How Golfer Scottie Scheffler Praised God After Master’s Tournament Win
(ANALYSIS) If you’re a golf fan, you should know the name Scottie Scheffler by now. The 25-year-old has been the talk of the PGA for the past few months for his remarkable run this season. The world’s No. 1 ranked golfer once again showed up to play this Masters Tournament, winning his fourth PGA tournament in just two months and netting $10.1 million in purse winnings. His win at the widely televised Masters also built a wider audience for Scheffler’s calm Christian faith.
Scheffler is currently ranked as the best golfer in the world, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. Finishing with a 10-under in 72 holes, Scheffler achieved the most prized accomplishment in all of golf, snagging his first green jacket at Augusta National this month. Aside from his excellent tournament performance, Scheffler’s humility and faith stood out.
“The reason why I play golf is, I am trying to glorify God and all that he's done in my life, and so for me, my identity isn't a golf score,” Scheffler said in the post-tournament press conference.
Scheffler was born in New Jersey but grew up in the Dallas area. He has not specified what church he attends in the Dallas area but describes himself as a Christian.
After completely dominating the leaderboard, Scheffler established himself as the clear favorite to win the Masters. At eight under par, Scheffler sat comfortably in the clubhouse with a 5-stroke lead. Despite all the rain, harsh conditions and challenging greens, Scheffler managed to put together all his rounds under par — the only player to do so in every round — shooting a 69 in the first round, followed by 67, 71 and 71.
In the final round, Cameron Smith neared Scheffler by three strokes entering the 12th hole. However, this was blocked by a water hazard, resulting in a triple bogey that put him out of contention. Also in contention, Rory Mcilroy was flying, shooting an 8-under in the final round, jumping several spots on the leaderboard to achieve a solo second place finish at 7-under. However, this was still not enough to beat Scheffler, who stayed cool, sealing the deal with birdies on holes 14 and 15.
Approaching the 18th green, Scheffler was met with a standing ovation. The realization that he was the 2022 Masters champion started to sink in. Scheffler appeared to know this, and the comfortability with the achievement sat with him. Even with a harsh double bogey to end his round at 10-under on 18, Scheffler already secured the championship. He seemed eager to win, and the overwhelming amount of emotion for such a feat took its effect. In his post-round press conference, Scheffler was asked, “You mentioned winning this tournament in your dreams and how you dreamed it. ... Did you ever dream of winning it in this fashion?”
The reporter was talking about Scheffler‘s continued lead from Friday, praising him for not letting up and opening the competition back up by dropping strokes. Scheffler responded, “The only thing I imagined was probably that walk up on 18. I’ve seen some guys do that, and the first one that comes to mind is watching Jordan (Spieth) make that walk up on 18 with a huge lead. And definitely throughout the round today, when I built up a little bit of a lead you know, I didn't want any stress toward the end of the day. And I didn't break my concentration until we got onto the green on 18.”
Scheffler remained calm on the back nine, though countless men before him had been torn apart by the relentless back nine that Amen Corner and the other holes offer.
Scheffler continued, “Once we got onto the green, I was like, alright, I'm going to enjoy this, and then, you know, I had some fun with it.”
Scheffler then acknowledged his double bogey on 18 with a laugh: “I don't really know what to say it was. … It was definitely nice to build up a lead. Nothing is safe out there on the back nine on this golf course.
“I’ve heard all these things that everybody says — ‘It doesn't start till back nine on Sunday,’ ‘Anything can happen,’ ‘Don't hit it in the water on 12’ — you know, all that stuff. I just blocked most of that out and just tried to execute and hit good golf shots.”
In the post-round press conference, Scheffler’s humility continued to shine, as he showed gratefulness and vulnerability with his answers to the press. Scheffler mentioned the stressful Sunday morning before his final round and the comfort his wife, Meredith, brought him to help prepare him for his first Masters win.
“I was sitting there telling Meredith, ‘I don't think I am ready for this.’ … I just felt overwhelmed, and so she told me, ‘Who are you to say that you're not ready?’ ... So we talked about it, and we just know that God is in control and the Lord is leading me. So if today's my time, then it's my time. If I shot an 82 today, you know, somehow I was going to use it for his glory.”
With Scheffler’s Christian beliefs being a popular subject during his press conference, a reporter asked him, “Did your faith play a significant part in this victory?” Scheffler replied, “I mean my faith affects all aspects of my life, you know, not just not my life on the golf course. The Lord has given me a skill, and I’m trying to use it for his glory, and outside of that, I’m just trying to do my best.”
Again in the press conference, the integral role of faith emerged within Scheffler and within his relationship with his wife, Meredith. Scheffler shared the kind words Meredith used to comfort him before his final round: “Meredith told me this morning, ‘If you win this golf tournament today, or if you lose this golf tournament by 10 shots, or 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 that.’”
Scheffler continued to mention the impact his wife’s encouragement and prayer had on him, helping him win his first Masters. “Every day when we go out there, Meredith always prays for peace because that's how I want to feel. When I’m out there on the golf course, I want to feel peace and have fun and just feel his presence. That's her prayer every day, and it's my prayer, and I just really felt that today.”
Scheffler did not need to use his platform to share his faith, and yet he did, as if it were a casual conversation at the dinner table. As a golf fan and now a Scheffler fan, I congratulate Scottie on his phenomenal Masters performance. I watched him through every round stay calm and consistently make quality golf shots — even when the conditions were poor and the players around him continued to struggle. His grit and perseverance rooted in his faith helped him seal arguably the greatest accomplishment in golf — a lifetime membership to Augusta National with a beautiful green jacket to show for it. Most importantly, Scheffler dedicated this fantastic performance to God, basically discrediting himself and his abilities despite him becoming the best golfer in the world.
This was not the first time Scheffler has been open and authentic about his faith and how it helps him keep his golf game — and everything else — in perspective. Even before he was the world’s top player, he spoke about his faith and priorities. In 2018, he spoke to the Sports Spectrum Podcast to talk about his life, faith and golf pursuits.
“People a lot of times think, well, if you become a Christian, God’s just going to make everything easy for you, and that’s not the case,” he said. “But having the God of the universe, the Creator, on your side just makes things a lot easier to deal with. And the principles of the Bible are something that, when you use them, you can see it manifest in your life.”
Scheffler has often thanked his caddie, Ted Scott, whom he met through a Bible study a year before they teamed up — partly because Scheffler wanted to work with a fellow Christian believer. “He keeps things loose,” Scheffler said this week about Scott. “We have a lot of fun together. I respect him a lot as a person, and I respect his work ethic as a caddie. And so, for me, it’s been a pretty easy relationship so far just because I respect him so much.”
On Instagram, Twitter and other social media, Scheffler is as open about his faith as he is in press conferences or any other venues.
“I’m a Christian guy, so that’s important to me,” he said in a 2019 interview with PGATour.com. “But even if you’re not a Christian, life is important to spend with people you enjoy. If you don’t have close, quality friends, I don’t think whatever you’re doing is important. So that would be my most important advice to someone. Find something you enjoy doing, and enjoy doing it with other people.”
Luke Kerley is a student at The King’s College in NYC, where he serves as sports editor of the student news outlet, The Empire State Tribune.