Whether in sports or life, with confidence, there can develop in a person the tendency to downplay the significance of focus. It’s a careless and unwise risk Scottie Scheffler is well aware – and mindful – of. And, clearly, that mindset has yielded success.

By all measures, the World No. 1, reigning FedEx Cup Champion and defending champion of this week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Workday has reason to feel confident. As he defends this week’s title at Muirfield Village Golf Club, he’ll be in search of his 16th career win on TOUR and third of the season (The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, PGA Championship).

While certainly confident with his achievements thus far in his career, he knows well those successes all came by way of taking nothing for granted.

“When you show up to an event, everybody’s at even par,” Scheffler said during Wednesday’s press conference. “People ask a lot, ‘What’s it like defending this week?’ I’m like, ‘Well, what does that do for me?’ Nothing. I have some experience on the golf course that can be helpful, but at the end of the day, you start even par.”

To Scheffler, the best strategy all boils down to balance.

“I want to be in contention Sunday, but you definitely don’t show up too high or too low,” he continued. “If you show up with too low expectations, you’re probably not going to hit a lot of good shots. If you show up feeling way too good about yourself, I think it can affect your focus. If you just show up and be like, ‘Oh, I’m best. I’m just going to show up and win this week’, I think a player can sometimes get a bit lazy out on the course.”

With last year’s 1-stroke victory over Collin Morikawa at 8-under 280 (67-68-71-74), Scheffler became the fourth winner of the Memorial Tournament to go on and win the FedExCup in the same season, and third in the last four years (Viktor Hovland/2023, Patrick Cantlay/2021, Tiger Woods/2009).

“When you’re looking at a four-day golf tournament over 72 holes, especially on a golf course as difficult as this one, you have to have a heightened level of focus,” Scheffler said. “Out here, especially around this place, there’s not a shot that you can just kind of hit. You have to be very focused on what you’re doing.”

Scheffler is making his fifth career Memorial Tournament start this week. Prior to last year’s victory, he finished third in 2023 and 2021 and T22 in his first start of 2020.

“I was close to winning this tournament in 2021,” Scheffler recalled. “I felt like if I birdied 18, I think I would have gotten into a playoff. I ended up getting a little over aggressive on the second shot, making bogey and basically knocking myself out of the tournament.”

While certainly discouraged, it was as he was walking off the 72nd hole towards the scoring trailer when Tournament host, Jack Nicklaus, armed him with words to hang on to.

“Mr. Nicklaus was standing there to shake my hand,” Scheffler recalled. “He said to me, ‘Listen Scottie, you didn’t make the putt today, but one day you’re going to make the putt on this green to win this tournament’. I thanked Mr. Nicklaus, said how much I appreciated the support and thanked him for a great week. And a couple of years later, I made the putt to win the tournament. He was right. It was just a really cool, full-circle moment. And, that was a few years ago (when he said that). It wasn’t something he needed to say to me. But, for some reason, he felt the need to, and it was something I didn’t forget.”

With a win this week, Scheffler would join Tiger Woods (1999-2001) as the only players to successfully defend their title at the Memorial Tournament.
Scottie Scheffler’s confidence has never drawn criticism or given cause for raised eyebrows. Quietly, humbly, he is among those who have instead raised the bar of what it takes to thrive on the PGA Tour, as well as just survive based upon that heightened level of greatness required.

Scheffler tees off No. 1 at 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday, playing alongside Sepp Straka.