The interview area during an Open Championship can often be the site of many erudite exchanges. Well, sometimes.
Back in 2002 at Muirfield, after a gruesome 84 played out in storm-force conditions, a dishevelled Colin Montgomerie, his tortured, seething face contorted like one of the gargoyles on Notre Dame cathedral, was asked, “Colin, was the wind a factor?”
We’re not sure if the inquisitor survived Monty’s subsequent wrath. Yesterday, in the build-up to this week’s 153rd championship here at Royal Portrush, there were more questions than answers.
Scottie Scheffler was in such a contemplative mood at his press conference, he may as well have been perched on a plinth like Rodin’s sculptor of The Thinker.
As he mulled over his Open prospects, and reflected on his ascension to No 1 in the world, the three-time major winner delved deep into his powerful internal struggle.
“What’s the point?,” he said. Funnily enough, that’s what the golf writers often mutter to ourselves as we churn out thousands of words about men thwacking small balls about.
Scheffler’s existential examination made for intriguing listening. “Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf?” he added as the reigning US PGA champion embarked on the kind of profound ponderings you’d get when Socrates and Plato met for a blether after the Saturday medal.
“Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about, because I’ve worked my entire life to be good at this sport. To have that kind of sense of accomplishment is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special.
“But, at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?
"This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.
“I think it’s kind of funny. To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home (earlier this season), I’d worked my entire life to have an opportunity to win that tournament.
"You win it, you celebrate, get to hug the family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, ‘okay, what are we going to eat for dinner?’ Life goes on.”
It certainly does. In the world of golf, the touring circus rolls along so quickly there’s barely time to savour the successes. And when success comes, what do you do next?
“There are a lot of people who make it to what they thought was going to fulfil them in life, and you get there, and you’re like, ‘what’s the point?’,” he added.
“I really do believe that, because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?
“That’s something I wrestle with on a daily basis. Showing up at the Masters every year, it’s like, ‘why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win The Open Championship so badly?’
“I don’t know because, if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes. Then we’re going to get to the next week and we’re back here again.
“Playing professional sports is a really weird thing to do. We put in so much effort, we work so hard for something that's so fleeting. It really is. The feeling of winning just doesn't last that long. It's an unsatisfying venture.”
Motivating himself to get up, put in the hard graft and be the best golfer he can be is not a problem for Scheffler. It’s the deeper meaning that’s at the root of his chin-stroking.
His family and his faith are his focal points. As for golf? Well, it’s only a game, isn’t it?
“I love the challenge, I love being able to play this game for a living,” he said. “It’s one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.
“That's why I talk about family being my priority because it really is. I'm blessed to be able to come out here and play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or if it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living. This (golf) is not the be all and end all.
“That's why I wrestle with it, because I'd much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that's what's more important to me.”
The meaning of life, eh?
