The Masters is often a place of (for golf, anyway) nail-biting tension—where some say the four-day golf tournament doesn’t really begin until Sunday’s final nine holes.
Scottie Scheffler did his best to make the tourney a ho-hum contest.
Scheffler entered the Masters as not just the world’s No. 1 ranked golfer, but as its hottest, too, having won three out of his last five events. The Masters was more of the same: The Texas golfer went into Sunday with the lead. And despite a furious charge from Irish golfer Roy McIlroy (who shot an astounding eight-under-par final round to finish second), Scheffler never relinquished the lead. He closed out the tourney at 10-under par, three shots ahead of McIlroy. It marks 25-year-old Scheffler’s first Major title.
Most golf fans probably flipped off the TV shortly after Scheffler sank his final putt. So they’d be forgiven for missing what he said in the press conference later. Scheffler’s known as a fierce competitor. And during the conference, he was asked how he balances that competitive fire with who he is as a person. He said this:
“The reason why I play golf is I’m trying to glorify God and all that He’s done in my life. So for me, my identity isn’t a golf score.”
Scheffler said that his wife, Meredith, gave him a curious pep talk Sunday morning. According to the golfer, she said, “‘If you win this golf tournament today, if you lose this golf tournament by 10 shots, if you never win another golf tournament again … I’m still going to love you, you’re still going to be the same person, Jesus loves you and nothing changes.’” He added that Meredith “always prays for peace because that’s what I want to feel on the golf course, is peace and have fun and just feel His presence.”
We don’t typically talk about sports in this space, but sports are as much a part of the entertainment world as movies or television. Indeed, they often become fodder for some of the best scripted films and TV shows out there.
No telling whether Scheffler will have a movie made about him down the road, but I liked his comments. And really, in a way, they’re strangely revealing about not only who the golfer is, but about the sport he plays, too.
Golf—at least the way I play golf—can be an exercise in utter, humiliating, frustration. No matter how good a golfer someone is, they’ll have times when they step onto a course and nothing goes right. (Or, maybe, everything goes right … right into the trees. Right into the sand trap. Right into the lake.)
Golf can be, in that way, a metaphor for life. You realize on the golf course how little you really control. You’re at the mercy of the weather, the course, your own mind, your own body. It’s enough to make you want to break your four-iron over your leg.
And yet, when you take a deep breath, you realize that the sport is beautiful, too. The Masters showcases that beauty, with its stretches of grass and sparkling waters and the blooming azaleas. Every golf course is human-made, of course—and yet it’s made from God’s creation. And even in the midst of the competition and frustration, perhaps you can feel that peace that Scheffler was talking about.
You aren’t in control. Not really. God is. And that, in itself, brings an element of peace. Whatever we’ve achieved in life (or not), and whatever we’re going to achieve (or not), Jesus loves you.
It’s nice that, as Scheffler summited the loftiest peak in professional golf, he remembered that. And he reminded us of that, too.
One Response
-I know you don’t usually talk about sports on this space and I am glad you did today as you are right on the money about it being a media event. Since you don’t cover a lot of sports I will nicely tell you that most golf fans did not tune out after he sunk his final shot. This is the Masters even casual golf fans like myself stay for the presentation of the green jacket. Nuance is important in sports coverage. I hope you guys do cover more sports coverage when it fits into your broader message. I hope you strive to cover the nuance as well as you do in your other media coverages.