What The Sports Media Don’t Understand About Scottie Scheffler’s All-Consuming Faith

  C. Wallace DeWitt

Scheffler doesn’t play for others or even for his family. He plays for the greater glory of God, whom he entirely credits for his success.

If sportswriters have adequately appreciated Scottie Scheffler as a professional golfer, they have generally shanked their assessments of him as a man. He has been dubbed “boring,” partly as an homage to the monotonous succession of hit fairways and greens that characterizes a typical Scheffler round, partly in reference to his understated demeanor. While his athletic prowess is undisputed, Scheffler’s Christian piety has consistently been greeted with awkward silence. To adapt the old saw about Episcopalians, the quickest way to get a golf journalist to look at his shoes is to talk about Jesus. Yet to ignore Scheffler’s faith is to misunderstand the man entirely.

Scheffler’s on-course success is generally attributed to his superlative iron play and disciplined course management. He currently leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained off-the-tee, from tee to green, and on approach. His unorthodox swing mechanics (the “Scheffler Shuffle”) must be seen to be believed. His putting, formerly a relative weakness, has improved dramatically since his switch to a mallet-style putter last year. Over the past 113 consecutive weeks that he has held the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings, Scheffler has separated himself from his formidable generation of competitors — among them Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, John Rahm, and Xander Schauffele. Across the four majors conducted in 2025, two of which Scheffler won outright, he shot a combined 32 under par. His next closest competitor, Masters champion Rory McIlroy, shot a combined 11-under.

Last Sunday, Scheffler notched his first Open Championship, drawing abreast of Raymond Floyd and Young and Old Tom Morris (4 majors apiece). Should he secure a U.S. Open next summer at Shinnecock Hills, Scheffler will be only the seventh golfer to complete the so-called “career Grand Slam,” joining four men who require only a surname to identify them (Sarazen, Hogan, Player, McIlroy), and two who require only a given name (Jack, Tiger). Eclipsing Nicklaus’s 18 major championships, a feat of which not even Woods (15) has proven capable, seems out of reach for Scheffler at 29 years old. Still, commentators have begun to whisper that double-digits may be attainable.

Scheffler is universally regarded for his skill and sang-froid on the course. Everywhere else, Scheffler seems to bewilder the press. Nowhere was the misapprehension of Scheffler’s character more evident than in the collective befuddlement in response to his pre-tournament press conference last week at Royal Portrush, site of the 153rd Open Championship (more commonly known as the British Open).

full story at https://thefederalist.com/2025/07/24/what-the-sports-media-dont-understand-about-scottie-schefflers-all-consuming-faith/