood

 Hooters is shutting down: should be some unemployed potentials looking for new gigs. And if you want a sleazy rich divorced guy, Inwood might be your best option to waitress at! 

[PedronNiall]

Saw it elsewhere and didn't find it surprising. One, he's been direct on more than one occasion that golf is his job, period. He works hard at it, he enjoys some of what it brings, but it's a job. This isn't the first time he's at a minimum hinted that he'd be fine walking away from it all if needed.

 

Two, like most people who've gotten perspective in life, he's come to realize the experiences and time we have with others closest to us is what makes life fulfilling. The people who care about you and love even when the cameras aren't there any longer or when you can't do anything for them or even when you make mistakes and the parts of life shared with them will be what replays in most people's minds in the quiet moments. He seemed to already have a lot of that figured out early on, and having his son was simply more proof of what's really valuable.

 

Brady, Duval, and plenty of others who have won at the highest level have in one way or another shared the "is this all there is?" realization that comes in achieving even the rarest of goals. No matter how great you are the world moves on without you. Tiger achieved the almost unheard of feat of staying in the global spotlight for decades and even having a surge of glory again before his crash, but as with Jack, and Arnie, and Hogan, and Jones, and the Morris men, golf moved on. Basketball moved on after Jordan and Bird, and after Kobe. Tennis moved on after the Williams sisters. Ford moved on after Henry Ford passed. No matter how great someone's feats, the celebration of their largest external impacts will be fleeting, and then the world will move on. No matter how important you are at your job, no matter how big your impact there or on the world in terms of tangible achievements, you can die tomorrow and everything will move on one way or another. 

 

Famous people, achievers in industry, sports notables, and so on I've met or been around have never brought up their own accomplishments. If they take pride in anything it's in talking about the things the people they love and who love them have done. The few people in life I've met who had no real relationships talk about things they did in the past and that's often all they have to share.

 

I don't think it's surprising in a job where one has to control their emotions to do it well, in a world where one has to guard words and emotion at all times because of social media, to hear anyone say even the greatest moments in that job aren't the best highs in life or the ones that mean the most in the end.

[Mr.Cleeks]

This post seems more apporpriate for "The 19th hole"

 https://forums.golfwrx.com/forum/38-the-19th-hole/

[RoyalMustang]

1 hour ago, PedronNiall said:

Saw it elsewhere and didn't find it surprising. One, he's been direct on more than one occasion that golf is his job, period. He works hard at it, he enjoys some of what it brings, but it's a job. This isn't the first time he's at a minimum hinted that he'd be fine walking away from it all if needed.

 

Two, like most people who've gotten perspective in life, he's come to realize the experiences and time we have with others closest to us is what makes life fulfilling. The people who care about you and love even when the cameras aren't there any longer or when you can't do anything for them or even when you make mistakes and the parts of life shared with them will be what replays in most people's minds in the quiet moments. He seemed to already have a lot of that figured out early on, and having his son was simply more proof of what's really valuable.

 

Brady, Duval, and plenty of others who have won at the highest level have in one way or another shared the "is this all there is?" realization that comes in achieving even the rarest of goals. No matter how great you are the world moves on without you. Tiger achieved the almost unheard of feat of staying in the global spotlight for decades and even having a surge of glory again before his crash, but as with Jack, and Arnie, and Hogan, and Jones, and the Morris men, golf moved on. Basketball moved on after Jordan and Bird, and after Kobe. Tennis moved on after the Williams sisters. Ford moved on after Henry Ford passed. No matter how great someone's feats, the celebration of their largest external impacts will be fleeting, and then the world will move on. No matter how important you are at your job, no matter how big your impact there or on the world in terms of tangible achievements, you can die tomorrow and everything will move on one way or another. 

 

Famous people, achievers in industry, sports notables, and so on I've met or been around have never brought up their own accomplishments. If they take pride in anything it's in talking about the things the people they love and who love them have done. The few people in life I've met who had no real relationships talk about things they did in the past and that's often all they have to share.

 

I don't think it's surprising in a job where one has to control their emotions to do it well, in a world where one has to guard words and emotion at all times because of social media, to hear anyone say even the greatest moments in that job aren't the best highs in life or the ones that mean the most in the end.

 

Great perspective!

 

A friend shared a story that will always stick with me. He and I were both climbers and had spent months in Yosemite over the years. His uncle worked for a summer in Yosemite as a supervisor for North Delaware (the concessionaire for YNP). One day, he sat down to breakfast in the lodge food court and began chatting with the guy next to him. They hit it off and had breakfast every day throughout the rest of the summer. 

 

That guy never said a thing about rock climbing during their shared breakfast conversations. Never said a thing about being the world's foremost trad climber, the guy who put up the world's most famous boulder problem in Midnight Lightning, the guy who put up Astroman (argubaly the most famous trad climb in the world and the climb which every trad climber aspires to send), the first guy to have a pair of climbing shoes named after him, the guy who trained Tom Cruise (and was his climbing double) for MI2. Literal climbing world god. For all by friend's uncle knew, this guy was a fit-looking carpenter or mason. 

 

it wasn't until my friend visited his uncle in the Valley that summer (he was enrolling in the fall at UC Berkley and getting a PhD in neuroscience) that he joined his uncle for breakfast and met his uncle's now old-friend Ron Kauk. 

Edited July 15 by RoyalMustang

[bcjim]

4 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

 

I also love his perspective on winning. It's fleeting and not fulfiling long term. The process is what counts more than the result. 

Completely agree.  It's the planning how to win that i find appealing.  The actual winning is often a let down almost. Or at least not as exciting as one might imagine. 

 

I wonder if Rory has been struggling with how to maintain the joy in the process or if there is even joy in the process now that he's won the Masters.

[tiderider]

5 hours ago, TiScape said:

Tiger saves his Irish Car bombs for inside the car…

 

*my apologies 😞

no apologies needed ... 

 

if that's not a Tigeresque performance in a car, I don't know what is ... Tiger gonna Tiger ... 

 

[straightshot7]

3 hours ago, Titleist99 said:

He also stated that he was grateful and appreciative.

And I'm sure he already is or the next step will be realizing he can do incredible things with the means and influence he's been blessed with.

 

Who isn't going to take his phone call?

 

He has the rest of life to create whatever change he wants to. 

[PowderedToastMan]

I only watched this small clip, but what I see is a burnt-out athlete. Scottie isn't MJ, but MJ retired for the first time at around the same age, asking similar questions ("what's the point?"). A renewed desire to reach new heights, along with a stubborn ability to stay in the moment, brought MJ back. 

 

Bob Rotella talks about how the enjoyment/satisfaction comes from chasing the dream rather than achieving it. It seems like maybe Scottie has lost that a bit, which by the way, is a normal human reaction to the level of success he has currently reached. 

 

I largely agree with the sentiment expressed here that Scottie is showing maturity with his statement, having his priorities in a good place. However, I've talked with a lot of older athletes who quit or stopped trying as much in their prime years, who would have done it differently now. It's really a catch-22 that many people experience at the end of their lives. I will say that I don't hear people regretting spending too much time with their kids, but Scottie is living his dream right now on tour, and it seems like he's forgetting that. Yes, his family is much more important, but he's depriving himself of joy by not being mindful that he is living his dream right now. 

 

If he hasn't already, I hope he has a good talk with Jack Nicklaus. That man perfected the work-life balance and was fiercely present, whether on the course or with his family. I have no doubt though that with a solid break from golf, Scottie's question of "what's the point" will seem like ancient history and will instead go back to winning tournaments. 

[forrester_fire]

I'd rather root for athletes like this than the guys that are completely consumed by their sport.  In the end, professional sports are just a fun distraction and mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.  It's a big part of the reason I could never root for Tiger, Kobe, or MJ; they let their pursuit of an otherwise meaningless activity consume them to the point that they weren't very good humans.

[smoky25]

Basically dopamine in action.  He gets a big dopamine boost from the process of competing, not necessarily from winning, which is how dopamine works in the brain. The process of competing (or doing anything "difficult") that promises a reward at the end is what causes an increase in dopamine, not the reward at the end.  The completion of the process actually causes an abrupt lowering of dopamine production and the subsequent "what's the point" 2 minutes later that he speaks of.  Most of these guys would probably tell you they're addicted (dopamine) to competing, not necessarily to winning.  

[Hawkeye77]

3 hours ago, Mr.Cleeks said:

This post seems more apporpriate for "The 19th hole"

 https://forums.golfwrx.com/forum/38-the-19th-hole/

He said the Tour doesn't satisfy him but he's still on it!

[Titleist99]

11 minutes ago, smoky25 said:

Basically dopamine in action.  He gets a big dopamine boost from the process of competing, not necessarily from winning, which is how dopamine works in the brain. The process of competing (or doing anything "difficult") that promises a reward at the end is what causes an increase in dopamine, not the reward at the end.  The completion of the process actually causes an abrupt lowering of dopamine production and the subsequent "what's the point" 2 minutes later that he speaks of.  Most of these guys would probably tell you they're addicted (dopamine) to competing, not necessarily to winning.  

 

Fascinating and quite logical. Most of the time, wanting is better than having.

[NailedIt]

Maybe 72 holes every week is getting  to him and this is his way of telling us he wants to play less and spend more time with family and only play 54 holes a week.😁

[Anser3]

Not at all a bettor, but he's gotta be among the favorites for The Open this week.  At Oakmont (during practice rounds) he was walking up fairways making noises with his mouth and holding a golf club moving along with his arms in stride.  He looked like a little kid out in the backyard hitting balls and then walking after them.

Edited July 15 by Anser3

[Titleist99]

3 minutes ago, NailedIt said:

Maybe 72 holes every week is getting  to him and this is his way of telling us he wants to play less and spend more time with family and only play 54 holes a week.😁

you think the royal kingdom got to Scottie? 🤣