“Boring” Scottie Scheffler?

Ask the general public to name 10 golfers. It’s possible the name Scottie Scheffler won’t be on that list. At a press conference at the Players Championship, one of his peers was asked why the number one player in the world could walk through New York unnoticed. There’s a perception Scheffler’s a little bit dull. That he doesn’t excite or set the pulses racing. Both on course and off the course.

Ok, so some keyboard warriors feel the need to label Scheffler boring. But even some well know golf publications have got in on the act. Like this one in Golf Australia from journalist Matt Cleary, which goes with the heading: “Scottie Scheffler and the Triumph of the Most Boring Man Alive” (please note my headline is similar looking but rather different)

I asked my golf WhatsApp group and there was a mixed perception of Scheffler. There was some negative. “Yes he’s boring” and “he’s about as charasmatic as wallpaper”. One rater more kindly suggested “great personality develops over time as they become sporting greats”.

Let’s turn the clock back. About 40 years. And a snooker player called Steve Davis. Now Davis is one of the greatest players his sport has ever produced. He was known as Steve “Interesting” Davis. Parodied by the tv show Spitting Image and ridiculed in the tabloid newspapers for being boring, Davis didn’t fight it. He just got on with it. Why was he perceived as “boring”? Because he wasn’t flashy or unpredictable like an Alex Higgins or Jimmy White (two of the game’s flawed but most charasmitic players). Because he kept an even temperament when at the blaize and because he kept on winning, with a champions mentality. 6 world titles in the 1980s. Long retired from the sport, Davis, now in his 60s is a tv commentator and a DJ, having performed at Glastonbury and Wembley Stadium. Boring Steve Davis!

Scottie Scheffler is in the Davis mould. He’s not often in the trees or holing out from bunkers. Because he’s normally in the middle of the fairway or inside 10 feet on the green. Boring golf that is a gift. There’s nothing flashy about him. It’s hard work and talent. He’s not a maverick. He wasn’t born with a natural repartee and charisma that draws people in. He’s a family man, a religious person. He’s a dedicated professional and extremely talented. Potentially generational.

The note Scottie Scheffler wrote the night before he won the 2022 Masters c/o @MartySmithESPN

As one of his Ryder Cup team mates, Max Homa, put it; “He’s not going to intentionally put himself in the limelight because his values are great. He’s an amazing husband, future father. He’s just a great guy.”

As someone who carries out media training with athletes, amongst them golfers, would I suggest to Scottie or his team, to try and make him seem less “boring”? No, of course not. For me, media training is about helping the athlete understand what the media wants, about getting your message across. It’s not about avoiding the question. It’s not about changing your personality. It’s about making you confident in who you are and what you have to say. To engage and offer an insight into what makes you the person you are.

And if people bothered to listen, Scheffler has some interesting things to say. Like in the build up to the Players, where he spoke with authority and articulately on the current split in the game; “if the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left”, was amongst the things he said.

And he’s given us insight. After winning the Masters, he offered up his vulnerable side and admitted how he cried his eyes out the morning of the final round at Augusta National, thinking he wasn’t good enough to win.

As his potential on the course evolves, so likely will his voice. It’s happening already. And maybe one day, you never know, he may even be on the stage at Glastonbury playing some tunes!