For Rory, Scottie, Spieth, tension-free pressers still plenty interesting

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth addressed the media from the Travelers Championship on Wednesday. I watched their pressers from home some 3,000 miles away, still recovering from a full week covering last week’s U.S. Open, amazed as I always am that after one of the biggest tournaments of the entire season, they just. . .play another one.

But their media availability made for riveting viewing, as someone interested in professional golf and interested in the latest chapters of these guys’ lives. These weren’t inflammatory press conferences; they won’t make particularly juicy headlines and the most exhausting current golf-media storyline (is it McIlroy vs. the media?!) didn’t come up even once. But because they’re three good talkers, because they’re the three biggest stars on the PGA Tour, because they’re three different personalities at different points in their career, this was an interesting moment to take stock, with the end of the season already in sight.

Scheffler went first. He was reflective on Oakmont, where he said he didn’t have his best stuff but was proud of his effort. As several contenders collapsed down the stretch he was still hopeful that he could sneak into the mix, but he stalled out and J.J. Spaun finished with a bang behind him.

“For J.J. to step up and birdie 17 and 18 in those conditions to win the tournament is pretty special,” he said.

Still, Scheffler’s T7 finish was a more-than-respectable addition to his latest ridiculous run; he’s won three of his last five tournaments and hasn’t finished worse than T8 since mid-March. He’s playing by far the best golf in the world, he’s at the peak of his powers and he enters this week’s Travelers as the defending champion. It wasn’t surprising to hear Scheffler say that this week, he’s mostly focused on rest and recovery before he starts keeping score again on Thursday — what else is there to improve on?

“I feel like my game’s in a good spot, so I don’t have to go out on the range and feel like I need to figure anything out — or figure out the greens or around the greens,” he said. “A lot is getting your mind ready to go out and play.”

McIlroy spoke next, just a few minutes after Scheffler finished. If anybody feels the post-major anti-climax, it’s him; just a year ago he skipped this very event as he was “licking my wounds from Pinehurst,” he said. He wasn’t ready to play after a harrowing runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. This year, though? Even though McIlroy’s post-Masters mood has been the source of endless speculation, he said he feels fresh this week after a back-door top-20 at the U.S. Open.

“After a week like I had at Oakmont last week, where you’re not quite in the mix but you might feel you find something in your game, you’re excited to come back and play again.” He called TPC River Highlands the “perfect chaser” to the toughest week of the year; he and the rest of the field will expect to make some birdies.

It was interesting to hear that neither Scheffler nor McIlroy had yet met newly appointed PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp. That was a reminder first that Rolapp — a longtime NFL executive — is a true golf outsider, and second that the top two players in the world are staying out of the Tour’s politicking, Scheffler as part of his ongoing quest to keep everything simple and McIlroy after a rollercoaster tenure on the Policy Board.

“He certainly said all the right things and has an amazing background, two decades in the NFL helping them expand internationally and basically become the behemoth that they have become,” McIlroy said, outwardly optimistic about the hire. “So for him to bring that experience to the PGA Tour I think will be amazing, and I think it’s great that Jay is there to help with the smooth transition also. Yeah, I think it’s a really positive thing for the Tour.”

They were intrigued by Rolapp and by his appointment and by his vision. But it quickly became clear that, day-to-day, they’re more focused on the little tasks that get them ready for what’s next. As they go from major to Signature Event, it was interesting to hear them talk through their respective post-tournament recovery regimens.

“I have a routine that I stick to between seeing my trainer and cold tub,” Scheffler said. “That’s about it. Nothing too crazy.”

McIlroy prefers to mark the occasion with a tall pour.

“I certainly like to unwind and have a glass of wine on a Sunday night, so I wouldn’t say that’s the best recovery modality. Certainly Mondays are — I give myself that day. I think Mondays in between tournaments are quite important as a reset. So that’s what I try to do.”

And that’s a fitting transition to Spieth, who wasn’t splitting a bottle with McIlroy’s bottle but found an unwind of his own after T23 at Oakmont.

“I had a few beers Sunday,” he said. “We were waiting on the Schefflers to [fly to Hartford], and [Scottie] was after the delay. So I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with [his caddie] Michael [Greller]. I didn’t exactly eat or drink the way I normally do there. Most of the time, [my recovery] is very, very good, but sometimes — post-U.S. Open I just needed to throw a few back. Then by yesterday I was good. Still young enough that that doesn’t really bother me the next day.”

If Scheffler is at the peak of his powers and McIlroy is searching for something after summiting his own “Mt. Everest,” Spieth seems to be enjoying the beginning of his next climb. This will be his 10th tournament in 12 weeks as he grinds his way through the Tour season, chasing a spot at East Lake and certainly the Tour’s top 50 (he’s currently No. 37) and a berth on the U.S. Ryder Cup team (he’s currently No. 22). He seems at peace with the fact that things won’t come as easy as they used to. While Scheffler and McIlroy won the first two majors of 2025, Spieth is a decade removed from one of the greatest major championship seasons in modern golf history — he won the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2015 and came damn close at the next two, too — and eight years removed from his most recent major. He’s not thinking about catching McIlroy’s total of five or Mickelson’s total of six or any other rungs on the all-time golf ladder. Instead, if he could capture another one, he’d just like the chance to appreciate it that much more.

“I think recognizing how special those are, appreciating the work and the support and the team around you that’s gotten you there and just enjoying accomplishing those kind of goals maybe more than — I took them for granted in a way just because you kind of hope or see that they keep happening.” He was, of course, 21 years old when he won those first two. It’s understandable that he thought they’d just keep coming.

If there appearances had anything in common it was their reminders that in professional golf, the train just keeps moving.

“To be honest, I didn’t really get to watch anything on Sunday. By the time I finished up, I was getting in the shower and trying to pack up all our stuff and baby stuff, so I wasn’t able to watch too much,” Scheffler said.

“I think that the hard thing is [the season] comes in such a condensed schedule,” McIlroy added. “This is the last Signature Event of the year, and it feels like we’ve only got started. We’re only into June.”

“I think the biggest thing for me right now is not trying. . .to try to force results given I only have however many events left now. I don’t have the runway that you had in February,” Spieth said.

Their worlds are small, these golfing megastars. Cold tubs. Locker rooms. Private jets. Buffalo Wild Wings. But they’re also unbelievably expansive. Pittsburgh to Hartford to Portrush, all while other regions of the world clamor for their attendance.

“I’ve always wanted to go to India,” McIlroy said. And India has always wanted him to come. Now that the DP World Tour has created a new event there, that’s exactly where he’ll go. “I was asked at the start of the year would I be interested in going, and I said yeah, that sounds amazing,” he added. He’s headed there this fall, and then to Australia come December, the sorts of places fans will turn up in droves to see him play.

It’s big business, being McIlroy, being Spieth, being Scheffler. It’s the dream. It’s also all leveraged on the little stuff, on their ability to get the ball in the hole, to stay healthy, to keep it going, now that they’ve made it. What have you done for me lately? What’d you shoot today? What’ll you shoot tomorrow?

Asked about J.J. Spaun, about the comedown from the U.S. Open, Spieth thought back in time for a moment, trying to remember that post-major feeling. And he landed on something fleeting.

“I think the biggest thing is after a few weeks, it was just golf, and somebody else won another event,” he said. “It sticks with you in history, and you accomplish your goals, not to diminish it whatsoever. . .I guess everything kind of just went back to the world going around again, quicker than you realize.”

The world will keep going ’round, with these three golfers somewhere on it. Somebody will win another event, this week in fact — and next week, too. They’d be well served to enjoy the process, the practice, the Sunday night wine and the Monday reset and the practice rounds, too.

“Felt good about my prep work so far this week and excited to get the tournament started,” Scheffler said. It’s almost Thursday again.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

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