BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2023

Scottie Scheffler

Olympia Fields Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Scottie, how would you assess the day as a whole and what was working well for you out there?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it was a really solid day. I hit a lot of greens. I rolled the ball pretty good on the greens. It was a pretty solid day.

I think the conditions late in the day, the greens with all the rain, they got pretty chewed up, and all you could do was hit nice putts, and I felt like I did that most of the die.

Q. Would you say this course is more of a fader's course or a drawer's course or would it not really matter?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: You've just got to hit it really good. I'd say there's certain shots where you've got to really draw it off the tee, especially with the wind direction today, like I'd say No. 1, 10 comes to mind, 11, 17, 18. There's definitely some holes where you need to draw it off the tee with the wind direction, but I wouldn't say it leans too much either direction.

Q. What's your history like here collegiately or in 2020? Have you liked it historically?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, I like the golf course a lot. I don't know if I've ever played that good here. That's your job, not mine.

Q. Just wondering if you have historically liked it?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I like the golf course. I think it's a really good test. I like that it's challenging and I like that we come here and I know -- without the wind, this is probably the easiest you'll ever see the course play with the softness.

But I feel like we used to come here in college and it would be a little cooler and it would be soft and it would just play so long. And when it's soft, you get all the greens slope back to front, you put the pins in the back, it's not easy to get to them, so the golf course provides a lot of different challenges, whether or not it's firm or soft.

Q. What did you do with all the extra time this morning?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Sat around.

Q. You didn't go back to your hotel?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, I just sat around at my house this week. Didn't really do much. Just waited.

Q. Do you follow the Ryder Cup bubble? It's kind of fascinating. Do you keep --

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It's important to me because those guys on the bubble are going to be the ones that we're going over there together. Yeah, I'm definitely paying close attention.

Q. If you're the captain, what are the things you're thinking about and how to evaluate such a bunch?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: In my opinion I think you want guys that can succeed in that environment, and that's a personality trait. I think there's certain guys that are true winners out here.

I think the trait that I'm looking for the most is maybe a little bit of golf course fit and then the guys that when you get in that environment, playing an away game over there in Europe, it's a bit different. I don't know how you can get in the mind of a few guys, but I feel like I've got a decent idea of who I'd wants on the team, and it's guys that are mentally tough. I shouldn't say winners by number of wins. It's just, I think, guys have that mentality because you can look at me two years ago being on that team, I think that was something that a lot of captains would want is guys in a were winners and I hadn't won yet.

I wouldn't -- it's more of a mental thing than a results thing, if that makes sense.

Q. With the cutoffs changing this year, going from 125 at the start of the Playoffs to 70 and then with you guys getting into the eighth Signature Events, if you got to the BMW Championship, did the end of the season feel more intense or more competitive or did it feel the same as any other end of the season?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think for certain guys I would say for sure. To get into that top 50 is huge, and if you're sitting on the bubble of the 70 or even coming into the Playoffs, if you're like mid 30s, that's a pretty good season out here, and then all of a sudden you're in danger if you have two off weeks you can fall all the way out with how elevated the points are in the Playoffs.

It's definitely stressful for certain guys. It's important to get into those events for next year. It's big purses, best players in the world. Those are the tournaments you're going to want to be playing in, so there's definitely some pressure for guys when it comes to the end of the season.

Q. How impressive is it what Lucas Glover has done the last couple weeks?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean, I think he was pretty far outside of the Playoffs to start Wyndham if that's right.

Q. 112.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, so he was a pretty good ways out. To win that week and then to back it up the next week, winning out here takes a lot of energy to do, and to be able to do it back-to-back weeks with his season on the line is extremely impressive.