Scottie Scheffler was in the interview room at the Hero World Challenge for the first time since the Ryder Cup, and while he gave some typical Scottie answers, he also talked about his new driver and recapped the highlights of the year.
Scheffler is a TaylorMade player, and naturally, when they debut a new club, it’s helpful if he and other top stars, like Rory McIlroy, use it. The new one is called the Qi4D, and he likes it better than the Qi35.
“This driver's been a really good fit for my eye, and that's always the first test for me. So far, the performance has been good, my spin numbers have been really consistent, ball flight's been consistent and looking forward to getting it in competition,” he said about the new weapon.
It’s different than last year.
“I had a little bit of trouble getting into the Qi35,” he said. “I feel like we learned a lot throughout that process of what I like to see in a driver, the way it needs to perform for me specifically.”
He said at this juncture, the TaylorMade team knows what he likes to see in a driver. By that, a player often means literally what the club looks like when he puts it down on the ground at address.
“We went through a lot of different kind of options for what the face needed to be specifically for me and felt like we're in a good spot, and then the testing was a lot simpler this time around for sure,” he added.
So, let’s see. Scheffler had a driver he didn’t really like the look of, and he won two majors. What could be possible with one he likes? We can only imagine.
When asked about PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and some of the proposed changes to the PGA Tour, Scheffler had good things to say.
“I've been very pleased with the conversations that I've had with him, the things that I've been hearing. Think they're looking at things the right way, and I'm excited about some of the changes they're looking to make,” he said, but of course, he knows little more than anyone else because actual changes have not been set in stone.
As far as a perfect schedule, like just about every Tour player, he likes the freedom to set his own schedule and play where he wants to.
“That's something that I think is an advantage to our Tour, I definitely enjoy that part of it,” he added. “But at the end of the day I'm going to play where the best players are playing.”
For Scheffler, it’s all about the quality of the competition.
When asked to point to the best part of his year, he said he was proud of the consistency of his play and his ability to stay at least somewhat patient early in the year while he was still recovering from the self-inflicted injury he had.
“For me to be able to put in as many top finishes as I did takes a lot of work and takes a lot of energy and focus to be able to do that. So, I was proud of the discipline that I had throughout the season,” he explained.
When asked about his major victories this year, he had a rather surprising reply.
“I mean, the PGA and The Open Championship; the Claret Jug is a pretty cool trophy to have in your possession. I think I underestimated what that feels like, and I've really enjoyed kind of having that at home and being able to celebrate with that,” he said.
They’ve had some friends over to view the hardware, and they shared drinks out of both. What a great way to end the year. And he's staying well away from glassware.