Scottie Scheffler uses spare time to prepare British Open title defence

ROYAL BIRKDALE, England – Scottie Scheffler found himself in an unfamiliar position last weekend.

He had no work to do.

The world No. 1 missed the cut at the Scottish Open on July 10, marking the first time he failed to advance to the third round of a PGA Tour tournament in nearly four years.

But he does not intend to have two weekends off in a row.

The 30-year-old enters the British Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, this week as the defending champion. Last July, he finished at 17 under at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, defeating fellow American Harris English by four shots to take home the Claret Jug.

With a victory, he would become the first player to win the Open in two consecutive seasons since Padraig Harrington of Ireland did it nearly 20 years ago. Harrington won at Carnoustie in 2007, beating Sergio Garcia in a play-off, and topped Ian Poulter by four strokes the following year at Royal Birkdale.

Scheffler took extra time to make an early arrival at Royal Birkdale and get a look at the course, which has undergone renovation since it last hosted the Open in 2017.

“First impressions were really good,” he said. “I think it’s pretty obvious – the one thing I found interesting is it’s so obvious as to which holes had been redone. They look like they’re not even on the same golf course.

“You look at 14, 15, 16, those green complexes and the amount of slope that they have off of them are pretty severe and quite challenging. The fifth hole is kind of like that, seventh hole as well.

“Overall, I think it’s really solid. The fairways are tight, and there’s some thinking you have to do off the tee. You’ve got to be hitting the ball, I think, really sharply around this place if you’re going to make some birdies. There’s some very, very challenging holes, especially the par-threes.”

He added that he will have a lot of decisions to make if he is to tame Royal Birkdale.

“The ball’s just going to run for forever pretty much,” he said. “The fairways this week are really tight, so you get a lot of cross-winds.

“They can be difficult to hold just because they’re so fast and they’re so firm. So there’s a lot of thinking off the tee on whether or not you want to just hit driver up there somewhere and kind of play from the rough most likely, or do you want to start hitting some irons, getting it in some fairways and hitting some longer shots into the greens?

“On each hole there’s a good bit of strategy, there’s a decent amount of thinking,” said Scheffler. “If it wasn’t as firm as it is now, there wouldn’t be as much decision-making, but I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges, I think, for us as players, just to try and control your ball and figure out where it’s going to end up.”

While he had a free weekend, six-time Major winner Rory McIlroy needed to play nearly two full rounds on July 12 to complete his tied-seventh finish at the Scottish Open – the result of a weather delay the previous day.

“Yeah, I’ve done a good bit of work the past couple days,” said the 37-year-old Northern Irishman. “Again, getting the TrackMan out, seeing what my numbers are, and just trying to match up the feels of my swing with what I’m seeing.

“Also, like I played 30 holes on Sunday. I felt a little bit tired yesterday, so I didn’t make it on the course, but that allowed me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit.

“Felt good on the range. Felt good out on the course today. Definitely trending in the right direction.”

This is the 17th British Open for McIlroy, who won at Royal Liverpool in 2014 and owns six other top-five finishes, including tied-fourth in 2017 at Royal Birkdale.

With the heatwave engulfing much of Europe, the world No. 2 is curious to see how golfers attack a course that has changed dramatically over the last few weeks.

He said: “I think what we all know, even going back to (the US Open at) Shinnecock a few weeks ago: When you give professional golfers options and you can create a little bit of doubt in their minds in terms of should I play this shot or that shot, that’s when things start to get fun, especially for the viewer. Not so much for us but... that, to me, is the sign of a good championship test.”

He has also called for golf to extend its Major championship season beyond its four-month window.

The current schedule, introduced seven years ago when the PGA Championship was brought forward from August to May, compressed the calendar for the sport’s most high-profile events.

But McIlroy believes the move has impacted its visibility.

“I’d like to see the major season spread out a little bit longer. The Masters is always going to have the build-up, but I think then PGA into US Open, US Open into here, it just seems like it’s very, very quick.”

He added: “From a player perspective, if you get on a bit of a run, it’s nice to be playing well and go from one straight into the next but for the sport as a whole and for, I guess, the general interest in the game, obviously I can see the positives in the major season being stretched out a little bit longer.”

Scheffler and McIlroy also brushed aside questions about their places in sporting history with some black humour.

McIlory, who is just the sixth golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam of four Major titles, said: “I don’t really care. I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me, but I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead.”

Four-time Major winner Scheffler said: “This is going to sound a little morbid: at the end of the day, I’m going to live my life, and it’s going to end. When it ends, I’m going somewhere else, and I’m not going to be here any more.”

A year ago, he had candidly revealed how he endured a daily struggle with his constant desire for more success and questioned whether it was all worth it.

Realising he may have created another headline after his 2025 remarks, he said: “Is that going to be a quote after last year’s ‘What’s the point?’? This year: ‘We’re all going to die’.” REUTERS