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Dan Wetzel
multiple authors
AUGUSTA, Ga.–For the first time since 1994, both Tiger Woods And Phil Mickelson Will miss Masters. woods is reportedly in treatment And is facing legal troubles after his latest car accident. Mickelson is Dealing with a “personal health matter”.“
With new stars and new stories, golf has had plenty of time to adjust to a post-Tiger/Phil future. If they were successful then none of the 50 would be considered favorites to win here this week.
Still, they may have attracted the biggest galleries and the loudest roars.
“Let’s be honest, without Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at a golf event, when those two go away, honestly I think it hurts the game.” patrick reed Said this week.
They are charismatic, sometimes anarchic, and always highly competitive. He helped grow the game, and certainly this tournament, which is more relevant than ever.
Now the biggest name and best player of golf, Scotty SchefflerSomething completely different.
Tiger and Phil, to varying degrees, brought an all-win-win ethos to the game, with plenty of off-course soap operas and scandals. Scheffler appears to be a well-adjusted, soft-spoken, faith-filled, family man from Texas.
This week he talked again about how he doesn’t want wins and losses to define him. He said he didn’t know how to use Instagram, which explained the sporadic posting. On Wednesday, he walked through the crowd to the practice green, carrying his putter, all alone, without any caddy, entourage or security. Maybe he thought no one would notice him.
He seemed more comfortable discussing his family than his golf swing — he and his wife, Meredith, have nearly 2-year-old Bennett and newborn Remy. For example, Meredith is dealing with waking up in the middle of the night so she can get some sleep, it’s Masters week and all.
“My wife is a soldier,” Scheffler said.
He sounds like an old suburban dad; It’s just that being ranked No. 1 in the world for 186 consecutive weeks is just their 9 to 5 job.
“Sometimes I think it’s like we’re almost living two different lives,” Scheffler said.
When it came to golf stars here, it meant something else.
Make no mistake, there is no lack of competitiveness. At the age of 29, he has won four major titles, including the Green Jacket in 2022 and 2024. This does not happen by chance.
Yet, he is reluctant to emphasize it much, let alone discuss it.
“I would say it’s always been a battle for me to continue to work hard, stay competitive and try to find a balance between my good golf or bad golf because it can go one of two ways,” Scheffler said.
“If I let my bad golf define me, I would become a very unhappy person. If I let my good golf define me, whether it’s a green jacket or an Open Championship, I would walk around being very cocky all the time. And I wouldn’t treat people very well because I think I’m the hot thing because I won a few golf tournaments.”
Perspective is inside. Carelessness is good.
Golf is still great.
Perhaps Scheffler is just what the sport, if not society as a whole, needs right now. He is a champion who wants something bigger than himself, who finds happiness far greater than accolades and accomplishments. He may not be able to deliver the obvious power of the greats of the past, but anyone who doesn’t appreciate what he’s doing is missing the plot.
He impresses without trying to impress and shows confidence by speaking politely. When it’s time to play he will be completely focused. “Once you drive down Magnolia Lane,” he said, “everything else melts away.”
Yet she has vowed not to let the final result define her week.
“Most of the time in golf, you’ll probably be a little disappointed at the end of the week because there’s only one winner, and far more losers than that,” says Scheffler.
Furthermore, parenting will keep you humble.
“[Monday] At night we were leaving a Nike party,” Scotty Scheffler said of Bennett’s attempt to harass him. “And he somehow ended up with two sugar cookies and he hadn’t eaten his dinner yet. It was like, ‘Okay, buddy, if you eat this sausage, I’ll give you this cookie.’ He’s like, ‘Cookie.’ I’m like, ‘If you eat it.'”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“My friends are sitting there watching going, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen this movie before,'” Scheffler said, laughing.
It’s a new era in Augusta. New waves too.
