Scheffler: Coming in 2nd worse than missing cut

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Mark SchlabachJul 14, 2026, 12:18 PM ET

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Senior college football writer

Author of seven books on college football

Graduate of the University of Georgia

SOUTHPORT, England -- After Scottie Scheffler's opening comments in his Tuesday news conference ahead of the 154th Open Championship, a British reporter apologized for starting with a "brutal" question.

"How was your weekend off?" the reporter asked Scheffler. "Quite a rare one. What did you get up to?"

"When you said 'brutal,' I thought it was going to be worse than that," Scheffler said.

For the first time in nearly four years, Scheffler is preparing for a golf tournament after missing the cut in the previous one. He didn't play on the weekend in last week's Genesis Scottish Open, ending his streak of 78 straight PGA Tour starts in which he made the cut.

"I would say missing a cut is probably the hardest thing," Scheffler said. "I don't think it hurts as much as coming close to winning and finishing second. I felt like coming in second at Travelers hurt more than missing the cut, but missing the cut is significantly more frustrating is how I would describe it."

The rare missed cut did allow Scheffler to travel to Southport two days earlier than expected. He worked out Saturday morning before leaving for the English coast. He played 18 holes on Sunday at Royal Birkdale, where he has never competed, and then nine holes each of the next two days.

The 30-year-old will attempt to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09. Scheffler collected his fourth major championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland last year.

"You never want to have a weekend off, but going into a tournament when you're defending, there's always a bit more stuff to do," Scheffler said. "So it wasn't the worst thing in the world, albeit it was quite frustrating. Just getting used to the course and getting some extra rest in a week where there's some more demands on your time isn't the worst thing, even though [it's] quite frustrating."

Scheffler will play the first two rounds with LIV Golf League stars Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton. The trio will tee off at 4:58 a.m. ET in Thursday's first round and 10:04 a.m. ET in the second.

Scheffler said he's "at peace" heading into the last major of the season.

"I think just towards the end of the season, you get a little tired," he said. "Like I said, I got a couple days off, reset. Reset the mind. Reset the body. And just kind of get back to feeling even and at peace."

When asked about his legacy, Scheffler raised eyebrows with his nonchalant response.

"I don't really play, like, for a place in history. I'm not playing for anything like that because -- 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 anymore," he said. "Legacy and all that stuff was never really something that motivated me."

Scheffler, who picked up seven PGA Tour victories in 2024 and six in 2025, hasn't won since his first start in the American Express on Jan. 25. He has four runner-up finishes and finished in the top 25 in all but one start.

"I've had a very solid year, but like I said, frustrating at times because I've been close and I haven't been able to get it done like I have been in years past," Scheffler said. "Overall, I feel like I know what my why is, why I'm out here playing, and I'm excited to try and defend my title this week."