HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Scottie Scheffler is back at Harbour Town Golf Links following his three-stroke victory at last year’s RBC Heritage.
Although he’s still the world’s top-ranked player and the easy favorite, Scheffler admitted this week feels a little different following his fourth-place finish at the Masters.
“It was an exhausting week, but it takes a lot out of you to win a golf tournament emotionally,” he explained. “On Sunday, I was in the tournament. It takes a little bit out of you, but the adrenaline you get from actually winning the tournament is a lot different than getting close.”
Scheffler said he was watching Justin Rose finish the 72nd hole from the 18th fairway and he was anticipating a chance to match the Englishman, who was at 10 under before his closing birdie.
“I'm thinking to myself, I'm going at this pin. I'm going to try to hole this, and then he makes it, and you're like, well, tournament's over. I lost,” he laughed. “I was looking at [caddie Ted Scott], and I'm like, all right, Teddy, I guess I'm going to aim at the middle of the green now. He's like, yeah, aim at the middle of the green. Let's get out of here.”
The emotion of coming close, Scheffler said, is simply not the same as actually winning an event like the Masters.
“If Rosie misses that putt [on No. 18] and I hole it [from the fairway for an eagle], huge adrenaline rush, and that takes something out of you,” Scheffler said before adding, “Kind of like the adrenaline rush you get from getting arrested. It takes something out of you.”
Scheffler was arrested prior to the second round of last year’s PGA Championship after an incident with a Louisville Police Department detective. The charges were eventually dropped.
