PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Two days after the eye-opening deep riff on the meaning of life that world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler delivered in his pre-tournament press conference, he posted a 3-under-par 68 in the first round of the British Open Thursday at Portrush.
When Scheffler finished his round, he was one shot off the lead thanks to birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to get to 3-under.
After his round, Scheffler was playfully chided by a reporter about his ability to shoot under par despite his lack of hitting fairways — he hit only three of 14 for the round.
“Yeah, you’re the second guy that’s mentioned that to me,’’ Scheffler said. “I actually thought I drove it pretty good. I don’t know what you guys are seeing. When it’s raining sideways, it’s actually, believe it or not, not that easy to get the ball in the fairway.
“Thank you guys all for pointing that out,” he went on, smiling. “At 3-under par, I felt like I hit the ball nice off the tee and really only had one swing I wasn’t too happy with on maybe the second hole. But outside of that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid, so definitely a good bit of confidence for the next couple rounds.”
Scheffler, when he completed his round, trailed only Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jacob Skov Olesen and Haotong Li, all of whom are 4-under par.
About half of Scheffler’s round took place while the rains poured down on Portrush.
“Wind is something that obviously makes links golf challenging, but the rain adds a whole new element to it, especially when you’re hitting the tee balls,” Scheffler said. “You get a little moisture between the club face and the ball, especially with the longer clubs and the woods, and it can be pretty challenging.
“We played basically (holes) 7 through 13 in rain.”
Scheffler, who’s seeking his second major championship victory this year to go along with the PGA he won in May, was of course asked after the round about the comments he made on Tuesday about how golf — even in victory — doesn’t “fulfill’’ his life and that he sometimes, even after winning majors, asks himself, “What’s the point?’’
“I try to be as honest as I can with y’all, with the stuff that I’m willing to kind of say,” Scheffler said. “At times, I feel like maybe I should be a little less honest. Maybe I shouldn’t have said the stuff I said because now I’m going to get asked about it more.
“But really, it’s just a matter of perspective, and I’ve had some players come up to me and say that they feel and think the same things. If anybody has disagreed with me, they haven’t said it to my face yet, so I don’t know what the reaction would be. But overall, I’m just glad to be out playing golf and competing again.”
Shane Lowry, who won the Open the last time it was played at Portrush, was one of Scheffler’s two playing partners, along with 2021 Open winner Collin Morikawa.
Lowry, as many do, marveled at Scheffler’s game and demeanor.
“We had a good day out there,” Lowry said after shooting a 1-under-par 70. “I feel like he’s a nice person to be around and obviously a great player. It’s unbelievable how well he manages his way around the golf course and the scores he shoots. It’s just incredible what he does with the ball. Even when you look at him and it looks like he’s hitting a bad shot, it doesn’t go in a bad spot.”
