When Adam Scott beat everyone in 2013 to win his Green Jacket, he was truly overjoyed. But he was also equally perplexed about how he would handle things from this point on. Just a few days ago, Scott revealed that he asked Steve Williams, “What are we now playing for?” He had achieved one of the biggest goals of his career, and he didn’t know what was next. Now imagine being in a similar situation, but apart from winning the Masters Tournament, you also become a Grand Slam champion.

When Scottie Scheffler sat down for a press conference after the third round of the 2025 U.S. Open, he was greeted by an unexpected question. Intrigued by Adam Scott’s statement from a few days ago and Rory McIlroy’s lack of motivation recently, one of the journalists asked, “Adam Scott said when he won the Masters it was kind of difficult to reset his goals after achieving something like that. Rory’s alluded to that as well. You did pretty well after winning your first Masters. Wondering how you dealt with that, and can you understand where those guys are coming from?” Scheffler was the perfect candidate to ask this question.

You see, not only did he win at Augusta National in 2022, but he repeated that feat in 2024 as well. Despite his remarkable achievements, even the #1 understood what it feels like to get drained after a major win. Scheffler said, “There’s definitely an aspect of having an achievement that you’ve thought about for a long time and then being able to achieve that goal. There’s typically—I mean, winning a major championship in general just takes a lot out of you. I think physically and mentally it’s a pretty taxing thing to do.”

You don’t need to just be at your peak physical state, but you also need to be prepared mentally to act upon any unexpected challenges that might come your way. For the Texan, it must have been the years of struggle and frustration. He was known for not being able to control his emotions. Ted Scott had also confessed how he told Scheffler that he can’t start working for him “because of your attitude,” which prompted the #1 to fix it.

Scottie continued, “It’s really hard to describe to somebody that hasn’t really lived through it just because of — I mean, when I woke up after the PGA Championship this year, I literally felt like I got hit by a bus.” Like, I felt terrible. And it’s just part of the adrenaline, part of competing for four days on a really difficult golf course, keeping your head in it for 72 holes, which is a long time, and just mentally it’s exhausting. Physically, it’s a grind too.” Not the first time Scheffler has given this instance.

Despite comfortably dominating at Quail Hollow, even the 16-time PGA Tour winner felt the rush, and when it was all said and done, it knocked him out enough that he felt like he “got hit by a bus.” However, he was still able to get up and compete in 2 more events before his trip to Oakmont. Scheffler also won a title during that time, the Memorial Tournament. Then Scottie spoke of McIlroy‘s state of mind.

“So if that’s how I felt after the PGA, I can only imagine how Rory felt after winning the career Grand Slam, and it’s not easy to show up every week out here and play well.” This is a very difficult sport. We play very difficult golf courses like this one,” #1 shared. Scottie’s pursuit of a major win or the Green Jacket was 4 years long since he joined the PGA Tour in 2018. You compare that to Rory’s search for not only a Masters win but a career Grand Slam for 11 years, then the extended crashout is understandable. The two are currently struggling at Oakmont, with the #1 sitting at T11, 8 strokes off the top, and the #2 at T49, 14 strokes away.

Having said that, Scottie Scheffler bounced back from his short breakdown, Adam Scott has also found a bit of rhythm again, and so will Rory McIlroy. There is another issue about McIlroy that has been making the headlines, and Scheffler defended him for that, too.

Scottie Scheffler understands Rory McIlroy’s strong stance against the media

One of the biggest criticisms Rory McIlroy has faced after the 2025 Masters Tournament win, apart from his bad form, is his lack of interviews. Rory has been absent from press conferences and hasn’t interacted with reporters often ever since the 2025 PGA Championship. His silence during the ‘non-conforming’ driver controversy only escalated the issue further than it should have gone. After all, Scottie Scheffler also admitted that his driver was ‘non-conforming’ after his win at Quail Hollow. Yet, he didn’t face the heat like the Irishman. That prompted an expert to suggest that Rory is ruining his own “public image” by avoiding the press. But Scheffler didn’t think that was the case.

When asked what he feels about giving interviews every day, the world #1 replied, “Sometimes you get good questions, sometimes not so good. Doug throws out a bad one every now and then (laughing). No, this is part of it, I guess.” As Scheffler himself admitted, facing the media after a tough round of golf is not the easiest. Even though he meant it as a joke, some reporters do target the golfer as they try to scoop out a story.

Being in the vulnerable situation that he is in right now, it’s understandable why Rory McIlroy doesn’t feel like giving interviews as often anymore. It’s better than getting your words twisted into something that is far from reality.