Why golfers keep playing ‘frustrating’ game, according to Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler took his right arm back, arched his back backward to the point where that arm was just above the back of his right knee, planted forward with his left leg — and threw.

A good hand wedge.

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Maybe even a hand 9.

But a good riddance. Now his ball had taken root among the trees near Riviera Country Club’s 11th green, where, two years ago at the Genesis Invitational, Scheffler had just sent a 5-foot birdie putt 4 feet past the hole.

The point here, though, besides wondering whether golf’s top-ranked player could have also been a quarterback of his hometown Dallas Cowboys?

What’s the point?

If playing golf drives us to such frustration, why play golf? Clearly, there are other pursuits. A throw-a-ball-in-the-trees payoff sounds unpleasant. Scheffler said Wednesday that he doesn’t even have a proper method for measuring how good he is.

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Then again, maybe not being boxed in is freeing. Perhaps immeasurability is undeniably good.

At the least, Scheffler’s press conference ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational wasn’t mundane. The session was reflective. Golf, he said, is limitless in its chances to learn. And if you’re the learning type like he is — “my mind has always been my greatest tool,” he said — that’s as welcome as a sunny day for a weekend tee time.

“I think that’s why we keep practicing,” Scheffler said. “You never get to a place where you feel like you’ve got it figured out. I always like practicing and trying to improve and creating new shots.

“I think golf is kind of the endless pursuit of trying to figure something out and I’m never going to get there, but there’s no harm in trying.”

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Scheffler brought up rounds with Jordan Spieth, a fellow pro and longtime friend who he plays with often.

More learning.

“You talk about golf being this kind of endless pursuit of trying to figure this game out,” Scheffler said.

“I play golf with Jordan a lot at home. I can learn so much just by watching and asking Jordan questions about the way he plays shots, and he does some things that are — work really well for him that wouldn’t work well for me and then certain ways he approaches things, I like asking questions and trying to figure things out.”

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But what about defeats?

More learning.

In this poetic explanation, you can keep coming back for more.

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“When it comes to competing in golf tournaments,” Scheffler said, “I can’t control what the other guy I’m playing with is doing. Like let’s say I’m tied for the lead going into the final round and I shoot 62 and the guy shoots 61. Yeah, I can definitely look at a few shots I’d want to have back, but at the end of the day, the tournament is over and you take your hat off, shake hands, say congratulations.

“The great thing about golf is oftentimes we just get to show up the next week and start all over and compete again.”

Over time, you even create friendships.

“Like you look at a guy like Collin [Morikawa] last week,” Scheffler said. “I’ve been competing against Collin since we were like 14 years old. He wins a tournament, he announces he’s pregnant, and all of a sudden you just have this — it’s such a cool moment to see a guy who’s played really good golf over the last few years and hasn’t quite gotten the results and the wins, but he’s played pretty consistent golf, and then he gets to announce that he’s having a kid. It’s this moment, it’s like, wow. I competed as hard as I could, got beat, and it’s like, man, that’s awesome. You won, congrats.

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“You’re having a baby, even bigger congrats. Then we’re here this week and the prep just starts again.”

So yeah, same thing goes for throw-a-ball-in-the-trees moments.

On to the next hole. On to the next tournament. Here’s where things get really good.

The 2024 Genesis was the last tournament Scheffler played with the blade putter he hit that putt with on 11.

And he’s since gone on to win 14 events, including three majors.

“When things don’t go as planned,” Scheffler said, “I think it’s healthy to have a level of frustration with that, just because it takes so much work in order to get out here, and especially when you feel like you’re doing something right and doing things the right way and not getting the results.

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“I think it can always be frustrating, but I think that’s part of the game of golf is being able to manage that in order to execute the next shot.”

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