Following his big win in Augusta, Masters winner Scottie Scheffler spoke about his faith and how it impacts him, explaining that his real win in life is not any game of golf, but rather that his soul was saved by Jesus Christ on the cross and that all the many blessings that have come his way in life have come from the Lord above. These comments came after others he made before the tournament about his identity being in Christ.
Scheffler’s comments on the matter came when he was asked about his identity and how he builds one outside of his golf game, recounting advice they gave him about faith and how what matters happened on the cross, not what happens with his golf game. He said that helped him think about things the right way and put the game in context.
Beginning the story, he explained how wanting to win and being overwhelmed by the situation had him a bit rattled, saying, “That’s a really good question. I was sitting around with my buddies this morning, I was a bit overwhelmed, I told them, I wish I didn’t want to win as badly as did I or as badly as I do. I think it would make the mornings easier.”
He continued, explaining how faith came up, saying, “But I love winning. I hate losing. I really do. And when you’re here in the biggest moments, when I’m sitting there with the lead on Sunday, I really, really want to win badly. And my buddies told me this morning, my victory was secure on the cross. And that’s a pretty special feeling to know that I’m secure for forever, and it doesn’t matter if I win this tournament or lose this tournament. My identity is secure for forever.”
Then, when asked about how his faith impacted his playing on the field, Scheffler said, “I believe that today’s plans were already laid out many years ago, and I could do nothing to mess up those plans. I have been given a gift of this talent, and I use it for God’s glory. That’s pretty much it.”
He continued, explaining, “So, when I’m out there, I try to compete to the best of my abilities. Like I said, I really want to win. I feel like that’s how I was designed. I’ve been that way since I was a young kid. That’s always been a part of me, and I don’t think that should be going away anytime soon. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that either.”
Continuing, he returned to the issue of identity and how what matters if faith, not golf, saying, “At the end of the day, like I said, my identity is secure already, and I get to come out here and compete, have fun, enjoy it; and then at the end of the day, win or lose, my identity is secure.”
Watch Scheffler talk about his faith before the Masters here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video