Here's what Scheffler really told us in his 'crisis' speech

On the eve of The Open, the world's best golfer revealed a startlingly honest insight into the emptiness of winning.

- Lawrence Ostlere unpacks Scottie Scheffler's words

In a digital age fuelled by micro-doses of dopamine, it's not often that a five-minute monologue goes viral. At what was an otherwise mundane press conference at Royal Portrush ahead of this week's Open Championship, the world's No 1 golfer, Scottie

In a digital age fuelled by micro-doses of dopamine, it's not often that a five-minute monologue goes viral. At what was an otherwise mundane press conference at Royal Portrush ahead of this week's Open Championship, the world's No 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler, gave a startlingly honest speech on what it feels like to win a trophy. Elation, he said. And then it’s gone.

“It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for a few minutes - it only lasts a few minutes, that euphoric feeling,” said the 29-year-old. “To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home [in Texas], I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf, to have an opportunity to win that tournament. And you win it, get to celebrate, hug my family, my sisters are there, it’s such an amazing moment. And it’s like: ‘OK, now, what are we going to eat for dinner?’ Life goes on.

“What’s the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. Showing up at the Masters every year, it’s like: why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don’t know. Because if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes. Then we’re going to get to the next week and it’s: ‘Hey, you won two majors this year, how important is it for you to win the FedExCup playoffs?’ And we’re back here again.”