his win at the British Open a year ago<\/a> at Royal Portrush means little when it comes to defending that title this week at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not really a good reflector, I\u2019m really not,\u201d Scheffler said last week when asked about his Open victory, which gave him the third leg of the career Grand Slam. \u201cI don\u2019t really sit around too much and think about the past, to be honest with you. I feel like I\u2019m in the middle of my career, and probably the end of my career is more a time to reflect.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I\u2019m just focused on what I need to do, and maybe I should sit and enjoy things more, but that\u2019s just not my nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler of the United States looks across on the eighth green on day two of the Genesis Scottish Open 2026 at The Renaissance Club on July 10, 2026 in North Berwick, Scotland. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Jordan Spieth won the Claret Jug the last time the Open was played at Birkdale, in 2017. Fair or unfair, that feels like the last significant moment of his career. Spieth has won just twice since that memorable final round \u2014 the 2021 Valero and the 2022 Heritage. But he\u2019ll always have Birkdale.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of my most fond memories of that, especially the final round,\u201d Spieth said recently. \u201cIt\u2019s a great golf course, an aerial golf course, one of the hardest venues we play in an Open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spieth said he joked with Scheffler recently, asking him, \u201cWell, are you the defending champ or am I the defending champ next week?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like, \u2018No, it\u2019s you,\u2019\u2009\u201d Spieth said. \u201cI was like, \u2018No, no, no, you don\u2019t get to do that. It\u2019s you.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheffler isn\u2019t the sentimental type \u2014 at least not publicly. He did offer up some tidbits about his appreciation of the Claret Jug, and how he doesn\u2019t want to give it back \u2014 which is the custom for the defending champion whenever he first arrives onto the property.<\/p>\n
Jordan Spieth chips the ball onto the 9th green during the second round of the John Deere Classic golf tournament. Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised how much I enjoyed the Claret Jug,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cIt will be very tough to hand it back on Tuesday next week, but I\u2019ll be fighting like heck to get it back on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin Rose, a native son of England, has never won the Claret Jug, even though it looked like he might go on to win more than one based on his Open debut in 1998 at Birkdale.<\/p>\n
He was a 17-year-old amateur in that \u201998 Open, which was won by Mark O\u2019Meara in a playoff, and Rose delivered a signature moment when he holed out a 50-yard chip on the 72nd hole to finish tied for fourth.<\/p>\n
Rose would turn professional the next day and famously miss the cut in his first 21 professional tournaments \u2014 something that would break the will of many players. But not Rose, who\u2019s gone on to win 13 times on the PGA Tour, including the 2013 U.S. Open, capture an Olympic gold medal and earn some $76 million in a brilliant career that\u2019s still thriving at age 45.<\/p>\n
Rose later recalled the \u201cinnocence and freedom\u201d he had in \u201998 at age 17. He later reflected on that burst onto the international golf scene, which was marred by his difficult start as a professional.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat shot created a lot of pressure for me,\u201d Rose said, referring to the Birkdale hole-out on his final shot as an amateur. \u201cI\u2019m grateful that I feel like I\u2019ve done a good job living up to that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin Rose of England plays a shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Travelers Championship 2026 at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2026 in Cromwell, Connecticut. Getty Images<\/p>\n
When you speak to Scheffler, he doesn\u2019t seem to be concerned about what he will be remembered for. He remains locked into the present, rather than dwelling on or even reveling in the past.<\/p>\n
This has been a weird year for Scheffler, who won 13 times in 2024 and \u201925, but has only one victory this year, at the American Express back in January. That has drawn many questions about what\u2019s wrong with him, which is something that clearly annoys Scheffler.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow would I assess my season?\u201d Scheffler said, repeating a reporter\u2019s question at last week\u2019s Scottish Open. \u201cI feel like I get that question every single week. I haven\u2019t had a good answer yet. I\u2019ll try again. I think I\u2019ve been really close to winning some tournaments, and that can be frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of the one win, Scheffler has eight top-five finishes this year, including four runner-up results.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always tournaments I feel like I should have won and I didn\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s just part of the game. You\u2019ve got to ride with it, kind of the highs and lows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheffler then referred back to the deep meaning-of-life thoughts he shared in the interview room after winning the Open last year, essentially about how winning golf tournaments doesn\u2019t define his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I said last year at the Open: It\u2019s not a satisfying venture playing professional golf,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, try to take the good with the bad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOUTHPORT, England \u2014 Anniversaries. They mean a lot to some and little to others. For Scottie Scheffler, his…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":929404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[47],"tags":[48831,1430,10134,37867,1505,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-929403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-british-open","tag-golf","tag-jordan-spieth","tag-justin-rose","tag-scottie-scheffler","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116905791101461906","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=929403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/929404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=929403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=929403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}