Beyond the Win

 "There are a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfil them in life [but] you get to No1 in the world and they're like, 'What's the point?' I really do believe that, because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? It's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis."

John Locke (1632-1704)
unknown artist
Photo Credit: Yale Center for British Art [Public Domain]

This was one quote from what will perhaps go down as the most frank, raw and profound press conference, well, ever. It involved Scottie Scheffler and if you are surprised as to the identity of the man who spoke the above words, join the club. Press conferences are typically forums that incubate banalities (I know: I've been to a few) but this was a brilliant golfer and reflective man pondering some of the deeper questions confronting someone who has spent most of his life - this brief illumination of existence that is all any of us gets - hitting a silly little ball into a plastic cup.

"It's like showing up at the Masters every year - why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don't know, because if I win it's going to be awesome for two minutes. I'm not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world because what's the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.

I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf and have an opportunity to win that tournament. Then it's like, 'OK, what are we going to get for dinner?' Life goes on. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling."...

I perhaps should say that Scheffler is not alone in having opened up in this way. I remember talking to Victoria Pendleton... She had worked for years nurturing the dream of climbing to the top of the Olympic podium - and then won gold. "You have all this build-up for one day, and when it's over, it's 'Oh, is that it?'" she said.

Over the years I've heard similar sentiments from Jonny Wilkinson, Billie Jean King, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Martina Navratilova...

You may be thinking, 'Get over yourselves, you're earning loads of money for doing something you enjoy.' And it's a fair point. But isn't there a kernel of wisdom contained in this testimony too? The dream we are often sold is that if we make a million or buy our first Porsche, (or capture the Green Jacket), we will experience an epiphany, perhaps even lasting bliss. But what many people find at the end of the yellow brick road is a mirage, an apparition, a false promise...

As Scheffler put it (and my heart leapt at his words): "I'm blessed to be able to come out here and play golf. But if my golf ever started affecting my home life or if it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or with my son, you know, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living. I would much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer." Amen.

(Matthew Syed, The Times, 2025) 

How refreshing to hear the thoughts of golf's number 1 player, at the moment, on how sporting glory doesn't necessarily make for a fulfilling life. How refreshing not to hear the banal utterances of many journalists and interviewers in asking: "And how do you feel?" Scheffler points out, like many others, the transient nature of success and euphoria in sport and how family and your relationships with others will, in the end, constitute the greater measure of one's success.