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Scottie Scheffler of the United States gestures during a press conference ahead of the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
David Goldman\/AP Photo\/David Goldman<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland speaks at a press conference ahead of the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
David Goldman\/AP Photo\/David Goldman<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks at the lie of his putt on the 8th green during a practice round for the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Peter Morrison\/AP Photo\/Peter Morrison<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler of the United States tees off from the 1st hole during a practice round for the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Peter Morrison\/AP Photo\/Peter Morrison<\/p>\n
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) \u2014 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are both chasing a second claret jug at the British Open this week.<\/p>\n
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The world\u2019s top two golfers are unmoved about what that would mean for their legacies.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ll be long gone. I\u2019ll be dead,\u201d McIlroy said Tuesday when asked if winning more trophies and breaking more records would shape how he\u2019ll be viewed in a hundred years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be seeing what people say about me. I\u2019ll be six feet under. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be a ghost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seems Scheffler’s goal isn\u2019t about chasing a place in history, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to sound a little morbid,\u201d the top-ranked American said. \u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m going to live my life and it\u2019s going to end. When it ends, I\u2019m going somewhere else, and I\u2019m not going to be here anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Coming over to play the Open Championship seems to bring the philosophical side out of Scheffler.<\/p>\n
It was around this time last year, speaking days before winning golf\u2019s oldest championship at Royal Portrush, that Scheffler delivered a soliloquy about fulfillment and what being good at golf really means.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love being able to play this game for a living,\u201d he said back then, before adding: \u201cBut does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that time, Scheffler was dominating golf at a level not seen since Tiger Woods. And he\u2019s still the No. 1 player by a distance, even if he experienced his first missed cut in four years at the Scottish Open last week.<\/p>\n
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McIlroy performed better in Scotland, finishing tied for seventh, but his final round might best be remembered not for shooting 64 but for him exclaiming \u201cI\u2019m so bad at golf\u201d after hitting a poor approach on the 16th hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn\u2019t feel very good,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n
So, instead of taking to the course for a practice round after arriving at Royal Birkdale on Monday, he spent time on the range and said he is \u201cdefinitely trending in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Links golf take McIlroy \u2018back to my childhood\u2019 <\/p>\n
It has been 12 years since McIlroy won his first and so-far-only Open Championship title, just down the northwest coastline at Hoylake.<\/p>\n
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Winning back-to-back Masters titles not only saw him complete the career Grand Slam but ended a major drought of more than a decade.<\/p>\n
That has somewhat taken the pressure off McIlroy at golf\u2019s biggest events but his home major remains special.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt brings me back to my childhood,\u201d the Northern Irishman said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
As a kid, he could only dream of being a six-time major champion and only the sixth player to win all four majors. This week, a win would see him tied with Harry Vardon as the European player with most majors in men\u2019s golf.<\/p>\n
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Not that those records matter to McIlroy, it seems.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you\u2019re just chasing records and chasing results,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to enjoy the process. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I\u2019ve learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and chasing records too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
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