2026-07-09 13:29:57
Scottie Scheffler has vowed to “fight like heck” to defend his Open Championship title.
The world number one won the Claret Jug for the first time at Royal Portrush last year and is hopeful of retaining the famous trophy when the final major of the year takes place at Royal Birkdale next week.
Scheffler said: “I don’t really sit around too much and think about the past, to be honest with you. I feel like I’m in the middle of my career and probably the end of my career is more a time to reflect.
“Right now, I’m just focused on what I need to do. Maybe I should sit and enjoy things more, but that’s just not my nature – my wife is better at that than me.
“One thing I will say is that I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Claret Jug. I always understood the history and the significance, you see the names on there and how far is goes back. It’s the perfect size trophy – not too big, not too small – and you get to drink out of it, that’s an added bonus.
“It was something that is very special to me. It will be very tough to hand it back on Tuesday next week, but I’ll be fighting like heck to get it back on Sunday.”
Surprisingly, Scheffler hasn’t won a tournament since January but feels that he is close to landing another victory after being left “frustrated” following a host of near-misses this year.
The four-time major champion said: “I feel like I get that question every single week – I haven’t had a good answer yet. I think I’ve been really close to winning some tournaments and that can be frustrating.
“At the same time, I’ve had some good results – a fourth and a second are not bad results by any means. Margins in golf are really small and I just keep trying to do my best.
“I feel like no matter how the season goes, there’s always shots I wish I could have back. There’s always tournaments I feel like I should have won and I didn’t. That’s just part of the game.
“You’ve got to ride with it, the highs and lows. Like I said last year at The Open: It’s not a satisfying venture playing professional golf, so try to take the good with the bad.”
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