Scottie Scheffler has mixed feelings about being a tournament favorite. And why wouldn’t he? At the 2025 U.S. Open, for instance, the Texan highlighted one unique problem of being a favorite: “I had to get rid of my Venmo because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling.” So, given his stance on being a crowd “favorite” during any tournament, Scheffler likely appreciated the (relatively) subdued reception from Scottish fans at the Genesis Scottish Open.
Or, so he says. Currently active at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open, the World No. 1 began that conversation with some self-assessment. Talking about his first round, Scheffler began, “I feel like I could have got a little bit more out of my round. I felt like I did some good things that I didn’t quite get rewarded for after my start but you know, 3-under, I wish I could have had a couple of bogeys back but overall, not too bad.” And that assessment comes after Scheffler shot three birdies and one eagle during the opening round, eventually finishing with a score of 67!
But did the presence of Adam Scott and “crowd favorite” Robert MacIntyre make his day better? Scottie Scheffler replies, “It’s always fun playing with Bob. He’s a great guy. Fun to watch him play some links golf. Feel like I learn some stuff from him out there. It was a good day.” Talking about the reception from the Scottish fans, Scheffler replied, “Bob was definitely the crowd favourite today but I felt like the crowd did a great job of supporting all three of us and it was a fun day.”
When asked about the same, the 2024 Scottish Open winner, MacIntyre replied, “Yeah, it’s been unbelievable the support I’ve had since I turned professional.” In 2024, MacIntyre made history as the first Scot to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomery’s victory in 1999. So, that also makes MacIntyre a “crowd” favorite.
Golf – European Tour – British Masters – The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, Britain – June 30, 2023 Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre in action during the second round Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
However, Scheffler has been pretty open about his support for McIntyre for a while. Ahead of the Genesis Scottish Open, for instance, he said, “He’s [MacIntyre] a guy that works really had hard, and he’s one of the great guys out here. So it was nice to see him get it done at his home tournament.”
But Scheffler’s appreciation for his playing partners is partly rooted in his love for Scottish courses, which extends to the one hosting the Genesis Scottish Open. Ahead of the Scottish event, Scheffler showed his appreciation by saying, “…here, I’m bringing like five or six clubs, sometimes all the way down to an eight iron. To me, it’s a much more traditional style of golf where you can tell that the game was invented over here.” But Scheffler’s fondness for Scottish courses doesn’t mean he’s on board with the PGA Tour expanding globally.
Scottie Scheffler is not up for PGA Tour expansion
Ahead of the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open, Scottie Scheffler shared his thoughts on the importance of the “global aspect” of the Tour’s expansion. Talking about the same, Scheffler said, “I haven’t really played too much golf internationally. I always come over here and try to play this tournament and The Open Championship. I haven’t played in Asia or Australia yet as a professional.”
And here’s the thing: Scottie Scheffler certainly hasn’t played a lot of golf outside the United States. However, he has indeed three big international wins on his hands: the Olympics in Paris in 2024 and the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas in both 2023 and 2024. However, it’s evident that the American rarely ventures outside his home country, except for a two-week period in Britain each July.
And he doesn’t think he needs to. “Really, with the way our schedule is on Tour, the thing that’s most important to me is my time at home. It would be wonderful to be able to play an international schedule, but right now we play most of our tournaments in the States and I come over here for these few weeks,” Scheffler explained. And it’s no wonder Scheffler gives priority to his family. In fact, his small family was also present at The Renaissance Club to show him some support.
However, given his comments, it’s likely that Scheffler won’t mind not being a “crowd favorite” on international courses and might even prefer it that way.
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