THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Scottie Scheffler into the interview room, our 2024 RBC Heritage champion. He wins for his fourth time in his last five starts on the PGA TOUR. Congratulations on another tremendous week. If we can get some comments.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it's nice to be sitting here with the jacket on. It's a good feeling.
As far as the week goes, it was a pretty smooth week there for a while. We had the weather yesterday, which was a bit challenging, and then the conditions changed pretty drastically this morning, but it was nice to get out there and make a couple pars and finish off the tournament the right way.
Q. First player since 1985 to follow up the Masters victory winning here at RBC Heritage. A lot of people questioning even if you would come this week. Talk about what it means to follow up winning at Augusta with another victory so soon.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it was part of our plan this week to come here and play. I was able to go home for a couple days and celebrate. I didn't really put much thought into it. I had committed to playing the tournament. That's really all it was. There really wasn't too much thought on that. I committed to playing here, it was part of the plan, so we stuck to the plan.
I talked about it at the beginning of the week; I didn't show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations. I came here with a purpose. Got off to a slow start but after that played some really nice golf.
Q. Does anything about this surprise you, your steady level of play, no drop-off at all it seems like?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, not really. I do have fairly high expectations for myself, and when I show up at tournaments, I try to do my best. I've talked a lot about kind of the preparation and what it takes for me to show up on a first tee ready to go, and I feel like I've been putting in the work and been playing some good golf, and it's nice to be seeing some results for that with wins.
At times last year I felt like I was playing some good golf and wasn't winning, and so now it's nice to be sitting here winning some tournaments.
Q. When you mention that you came here with a purpose, was that level of purpose any different than what it was when you got to Augusta?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not really. I think majors always just feel a little bit different. I think sometimes when you walk out on to the range at the tournaments you can almost feel the tension in the air. I think especially at the Masters, I think sometimes you walk out there, you can just kind of -- just feels different when you walk out.
At a normal TOUR event there's still a little bit of that but it's a lot more relaxed, especially showing up Wednesday and it's pro-am day and there's ams around and there's a lot of people, and it's just a little bit of a different vibe. But by the time the tournament starts on Thursday, it's fairly similar.
I tried to be as prepared as possible this week.
Q. If things didn't go well for you this week and you didn't win, would you have been a little bit more okay with it?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, probably. I think it would be -- I think it would maybe take a little bit away from the win. For instance, if I came into yesterday with the lead and I wasn't able to win, when you get home, people would be saying, hey, congrats, man, and then sorry about last week. That would be pretty annoying. Just really for lack of a better -- there's no better way to say it than that would be annoying. So it was nice to come in here and put myself in position to win and to be able to finish off the golf tournament.
Q. On your TV interview after you won, I heard you say mentally you've been as good on the course in the last month as you have in a long time. Can you walk through what you mean by that? Has anything changed, or how has that mental approach gone over the last month or so?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it's always easier said than done to have a good attitude in the midst of what goes on in the round of golf. I think I've handled kind of the negative stuff the last month and a half as good as I have since I've been out here on TOUR.
I think I look back to Bay Hill, and I got off to some poor starts there, especially on the greens. I had a really bad first day there on the greens. Yeah, I think I'm just proud of how quickly I've been kind of fighting back from those little mistakes throughout the round and handling the surprises and stuff when it doesn't really go as planned. I think I've become better at managing that.
Q. Was there something you'd attribute that to? That kind of coincides with the putting getting a little bit more on track. Is there something you'd point to as to why that turned for you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm not really sure. I think it's one of those deals where it's easier said than done to have a good attitude, and sometimes it can be easier, and I've felt like the last couple months I've been really good at kind of handling my emotions out there and keeping myself in check.
It's obviously a bit easier when you're winning tournaments, but at the end of the day, I have to get to this position. I don't just show up in the lead on Thursday. You have to play good golf and handle things well.
You look at a tournament like this week could be a good example of starting off and looking at the leaderboard on Thursday and everybody is just making birdie after birdie and I'm sitting there over par and I've had a shank on the day. I just did my best to stay patient and wait until I got hot. Had a nice finish to the round on Thursday and then had a really solid Friday where I felt like I played better than I scored and then I had Saturday where I just played some really good golf. Had a lot of opportunities, made some putts and posted a nice number.
I got off to a good start yesterday and kind of just kept it going from there.
Q. Going back to yesterday, wondering where the approach shot on 15 right before the break, where that might rank among your favorite shots. Looked like you hit a big slinger in there. What was last night like for you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Last night was quick. Yeah, the approach shot into 15 yesterday, I got a bad break there with the lay-up. I think there was some mud on the ball and it made a duck hook over there into the water. But then I hit a really nice approach shot in there, made a nice par. So the level of satisfaction of something like that is pretty high. I hate bogeying any hole, but a par-5 is pretty frustrating to bogey. So to keep myself in position and not really give the guys behind me too much hope, I think maybe they see a bogey on a par-5 and they come in there, well, maybe this could happen or that could happen. So to be able to kind of make that par and keep myself in the lead and then make two more good pars today -- I'm going to count 18 as a par. I hit driver, 3-wood into there, so I'm going to count that as a par for myself.
But the approach shot was a fun shot to hit. I hit it on the green, had a bunch of spin, and it was nice.
Q. Seeing your parents out there, they seem like just incredibly humble and delightful people. I was standing out there thinking about you about to be a dad, and I just wanted to get your thoughts on whether you've really reflected too much yet on what kind of dad you're going to be and how much your relationship with your dad will impact that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, hopefully I'll be a good dad. I'm going to do my best.
Actually I was talking to Meredith on the phone last night, and we were both kind of like I don't think it's officially hit us yet that we're going to be parents. I'll definitely be leaning on my parents for a good amount of advice. They did a great job raising me and my three sisters.
They're still a big part of our lives. This will be their second grandchild and they'll have their third one on the way right after that. My sister is pregnant, as well. It's an exciting time for Meredith and me. It's an exciting time for the rest of our family. We're looking forward to this next journey in our life together.
Q. You met Miles Russell at PLAYERS, 15 year old, just top 25'd at a KFT event. I was wondering what you remember about your thoughts on Miles and putting into context doing that at such a young age.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I never got to see him hit a shot but I got to talk to him for probably 20 minutes. Seemed like a nice kid. Seemed like a humble kid. One of the guys in the practice round we were playing with asked him, what are you doing here, and he was there because he had won the Junior PLAYERS, and he just kind of paused, and he's like, oh, I'm just watching today or said something like that. It wasn't like, hey, I won this tournament and did that.
It seemed to me like he had a really good attitude, and to be able to show up at a professional tournament when you're only 15 and make the cut is pretty impressive.
Yeah, it's exciting for him. It's pretty cool stuff to be able to play in a professional golf tournament when you're only 15 years old. Hopefully keeps that same attitude, keeps his head down and keeps working on the things that got him there, and he'll have a pretty successful career.
Q. Nelly on the LPGA won her fifth straight; just wondering if you can also put into context what you're seeing from her, if you saw any of it yesterday or --
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, I didn't get to see any of the tournament yesterday. One of the people here asked me, like, is this turning into a competition between you and Nelly, and I was like, I don't know, man, I think if it's a competition she's got me pretty beat right now. Five wins in a row. She had that T16 at the beginning of the year, which was just terrible; I can't believe she did that (smiling). But yeah, it's pretty special stuff. To win four times in a row and then show up at a major championship and win is extremely impressive. So I'm extremely happy for her.
I think we've all seen the golf swing. I wish I could see it more in person but we don't really run into them too much outside of some TaylorMade shoots and stuff like that. Obviously some great golf, some historic stuff, and hopefully she keeps it up.
Q. Does it ever get boring?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: This?
Q. Just hitting every shot right where you're looking. Not every shot, but it seems that way.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, it does not get boring. I think hitting a really well-struck golf shot close to the pin is like an addicting feeling.
Q. Obviously.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Like I think that's something that's cool about the game is -- that's what keeps everybody coming back. Golf is a game that drives people nuts and then all of a sudden you hit this great shot and it feels wonderful and flies right up there by the pin and it just gives everybody hope.
Sometimes that's how I feel out there. I love the feeling of a well-struck golf shot. I love this game. I love going out and practicing by myself. I love playing golf, gambling at home with people, just messing around. The game of golf has been a huge part of my life now for a long time, and Lord-willing it'll be part of my life for a long time going forward, as well.
Q. What's the worst shot you hit in the final round?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: In the final round today? I mean, I guess the lay-up on 15, but I think I hit it solid, and I didn't feel like I pull-hooked it 40 yards, so I think there was some mud on the ball.
Q. What would be the worst shot from the non-mud ball division?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: You're making me think. I mean, I have no idea. I'm trying to think. I mean, I pulled a 3-wood on 8 off the tee. Yeah.
Q. That's kind of the point.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Honestly, I didn't know what you were getting at there, and I was thinking through my shots, and I was like -- yeah, yesterday and today I felt like I hit a lot of quality shots, and the ball was coming out of the middle of the face. It seemed like if a shot didn't end up where I wanted it to, it was probably just a little gust of wind. I was really hitting a lot of quality shots out there and being committed.
Yeah, I think that would probably be the worst shot was the tee shot off 8.
Q. How are you going to celebrate this one?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm going to get a breakfast burrito, some coffee, and I'm going to go home.
Q. Before Bay Hill, the narrative about you had probably gotten a little tiring and annoying. Now that you've done this, how annoying was it, and is there any sort of how do you like me now feeling given what you've done?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, not really. I think it's funny how quickly the narrative can change around here. I think a lot of people are just prisoners of the moment. If I didn't win this week, I'm sure it would be a lot different, but I'm the same guy I was two months ago, and I'll be the same person two months from now no matter what happens. I don't get too caught up in that stuff. I'm not going to sit here and say I told you so or anything like that because I've just been keeping my head down and trying to do the best I can. Outside of that, I've got the blinders on for the most part.
Q. You talk about expectations and obviously you've been winning tournaments here recently. Is it hard to manage expectations maybe when things aren't going the way you would like them to, whether they're expectations you put on or sometimes us or fans put on you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it's always tough to manage that kind of stuff. I think that's what I talked a little bit about how good I've been mentally is because I do have high expectations of myself, and when things don't go the way that I planned them, it is frustrating because you put in the work, I am prepared when I step up there on the first tee and I want to play well. So when things aren't going the way I feel like they should, it can be very frustrating.
I think that's part of the constant battle within myself is making sure I stay in the present, don't get too high, don't get too low, all that kind of stuff. I feel like I've been doing a pretty good job of that the last -- really for the most part this year.
Q. There was a stat that I think aside from -- before the bogey on 18, it was like 68 straight holes that you played at par or better. When you're playing, are you aware of that stat?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I knew I'd gone a while without making a bogey. It doesn't really come into my thoughts too much out there. I'm counting 18 as a par, by the way, too. That's not a bogey. I hit driver, 3-wood in there, and I wasn't about to try and chip it close to the pin and chip it over the green in the water, so I just chipped it out there about 20 feet and then lagged it up there.
But yeah, I think I was a little bit aware of it, but it's not something that I'm thinking about at all during the round. But I think kind of in the back of your head you're aware that you're running through a pretty good stretch.
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