Scottie Scheffler apologizes for &x27;we&x27;re all gonna die&x27; comment at Open Championship Daniel Blackham Tue, July 14, 2026 at 3:49 PM UTC 1 Scottie Scheffler is among the favorites at this year's Open Championship Credit:GETTY Scottie Scheffler made headlines for curious reasons at last year&x27;s Open Championship when he said he was struggling to find a reason why he still competes, and he went a step further this year by discussing his legacy after he passes on.
Scottie Scheffler apologizes for 'we're all gonna die' comment at Open Championship
Daniel Blackham Tue, July 14, 2026 at 3:49 PM UTC
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Scottie Scheffler is among the favorites at this year's Open Championship -Credit:GETTY
Scottie Scheffler made headlines for curious reasons at last year's Open Championship when he said he was struggling to find a reason why he still competes, and he went a step further this year by discussing his legacy after he passes on.
Scheffler is the defending champion at Royal Birkdale and has endured a difficult 2026, with just one win this season coming at the American Express back in January. The World No. 1's preparation for the Open Championship, having missed the cut at last week's Scottish Open - his first missed cut in four years.
A four-time major champion, who only needs a U.S. Open to join Rory McIlroy in the Grand Slam club, Scheffler's legacy is already secure as one of the best golfers in living memory. But speaking at his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday, Scheffler turned heads by admitting he doesn't care too much about a competitive legacy — because one day he'll die.
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"To be completely honest, not really. I don't really play, like, for a place in history," Scheffler said. "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. Legacy and all that stuff was never really something that motivated me. For me, it was always competition.
"I loved playing golf. I loved waking up with butterflies because I'm going out to play a tournament and I get a chance to compete today. I love those feelings, and when I retire, I'm going to miss them.
"For me, I was always trying to get out, play, get the most out of myself, and I love the challenge of trying to play golf. I love trying to get the most out of myself, trying to manage not only my body but my mind as well, and trying to control this little golf ball and to get it to do the things that I want to do with it.
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Scottie Scheffler was in good spirits at his Open Championship press conference -Credit:GETTY
"Those are the things that motivate me and try to get the most out of myself. I've never been one to play for history or legacy or anything like that."
Scheffler was then asked about that quote later on in his press conference and gave a quick, witty response, saying: "Sorry!" Before joking: "Is that going to be a quote after last year's 'what's the point?' This year 'we're all going to die'."
He continued: "I think it matters more to me just in terms of the competition. There's things I would like to accomplish in the game, but at the end of the day, I have never once thought about how I'm going to be remembered. To me, it truly doesn't matter from a sense of like accomplishment. Like when I die, hey, Scottie won four majors and 20 tournaments and he won this much money. That has zero effect on me.
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"It's more like from a competition side, it's more just the things that I can try to achieve in the game. That's something just for me just trying to get the most out of myself, like do you want to be able to win tournaments, you want to be able to put yourself in those positions. That's what I love about the game.
"History to me -- yeah, I guess maybe just isn't that important. I'm not really sure how to elaborate on that, to be honest with you. If I could be remembered -- like I don't necessarily want to be remembered for winning the tournaments that I won. I'd much rather be remembered for the way that I did it than the tournaments that I won. So if I'm doing things the right way, treating people the right way -- like I said, a successful week for me is when I approach things the right way, when I'm committed to what I'm doing.
"But I'd much rather be remembered for doing things the right way than the guy that won all the tournaments. For me, competition is extremely important. I love being able to go out and compete, but over time I've gotten much better at just being able to take your hat off and shake hands."
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: July 15, 2026 at 12:27AM on Source: RED MAG
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