‘The Winning Score, I Think People Get Way Too Caught Up In’ - Scottie Scheffler Gives Thoughtful Answer To Hard Vs Easy Course Debate
Scottie Scheffler says people get "too caught up in the winning score being what is a proper test" as he says even birdiefest tournaments can be a big challenge


From the toughest course in the toughest tournament in golf to one of the PGA Tour's top birdiefests, it's quite a switch for the world's best golfers as they play the Travelers Championship this week.
And if offers up the question, does the par score actually matter? Does plundering a ton of birdies make a tournament any less of a challenge than ploughing around toughing it out for pars?
US Open champion JJ Spaun was the only one of the 156-man field that managed to finish the tournament under par at the fearsome Oakmont, and that's in stark contrast to TPC River Highlands that stages the Travelers Championship.
Keegan Bradley won here in 2023 with a score of 23 under par, while last year Scottie Scheffler won a playoff after finishing 22 under.
The World No.1 has had his say now, saying that people are too focused on the score in relation to par when deciding what a proper test of golf is.
"I think sometimes, especially in this day and age, people get way too caught up in the winning score being what is a proper test," Scheffler said ahead of his title defence.
"I think a proper test is good shots being rewarded and bad shots being punished. I think this is one of the best golf courses for that."
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Golf opinion is divided, some want to see players dashing around playing attacking golf and making birdies by the bunch, while some prefer to watch them struggle like at Oakmont.
"Golf's funny in that sense," added Scheffler on that subject. "People, when they watch golf, it's not like other sports where you want us to look like y'all when we play golf. It's one of those funny things.
"You watch the NBA, and you're like, I wish they couldn't dunk. I wish they were scoring less. I wish their shooting percentage was lower on 3-pointers. If you watch tennis, you're like, man, I wish the ball was going slower so they look like me out there playing tennis. It's not like that.
"As much as some people want us to feel like them, professional golf is different than amateur golf."
'Do we care that 22 under wins this week? No'
Scottie Scheffler won the Travelers Championship last year after finishing 22 under
Scheffler says players on the PGA Tour aren't too bothered about what the winning score is, and he insists that having double digits under par doesn't always make it less of a challenge - just a different one.
"The winning score, I think people get way too caught up in," added the PGA Championship winner.
"I'm not saying necessarily that even par is a bad winning score. Some weeks like the US Open, you hit two great shots and you're going to get rewarded with a par. That's fine. That's good too.
"Across the board, the way we get tested in professional golf is very good. We just see different tests, and I think not one is better than the other.
One thing Scheffler does not like, as he hinted at Oakmont, is unfairness in a course, getting bad bounces or bad lies following good shots - a stance that may not help him when he visits Royal Portrush with all the variants of links golf.
"The most frustrating thing for me when I play a golf tournament is when you see good shots not getting rewarded and bad shots not being punished properly. That's all we look for. Do we care that 22 under wins this week? No.
"I played good last year, and if they somehow change it to 12-under by making the pins in silly spots and doing things to trick up the golf course, what we want is a fair test.
"I think having birdies at the end sometimes is a pretty exciting finish. That's really all there is to it."

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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