MEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

July 29, 2024

Scottie Scheffler

Le Golf National

USA

Press Conference

MICHAEL BALIKER: We'd like to welcome World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to the Media Center here at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Scottie, obviously making your Olympics debut this week. What's been some of the just initial reaction to being here and obviously spend something time in Paris so far.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it's been a fun week so far. Definitely excited to be here, representing our country is very special.

Yeah, trying to do a little bit while still playing in the tournament. You know, obviously my biggest priority is showing up ready to play this week but I definitely want to experience a little bit of the Olympics.

So went and saw some table tennis yesterday and we explored Paris on Saturday, and I think we are going to gymnastics tomorrow but then when Wednesday comes around, we really kind of get strongly into tournament mode and that will probably be it for the festivities for the week.

But it's definitely been fun, being part of the Olympics, and it's definitely a different vibe this week.

MICHAEL BALIKER: Coming off tied for seventh at The Open Championship a couple weeks ago, you've had time to settle in from that. What were some of your takeaways after reflecting on that experience at Royal Troon.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it was a solid week. Felt like I did a good job mentally most of the week. I put up a good fight and Xander only played some great golf and was a tough guy to beat last week.

I would have felt like some weeks, the ball is going up towards the hole and it tends to go in and there's other week where is it tends to go towards the edge and lip out, and felt like I was on the lip-out side of the week last week. But still coming in having a T-7 and putting up a good fight was a solid week overall. But Xander played some great golf.

Q. It's a pretty long calendar year for the American golfer between having to be in form in Hawai'i, and then only playing through the Presidents Cup. Has it been tough to keep up your energy for everything in a championship season?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don't know if "tough" is the right way to describe is it but there's definitely a challenging aspect to it. You know, just with the way the season is and not really having an area where you're going to take a break, like the areas in which I took my breaks this year were kind of weird areas before majors.

I think looking at my schedule next year, that may be something that I'll adjust but that's something I'll reflect on as the year goes on -- or sorry, in the off-season.

And as far as the season goes, you know, it's what we signed up for. It will be nice to have an off-season, and it's more of a sprint now than it was before, and so it's just a little bit of a different style and that's something that we're kind of managing the schedule, trying to play my best at the biggest tournaments.

Q. I saw you went to the Louvre. Was there anything in there that really caught your eye?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not really. It was a cool experience. I could not believe how many people were in there and how big it was. That definitely was -- definitely shocked me a little bit just how many people were in there and how big the place was. I couldn't believe how big it was.

But we saw the Mona Lisa which was really cool and saw some of the crown jewels. And as we were talking around, I felt like we saw 1/10th of the museum at most. We were there for two hours and I felt like I could have been there for days exploring around looking at all the old paintings.

I would say the paintings were something that really took me back. It was pretty wild how big they were and how talented people were back then, and also how long they preserved them for as long as they have. I can get pretty interested in that kind of stuff just standing there reading the descriptions of all the stuff and the images, and it was definitely a fun few hours.

Q. Did people notice you and come up to you in a museum like that? It's a different place.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, not really. I definitely saw a few people looking at me weird but took a few pictures but nothing crazy. Definitely wasn't anything -- it wasn't like I got recognized in a crowded room, and all of a sudden I had to take like a hundred pictures. One person would come up, and a few minutes later another person would come up and it was no big deal.

Q. Did you watch the Ryder Cup in '18?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah.

Q. What did you make of the course? Did you play 18 yesterday?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I played 18 and played nine today. From what I saw from The Ryder Cup, Teddy and caddied in the Ryder Cup here; so he had a lot of good info on the course.

The rough is not nearly as penal as it was for the Ryder Cup and right now the golf course is not nearly as firm. We'll see how the weather is for the rest of the week but I'm sure it will firm up a bit if we get no rain.

Teddy did mention how much the course changed from practise rounds to tournaments that week -- from the practice rounds to the tournament this week. So maybe it will be a little bit similar this week in terms of the golf course changing. But I did watch the Ryder Cup and Ted has got some good info from the course that week.

Q. What kind of value do you place on this week? It's different. It's a Gold Medal. You only get to do it once every four years. It's not like you've blown your chance if you don't win but it's probably something pretty special.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, what kind of value? It would be very special to have the Gold Medal. If I don't, my life is certainly not going to end but it would be extremely special to have a Gold Medal and it's definitely one of the reasons why I'm here this week. I didn't come here to -- I love going to watch table tennis yesterday but that's not why I showed up.

I try to place an equal amount of value to all the tournaments I play. I feel like that any time I show up, I'm trying to do my best, and that's definitely the case this week. It's definitely special to be part of the Olympics and I'm looking forward to the chance to compete for a medal for our country.

Q. What about the weather for the week? I only say that, I take it you didn't play golf last week, or did you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, I played golf last week.

Q. Where did you play?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I played a golf club two hours south of here. We stayed for the week, a little mini-vacation and played golf a few days and practiced. They had a nice gym. You know, kind of goes back to like the scheduling stuff. It was nice to have a week where my family was here and everything was really relaxed and there wasn't many people around and we got to kind of just enjoy being together.

You know, it was fun going out to practice, and Meredith and Bennett riding around the cart with me versus me going out by myself. Definitely fun, good time with the family last week.

Q. Going from heavy coastal area probably 90 degrees later in the week. What's that going to be like?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Here this week? I mean, 90-degrees is chilly for me where I live. If it was 90 degrees at home right now, would be putting on a sweater almost.

As far as the weather goes, I think that's from playing golf for so long and living where I live, maybe we're used to weather changing pretty significantly. So I didn't even really think about it until now.

Q. What kind of crew did you bring this week?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Food?

Q. Crew. Family. Entourage.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Entourage. Yeah, Meredith is here. Our son is here. My trainer is here this week. My in-laws are here. Mer's parents, Mer's mom was here last week and her dad came at the end of the week, and I think their whole side of the family showed up yesterday. They are doing all the Olympic stuff. They went to tennis today and swimming tonight.

My parents have had a pretty hectic year. So I think they are coming tomorrow or Wednesday, watch the tournament and go back home.

Q. Sisters?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No.

Q. Just curious what's the team camaraderie like in the U.S. a camp? Are you going to any events together? Tell us about that.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, we've known each other for leers, like Collin and I go pretty far back, all the way to junior golf. We were all part of the Ryder Cup last year and we're pretty close friend, and we'll play all our practice rounds together this week. We went out today and had a good game.

Those guys were all together this week. I took some time away with just my family but should be a fun week. Team camaraderie is always good. We get along really well and had some fun. I think we are all just really excited to represent our country and looking for a medal.

Q. Getting that medal, what would it mean to you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It would be very special. It's not very often you get to compete in the Olympics, so to be able to have a medal for the rest of your life would be very special. Definitely, like I said, that's one of the reasons we showed up this week is come, to do our best and compete for a medal.

Q. Is that always on your radar? The Olympics 2016 to here, the reception has changed. Has it been on your mind since then?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think there's always been weird situations surroundings the Olympics; the first one with Zika virus, and last one with COVID being a factor, I think certainly having an effect on the Games. And this year kind of being the first one where in a good amount of time where it will be fairly normal and showing up to compete.

Yeah, it's definitely fun being here and it's fun being part of the event. Looking forward to competing.

Q. I feel like I've seen videos of you playing table tennis in Ryder Cup team rooms. Curious if you were able to pick up anything on what elite table tennis looks like last night?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think at one time I would have considered the table tennis that we played elite and I'm pretty sure it's far from it.

Q. Can you ever see pickleball in the Olympics?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Could I see it? I think it's too much of an American sport to show up in the Olympics. I think around the world, it seems like padel is getting more and more popular around the world and I think between the two sports, that one would show up before pickleball but it would be fun to have in the Olympics for sure.

Q. Could you be a multi-sport in the Olympics?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Could I be a multi-sport athlete in the Olympics? I don't think so. But sometimes I have irrational self-confidence, and maybe if I really put my mind to it.

Q. The first Gold Medal winner in golf in Paris played tennis and golf for the Olympics.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I don't think you'll be seeing me out playing tennis in the Olympics any time soon, the table version or the regular version.

Q. So much joking made in February through April for you, and congratulations on winning in June and you've also won in December, etc. But what are you most proud of as you look back at the last year to this point?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think mostly I'm proud of how I've been mentally. I think being in the spotlight can be challenging at times, and I felt like last year was fairly challenging in a sense of the questions I was receiving in areas like this, seemed to have more of a negative connotation and this year they seemed to have a much more positive connotation.

I'm trying to do my best to not really ride the wave of having to field those questions, and like if you're asking me stuff negatively about hey, how come you didn't win last week, like, What happened, "Why didn't you make that putt on 18?"

And I'm like, "Well, Doug, tried to make the putt and it just didn't go in."

This year, it's like, "Well, how are you doing so well?"

It's like, "Well, I haven't changed too much from last year." I've just been out here competing and I've been fortunate to have a few wins but when I show up to a tournament, I don't feel any different. I'm not trying to be any different. I don't show up acting like the No. 1 player in the world, and I don't show up as anybody other than myself, and I just try to do my best to compete.

I would say I'm the most proud of myself in the last couple years not being overly emotional with how my golf has been, whether it be too negative or too positive. If it was too negative, I would be probably a pretty miserable person to be around and if was too positive; if I loved myself too much, I would probably be a pretty tough person to be around as well.

Just proud of showing up and competing and having some consistent results this year.

Q. I appreciate all that. But I'm basically wondering: Are you doing anything better this year than you did the previous year? Guys talk all the time about constantly wanting to improve as the main goal. Did you improve this year, and if so, how do you tell?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think if you took a look at my statistics, statistically I think my putting has gotten better than last year and I think I still have a lot of room to improve.

Based on pure statistics, I went from losing shots on the green to I think I'm positive now. Seeing those little results like that can be really great for your covered knowing you're working on the right things and working in the right direction.

I mean, sometimes the game is really just as simple as that, holing a couple more putts. Definitely this year I've holed some putts in key moments. I've looked back at rounds like I had at THE PLAYERS, holing key putts; like the Masters; making the putt to win at the Memorial. The margins out here are so small that sometimes you're a good break away from winning a tournament and a bad break away from losing one.

This year so far I've been on the right side of things, and last year I would say I was on the wrong side of things for a while. Kind of just the ebbs and flows of playing in game for a living. It's never that easy to win, and you know, sometimes you're good at it and sometimes you're not.

Q. Silly question, but where exactly do you keep your trophy?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I have a room in my house where -- it's called the golf room where I just keep all my crap, basically. There's some trophies in there and we built a couple additional shelves this year which is pretty fun.

We were redoing the room as I was winning a bunch and so we just kind of had to continue to adjust, which was a pretty fun thing to be able to do. And yeah, I got some cool stuff that I like to hold on to. I got rid of a lot of stuff in the last year or so but we had one room where I just keep all my golf stuff.

Q. What's a cool thing that you would keep, an example of a cool thing that's not a jacket or something like that?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean, just like little trinkets and stuff. Like the Masters always like when you win the Masters, you get like this little thing that signifies that you're a member of the club. You only get it once, and so that sits in the room and it's something that a lot of people don't know about. It kind of just chills in a little corner.

Sometimes when we have people over and they want to talk about golf or if they want to see the jacket or whatever, I'll take them back there and show them a few things.

But for the most part, I go there to work on my clubs and practice a bit. Definitely don't sit in there, it's like my office. I work on my clubs back there but I don't do anything else.

Q. That was my question. Do you ever go in there and just look at it? That would give you a big head, wouldn't it?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it probably would. I don't think I've ever done that. I think one time this year I took like a trophy, I took my green jacket and the paid jacket, and I think I held like the PLAYERS trophy in one hand, and I had another trophy in the other hand and walked in the living room like, "'Sup, Mer."

Outside of that, I don't think I've really taken the jacket out of the house at home or really sat in there much. I try to do my best to be present where I am, and maybe this fall I'll sit back and reflect on the year, something like that.

But you know, at the end of the day, I'm just a golfer and I'm just out here trying to compete. That's really all there is to it, and sometimes I'm good at it and sometimes I'm bad at it. I've talked about it a lot. It doesn't define me as a person. Doesn't define my life and I'm just happy to be here.

Q. Sorry, I just have two more.

I'm really curious about this welcome to the club medal or thing.

Did you get one in 2022?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think you only get one. I don't know how to describe it. It's like a little gold thing. Like a little pin, basically.

Q. How big?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Small. It's exactly how you think Augusta National would do it. Very simple, elegant, beautiful. Just tasteful, all the right things. Small, simple and means a lot.

Q. Lastly, talking about the off-season, but this is kind of an interesting stretch of something new, the Olympics, and then the Playoffs. What kind of finishing kick are you hoping for and what kind of, I don't want to say threat because you guys don't play head-to-head but Xander has made a really significant push, and do you see that as some kind of a Player of the Year race or things like that that you probably don't care about?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I try not to think about it. I've had a pretty good year and Xander has had a pretty about year as well. It's for people to vote on. I'm proud of the year that I've had and the consistent results.

Xander is another player that's extremely consistent. I love seeing people like him have success because he does it the right way. He works hard. He's not full of himself.

We were praying a practice round today and I was actually thinking about it like, man, Xander is the exact same today after winning tournament as he was if he had lost the tournament by one. Like he was the exact same person.

We were having touch a good time with the guys playing the practice round, I thought to myself, this guy, won two majors this year, we were just out cutting it up. Thing were still the same. You wouldn't know that he won the U.S. Open or Collin won the PGA. We were all out there cutting it up, having a good time. That's why I love seeing people that do things the right way, work hard and have success.

I'm extremely happy for him and that's one of the great joys I have out here competing with my buddies is being able to celebrate good moments like that with him and hopefully showing up this week and have a moment for myself.

Q. If you could walk into the room with jackets and trophies with Meredith, can she do anything to return that to you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: What do you mean?

Q. Can she come into office and say, "What's up?"

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah. I don't see why not.