Rory McIlroy insists he is unconcerned about his legacy, declaring he will be “six feet under” and not a ghost to hear what people say. The Northern Irishman, aiming for a second Open Championship win this week, said he cares only about the present.
“No, I don’t really care. I would like to think that the people that love and care about me, think a certain way of me. But yeah, I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead. I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost,” McIlroy said.
Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, echoed McIlroy’s sentiment, saying legacy has never motivated him. “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,” Scheffler said.
McIlroy’s Form and Focus
McIlroy, currently world number two, described himself as “bad at golf” after a disappointing Scottish Open last weekend, where he let a chance slip away. However, he believes he has rectified the issues. “It’s funny, I felt really good the first two days in Scotland and then felt like my game just sort of deteriorated as the week went on. Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn’t feel very good,” he said.
He added that he played 30 holes on Sunday and felt tired on Monday, but used the time to practice. “I didn’t make it on the course, but that allowed me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit. Felt good on the range and course. Definitely trending in the right direction,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy made clear that St Andrews remains his favourite Open venue, but acknowledged the pressures of playing on home soil, as he experienced at Portrush 12 months ago. He expects similar pressure to fall on English golfers Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick. “It’s a great environment, but tough in a way that you just feel the extra expectation on your shoulders and you feel like you’re trying to play well for everyone else and not for yourself,” he said.
“Tommy, for example, grew up five minutes away, but I feel like Tommy’s more level-headed than I am and won’t fall into that trap like I did in 2019. It would be great for them all to have a great week because obviously with England in the World Cup still and everything that’s going on, it would just be an amazing atmosphere for the tournament,” McIlroy added.
Scheffler on Pressure and Scrutiny
Scheffler, who made headlines last year with his “what’s the point” speech before winning at Royal Portrush, declined to repeat that rhetoric but agreed with McIlroy on legacy. He said that competition is what drives him, and he will miss the physical symptoms of anticipation after retirement.
“The US Open at Oakmont was my first major I had played in and I remember the butterflies then. I missed the cut by one. The next year, I was extremely motivated to go back out and play my best. The week before, I got this indigestion in my stomach where I wasn’t able to eat and your body responds to stress in certain ways. I almost couldn’t eat for like a week before it. My stomach hurt. I was burping up chunks of food. They were giving me stuff so I could digest things,” Scheffler recalled.
Scheffler also opened up about the strain of living in the spotlight. “Especially in this day and age, there’s just a lot of noise all the time at golf tournaments. For instance, this week, I show up on Sunday thinking there’s not going to be any fans out there. We get out there on the first and there’s fans out there. I love being able to play in front of fans. That’s a tremendous amount of fun. But like I get to the bunker on the first hole and I turn around and within six feet of me there’s literally like two cameras right in my face. I kind of turn around and look at the guys, like: Hey, y’all, are you going to be this close all day, or could we get a little bit of room?” he said.
He added that constant recording puts a burden on players. “I think, just being in the spotlight all the time puts a burden on a player in this day and age. Everything is being recorded. When they say hello to you, they’ve got their cell phone out. Sometimes you can be like you’re walking on eggshells a little bit and that can drain people. I’m very far from a perfect person. I’m trying to find the right words, but I think just sometimes it can be hard when you’re being recorded all the time,” Scheffler said.
