Scottie Scheffler focused on having ‘fun’ amid bid for Masters repeat

Scottie Scheffler says having fun is more important to him than creating a legacy as one of the game’s greats ahead of the defence of his title at the 87th Masters Tournament.

The American claimed his first Major Championship at Augusta National Golf Club last year and arrives in Georgia ranked Number One on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Victory this week will see him join Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the fourth player to have won back-to-back Masters titles.

“Legacy at the end of this is not really why I play,” he said of the opportunity to make Major history this week.

“With that being said, any time you can get mentioned in the same breath as a Tiger and a Jack and a Nick Faldo is really special, but it's not a motivating factor for me to come out here and play.

“It's so special and cool when it happens, but it doesn't motivate me out here. I'm just trying to come out here and give my best and play good golf and have fun.

“Outside of that, I'm just hoping to have a good attitude and just come out here and just do the best that I can do, and wherever that ends up in my career, I'll be happy with.

“Legacy is a complicated thing. In a hundred years I'm going to be forgotten and it's not a big deal.”

Scheffler is making his eighth competitive appearance of 2023, with two titles already to his name including THE PLAYERS Championship last month.

The 26-year-old is one of the pre-tournament favourites alongside fellow Major winners Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, who sit just behind him in the world rankings.

And Scheffler is in no doubt that the trio’s fine form is enabling each of them to compete at their best.

“A lot of that is just good, healthy competition, and hopefully we'll continue to elevate ourselves through that competition, and then the guys behind us will be nothing but motivated to get to where we are,” he said.

“And so I think that kind of competition is really good and healthy for our game.”

This will be Scheffler’s fourth Masters appearance but despite making the cut on each of his previous visits, he believes there is still plenty to learn about Augusta, with the major renovation from last year being the lengthening of the par-five 13th.

“I think there's always little changes they don't tell us about,” he said.

“The one making waves this year on 13 is a big difference. But outside of that, there are some little changes on the golf course that always happen.

“Depending on green speeds, the place changes a lot too. A lot of it is preparing for what we're going to see as the week goes on. I feel like I could never learn enough about this golf course.”