‘Beast’ is not a word you generally associate with Scottie Scheffler. Tiger Woods? Yeah. Rory McIlroy? Definitely. Jon Rahm? Him too! But the current world no. 1 and Olympics gold medalist, Scheffler, likes to stay low-key. When he won the Masters, the Dallas resident revealed golf is just one part of his identity, not his whole life.

Faith rather than staying as the world no. 1 is his guiding principle. If that puts any doubt about Scheffler’s zeal for winning tournaments, you can put that to rest. Ted Scott, his caddie, has seen Scheffler up close for the last few years. From a rookie, the 28-year-old is now a two-time major winner. 

Scott reveals that Scheffler’s ability to accept a mistake and move on makes it easier to work with him. Sure, there have been moments where the wheels have come off of Scheffler. The 28-year-old threw his putter in despair after a missed putt at the US Open. He chucked his golf ball into the trees beside the fairway at the Genesis Invitational. 

But then he moved on and netted two back-to-back titles. Scott said in The Sweet Spot Golf Podcast, “When you are working for a guy like Scottie Scheffler, it’s like literally the best strategy – the logical strategy – is you can talk to him about anything because he is so tough mentally. I mean, he is a mental giant.” 

Certainly, you don’t win two majors without a fortified mind. You don’t come back from five shots behind and defend your PLAYERS Championship title with a neck injury. Ted Scott shares other instances. 

Scottie Scheffler is open to ideas, and Scott has the leeway to suggest unorthodox strategies. Like going aggressive with a risk of missing on the wrong spot. The source of his courage is again Scheffler’s toughness. 

Even if World No. 1 gets stuck on a bad lie, it doesn’t affect his next five holes. Of course, the elite ball-striking helps. Nevertheless, as for mental toughness, it’s not just Ted Scott who is in awe. Scheffler’s former coaches have all given similar examples.

Scottie Scheffler was always one tough guy to beat

Besides golf, there are at least two sports that Scheffler plays with equal intensity. Basketball and Ping Pong. Scheffler was so dedicated on the basketball court that his coach had to warn him lest he get injured and ruin his collegiate golf career. About collegiate golf, two instances stick out. 

Once, Scheffler and his playing mate Beau Hossler were in a heated exchange. The reason was Scheffler played Hossler’s ball in a four-ball and they had to forfeit the hole. The two-time major winner was furious because Hossler couldn’t recognize his ball correctly, which led Scheffler to play the wrong one. The world no. 1 sprinted 250 yards to get the ball from the green and throw it at Hossler’s feet. 

Then, per an Athletic report, Scottie Scheffler played two weeks at the NCAA Championship with a bruised thumb. He hit a bad shot, took a swipe at the bush, and a thorn cut deep into his finger. They were unable to remove it, so Scheffler kept quiet lest he had to sit out because of an injury. He played, icing his thumb after every shot he hit. Scottie Scheffler is definitely a mental giant. No two ways about it.