Top golfers struggle with pressure, meaning of life, ahead of final major

Golf fans will need to set their alarms for the final major of the season. The Open Championship gets underway Thursday at 1:30 a.m. Eastern from Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. 

Why is Rory McIlroy one of the favorites this week?

Rory McIlroy is smack in the spotlight once again. The reigning Masters champ and now Grand Slam winner grew up a 90-minute drive from Royal Portrush. He set the course record as a 16-year-old, shooting an astonishing 61. 

Twenty years later, he’s looking for his second Claret Jug and his sixth major title overall. This homecoming does feel very familiar. He had a shot at the title in 2019, but the pressure of playing in his backyard was overwhelming.  

“I was just a little surprised and a little taken aback and like, geez, these people really want me to win,” McIlroy said Monday. “So yeah, I think it brought its own sort of pressure and more internally from myself and not really wanting to let people down.”

Is Rory’s game in good form?

He missed the cut in that tournament but said he has since learned how to embrace moments like that and control his emotions. Rory experienced a bit of a lull in his game after winning the Masters in April, but he seems to have recovered. He finished second at last week’s Scottish Open and has had this event circled on the calendar all season. 

“It’s lovely to be coming in here already with the major and everything else that’s happened this year,” McIlroy said. “So, I’m excited with where my game is. I felt like I showed some really good signs last week and feel like I’m in a good spot.”

Who else is dealing with some ‘major’ emotions?

Rory isn’t the only one fighting a battle with his thoughts and feelings. World number one Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship in May. He’ll be looking for his first Open Championship this week, but he spent much of his meeting with reporters Tuesday revealing some serious existential curiosity, wondering what it’s all for. 

“There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like, ‘what’s the point?'” Scheffler said. “I really believe that. What is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.”

Scheffler called himself “kind of a sicko,” saying he loves the preparation and the practice, but after winning, which he has done 16 times in the last three years, the good feeling lasts just a few hours, and then it’s on to the next goal. He said sometimes he just doesn’t understand the point.  

“I don’t know if I’m making any sense or not. Am I not?” Scheffler said. “It’s just one of those deals. I love the challenge, I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.” 

Can Scheffler earn his first Claret Jug?

Scheffler is not the first athlete to have these kinds of thoughts, but it was striking to hear them on the eve of the final major of the season. The best golfer on the planet summed up his reflections with a final point. 

“Playing professional sports is a really weird thing to do,” Scheffler said. “It really is. Just because we put in so much effort, we work so hard for something that’s so fleeting,” Scheffler said. 

With all those thoughts swirling around, will the top two golfers in the world have a shot this week? The statistics suggest they will likely be in the mix, along with defending Open champion Xander Schauffele and a few others.  

It is also possible a contender comes out of nowhere, like J.J. Spaun did a month ago at the U.S. Open. Links golf across the pond is a different style of game and, at least this week, it can mess with a player’s psyche too.