THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome the 2024 winner of the Travelers Championship Scottie Scheffler to the interview room. Scottie, some great memories from last year. What's it like to be back in Cromwell?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It's good to be back. This is always a nice relaxing week after the U.S. Open. We just get treated great at this event. The food's always really good. We love coming back here to Cromwell, always get great fan support. It's one of our favorite stops of the year. It's fun to be back.
Q. Three victories, two top-10 finishes in your last five starts on TOUR. Could you recap your season so far as we head into the last Signature Event of the season.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It felt good. I didn't have my best stuff last week but was still able to get a decent finish. Felt good about my prep work so far this week and excited to get the tournament started.
Q. Obviously the news yesterday of the new PGA TOUR CEO, Brian Rolapp, going to be taking over for Jay Monahan. What do you hope to see from him when he takes the reins?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: What do I hope to see? I think it's exciting to have some new leadership. I think Brian will bring some good energy. Literally the first time I heard him speak was yesterday, so I really don't know much about him. I liked what I heard yesterday.
I think our board and Jay and everybody put a lot of research into finding his successor, and to be able to get somebody from the NFL, especially somebody high up at the NFL, I think is pretty cool. The NFL is obviously a very successful organization. He's got a lot of experience and some new thought processes he can bring to the TOUR, and I think it's exciting.
Q. You feel like the membership is on board with bringing someone from outside of the golf world into this?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I really have no idea. I didn't even get to meet Brian yesterday. I had to leave the meeting a couple minutes early. It went a little longer than I thought it would, and I had to sneak out at the last second. So I didn't even get a chance to meet him, let alone talk to anybody else about a new commissioner or anything like that.
We had heard some rumblings that that was going to happen yesterday morning, but it really only happened a day ago. So I haven't really heard the temperature. I assume it's all good things. I liked what I got to hear yesterday, so I would assume that's pretty much the opinion of most people in the room.
There definitely wasn't anybody grumbling or shouting or anything like that, so it seemed like all good news.
Q. Just wanted to ask you for your take on J.J.'s performance at the U.S. Open and kind of what you saw, typically what you thought, having been in those situations before, the way he played and the way it played out?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The conditions on Sunday got really challenging. J.J.'s had a very, very solid year. He almost won THE PLAYERS Championship. He's had a lot of good starts. He's played some pretty consistent golf.
To be honest, I didn't really get to watch anything on Sunday. By the time I finished up, I was getting in the shower and trying to pack up all our stuff and baby stuff, so I wasn't able to watch too much.
I did see some highlights after. He almost holed it on 17 off the tee, and he stepped up when he needed to and finished off the golf tournament. The way the conditions were on Sunday, it was so challenging, and guys were just falling back on the leaderboard. We were kind of watching it thinking maybe I could even sneak in there and post a number. By the time we finished, it was very obvious I wasn't going to win. We were looking at the leaderboard again and being like, someone is going to go out and win this, and we'll see who it is. J.J. went out and birdied 17 and 18 and won the tournament.
That's what you've got to do to finish off major championships and tournaments out here. It's not easy to win. You've got to hit the right shots at the right time. Sometimes you get a little bit of luck too. For J.J. to step up and birdie 17 and 18 in those conditions to win the tournament is pretty special.
Q. 3-iron or 5-wood this week?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: That's a good question. We were talking about that this morning. It might even be day by day depending on wind direction, stuff like that. I'm not totally sure.
Q. The follow-up is you've used a 3-iron exclusively for most of your career, I believe, and now this year you've started putting in that 5-wood, 7-wood in between. What is it about it that you're finally comfortable with using that kind of club? Is it changes in your game conditions or just the technology of the club?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I have put in a 5-wood from time to time over the course of my career. I think maybe you just didn't notice it just because I wasn't as noticeable at tournaments as I think I am now early in my career.
Torrey Pines is a place I always try to put it in because you get those long par-4s, and the rough is playable enough where you know you're going to -- for instance, this year I put it in at Torrey, and we were testing it in the right rough on the 12th hole, and I threw a couple balls down, and I hit a few 4-irons that went 50, 60 yards in the air, hit some 7-irons that went like 100 yards in the air, and then I took out the 5-wood and it went 160, 170 yards in the air. Coming out of the rough, there's a huge advantage to having a club like that, then going into some par-5s too.
For instance, at Torrey Pines, there's always a need at that tournament. I put it in at the PGA this year because the greens were so firm, and coming into some of those par-5s, I felt I was going to need it. The rough there, it was going to be an advantage because there were some very long par-4s, and if you get in the rough on those par-4s, I need a club to get it out and get it up there somewhere near the green so I can make a par. Those are a couple ways.
Q. In terms of recovery, after the U.S. Open it can be kind of a grueling week. Is your recovery process something that is consistent week to week in terms of you do the same type of stuff?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, for the most part, especially traveling week to week. I think the recovery is pretty similar most weeks. A lot of it is seeing how my body feels and what I feel I can handle. Some weeks that's a lot. Some weeks that's a little.
Coming off the U.S. Open, it's probably going to be a little more of a little week in terms of prep just because I think mental and physical rest is more important after a tournament like that.
I feel like my game's in a good spot, so I don't have to go out on the range and feel like I need to figure anything out or figure out the greens or around the greens. I've got a good feel for the bunkers, got a good feel for the speed of the greens. A lot is getting your mind ready to go out and play.
Q. Anything you need to do for recovery after a tournament, or does it change week to week?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I have a routine that I stick to between seeing my trainer and cold tub. That's about it. Nothing too crazy.
Q. The birdie record, PGA TOUR sanctioned in general, is nine. It was set by Omar Uresti, your fellow Longhorn. Why do you think it is that that hasn't been surpassed since then. Could you speak to the difficulty of stringing a lot of birdies together.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Omar made nine birdies in a row? Wow, I've never made close to nine birdies in a row. Why is that record so -- has lasted so long? I think that's really difficult, and the courses out here, they're only trying to make them more difficult for whatever reason.
Nine birdies in a row, that's pretty ridiculous golf. That's about as close to perfection as you'll probably get in the game of golf. I don't think that will be beat anytime soon.
Q. Playing Pro-Ams like this morning is obviously nothing new to you, but for the guys you're paired with, it's the experience of their golfing lives. I wonder what you appreciate about the interactions during those nine holes. Also, they seemed to be pretty decent players from the few holes I watched, but is there something that stands out immediately between the difference between a pretty good amateur player and a TOUR player like yourself?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: As far as the interactions go, I think it's always fun. It's good to get out and be able to play the course. It's fun because they're always in such a good mood and everybody is always on their best behavior playing inside the ropes, so you see the best version of people. We get to go out and have fun and play golf and learn about each other.
It's an exciting time for them, and it's nice for me to be able to get out and practice. The guys are always really encouraging and some of our fans too. It's always fun to get out and get some face-to-face time.
As far as the differences between a high level amateur and a professional golfer, I think professional golfers, you just have to be so polished and precise in the way you do things. We get to take all the time in the world that we want to basically come out and practice and prepare and try to perfect this game whereas an amateur doesn't really get the time. If I took three weeks off golf, I certainly wouldn't look like the player that hopefully you're going to see this week. It's not easy to come out and try to play this game without being prepared. I would say that's one of the biggest differences.
Q. Do they ask you for swing tips and stuff along the way?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Occasionally. You throw out some green reads and stuff like that. Swing tips, not too often. Most of the time they're hitting it out of the rough, so it can be challenging.
That's probably one of the most interesting things about playing a Pro-Am is guys are used to playing a certain type of course, and they show up and they're playing on a PGA TOUR event. This would be considered one of the easier setups, and even a 5, 10 handicap hits it in the rough and they have no idea what to do out of it just because it's so difficult.
Q. Scottie, after you won your first major championship, what were some of the things that maybe you didn't anticipate were going to change about the way that you went about your game and some of the things that maybe you weren't aware that were going to happen that you think, now having won the U.S. Open, J.J. might encounter as well, and how you might sort of coach him up on just be ready for this kind of stuff?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Are you talking about just like experience type stuff? Not sure I understand.
Q. Anything about the way your week to week sort of approach to the game or the demands that were put upon you, all the different requests that come with winning a major championship. Was there anything that you didn't anticipate or maybe weren't as ready for as you thought you would be that you would recommend he be ready for?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think after winning a major championship, like the first time you come back out to the course is a bit of a circus sometimes just with all the people. J.J. just achieved kind of a lifetime goal and dream of his. It's definitely different coming to the golf course for sure. There's a lot more people, a lot more stuff to sign, a lot of stuff that goes on.
I think I saw J.J. took a little trip to New York too, so he's probably going to come in and be a little bit winded. He earned it. He has every right to go there and do that.
I just think it will be a bit of a different experience for him. There's a lot of stuff that goes on. It's all good things. It's all stuff that's fun. He'll certainly be sitting here in the interview room a lot more than he has in the past.
Having that experience under your belt of winning the tournament, that's the most pressure he's felt in his entire career, and he stepped up and made amazing shots down the stretch, birdieing 17 and 18. Having that confidence and experience going forward is going to serve him really well, not only knowing he can perform under the biggest pressure, but now he knows exactly what it feels like. When he can go practice at home, now you're preparing knowing exactly how you feel in those scenarios.
That was one of the biggest things I learned after the Ryder Cup was having that experience and knowing what it feels like under pressure and then have the ability to go home and prepare for that.
Q. Last year 22-under par got you into a playoff. 22-under par didn't even win. Is this course, given it's the last Signature Event of the PGA TOUR for the season, is this course too easy?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Golf's funny in that sense. People, when they watch golf, it's not like other sports where you want us to look like y'all when we play golf. It's one of those funny things. You watch the NBA, and you're like, I wish they couldn't dunk. I wish they were scoring less. I wish their shooting percentage was lower on 3-pointers. If you watch tennis, you're like, man, I wish the ball was going slower so they look like me out there playing tennis. It's not like that.
As much as some people want us to feel like them, professional golf is different than amateur golf. We get a lot of time to prepare to go out and play. The guys out here are really good at golf. If you stand here on the driving range and watch a range session, that ball doesn't go offline very often.
I think sometimes, especially in this day and age, people get way too caught up in the winning score being what is a proper test. I think a proper test is good shots being rewarded and bad shots being punished. I think this is one of the best golf courses for that.
There's opportunity out there, and there's also punishment. You look at the closing stretch; 15, if you hit a good shot, you've got a birdie opportunity. If you try to bail out right, you're going to be in a bunker short right of the green and have a 40-yard bunker shot, a hard shot. 16, if you hit a good shot, you're going to have a good look at birdie. If you bail out and go long, it's a tough chip down the hill. 17, you hit the fairway, you have a chance to hit in there close to the pin. If you hit it in the left rough, you probably can't get to the green. That's what we look for in golf courses, in terms of you want good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished. It's as simple as that.
The winning score, I think people get way too caught up in. I'm not saying necessarily that even par is a bad winning score. Some weeks like the U.S. Open, you hit two great shots and you're going to get rewarded with a par. That's fine. That's good too.
Across the board, the way we get tested in professional golf is very good. We play different types of golf courses, different types of grass, we play different types of winning scores. We just see different tests, and I think not one is better than the other.
The most frustrating thing for me when I play a golf tournament is when you see good shots not getting rewarded and bad shots not being punished properly. That's all we look for. Do we care that 22-under wins this week? No.
I played good last year, and if they somehow change it to 12-under by making the pins in silly spots and doing things to trick up the golf course, what we want is a fair test. I think having birdies at the end sometimes is a pretty exciting finish. That's really all there is to it.
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