100 questions with Scottie Scheffler

From his first day on the Korn Ferry Tour, Scottie Scheffler was destined for stardom. The rookie successfully navigated Q-School last fall to secure starts and took full advantage, notching two top-10 starts within his first month on the Tour. He only continued his stellar play from there, culminating with his first professional victory in May at the Evans Scholars Invitational.

By the time the season was over, Scheffler had put together an impressive resume. The 23-year-old compiled 10 top-10 finishes, missed just four cuts and led the Tour in birdies and scoring average. During the Finals, he also won his second tournament of the year at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. Scheffler’s play earned him the No. 1 spot on both The 25 and The Finals 25 to secure him fully exempt status for the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season, including an exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship.

At the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, Scheffler sat down with PGA TOUR Digital for a game of 100 questions to shed some insight into his world.

What is your name?
Scottie.

What is your hometown?
Dallas, Texas.

What is your elementary school?
Armstrong Elementary School.

Do you chew gum?
No.

What is your favorite type of candy?
Reese’s … You’re challenging me with the favorite there off the bat.

What is the video game that you’re best at?
I don’t play video games.

What cartoon did you watch the most growing up?
I didn’t watch a lot of TV. We didn’t watch much TV, I think my dad just got tired of all four of us being in the house, so he’d just say, ‘Get out.’ I played a lot of sports outside the house instead.

What is the most common sport you played outside the house growing up?
I played golf around the house growing up. Plastic club, plastic ball around the house … I played a lot of pick-up basketball, but more pick-up golf growing up.

What is the first movie that comes to mind?
I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night on the plane, so that’s the first one that pops in.

What were you most afraid of as a kid?
I’m very afraid of heights.

Still afraid of heights?
Yeah (laughs).

Did you ski growing up?
No, never been skiing.

Bottled water? Or filtered water?
Bottled water. I’m a water snob.

What your lucky number.
13.

Who is the best athlete in your opinion, outside of golf?
It’s hard to take down Michael Jordan, I think.

Your favorite athlete as a kid?
I loved Derek Jeter growing up.

Your dream vacation spot?
That’s tough. My girlfriend is dying to go to New Zealand. But I love Hawaii.

How many holes-in-one do you have?
I think five.

Do you prefer the lake or the ocean?
Oooo, I love them both. Those are hard to choose between, because you get to ride the waves at the beach, and then the lake you get to do whatever.

Do you know your Zodiac sign?
No (laughs).

What’s one non-golf activity you enjoy?
I love playing pick-up basketball and ping pong.

What’s one word to describe yourself?
That’s too much of a challenge.

When’s the last time you got a haircut?
Probably about a month ago. I don’t get it cut too often. I don’t think my barber likes that though … I go to the same lady, she’s been cutting my hair since I was in second grade so I tell her, ‘Do whatever looks good.’ She cuts it and talks and that’s it.

What’s the last book that you read?
Oh man. I’m reading a book right now, I’m almost done. It’s called “30 Days to Understanding the Bible.” It’s a workbook. That’s what I’m going through right now.

What’s the best thing you can cook?
Last year at Sanderson (Farms Championship) they gave us a Green Egg, so I’ve been cooking some steaks on there, Pittsburgh-style. It’s pretty good.

What’s your shoe size?
11.5. I actually just switched from 12 two weeks ago. I kept getting blisters so I made the switch. Switched before (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship) and then won.

What’s the best state in the U.S.?
Texas.

What’s your most consumed drink?
When I’m at home at Royal Oaks, I always drink water with a lemon and a lime in there. I’d say that’s the most common one.

What’s your favorite type of drink?
I like lemonade a lot. Like fruity drinks. Like strawberry lemonade type of stuff.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how loud are you?
Like a seven. I’m pretty loud.

Which The Office character do you most identify with?
Them all.

Who’s your favorite The Office character?
Tough to beat Dwight. Dwight is a character.

What’s the best golf course you’ve played?
We talked about that the other day. I think Southern Hills is probably my favorite.

What’s the most useless skill you have?
Next.

Best skill outside of golf?
Best skill, what is a skill? I’ve got a pretty good jump shot, I guess. Pretty good table-tennis player.

Who is the best ping-pong player you’ve played with?
Ooo, Doug (Ghim) is pretty good. I played with Doug a lot in college, but (Bryson) DeChambeau is also really good. And then out here, (Nicolas) Echavarria. He used to be able to play, but he can’t play anymore.

What was your least-favorite subject in school?
Probably the writing classes. Like grammar correction and stuff like that. Terrible. I can’t write at all; I can barely spell.

What’s your favorite type of fruit?
I love pineapple.

What’s the last TV show that you binge watched?
I constantly binge watch The Office.

Do you have a favorite The Office episode?
The basketball one is funny. The earlier seasons are better, like two and three. The season where Jim goes to a different office. When he goes to Stamford (Connecticut), those first 15 episodes are great.

Do you speak a foreign language?
No.

What the most expensive thing you’ve broken?
Probably a cell phone. I don’t think I’ve ever broken anything worse than that. I broke a wall in my house once. That probably wasn’t a cheap fix. I was playing baseball. The bat flew out of my hands and got stuck in the wall. My dad wasn’t very happy.

How old were you?
I was young. Like 5 or 7, maybe.

Have you ever driven a truck?
Like a pick-up truck? Yeah. I get those as rental cars sometimes. I like trucks. I like the bigger cars because I’m a bigger guy. If you get the little rental cars, sometimes they’re pretty small.

What’s you go-to karaoke song?
Tequila.

Have you ever hit a 400-yard drive?
I don’t know. Maybe this year. I don’t know, that’s a good question.

What position would you play in football?
I used to play quarterback, but I think I’d be a receiver now.

What’s the hardest part of golf?
The hardest part of golf? Everything? It depends on the day.

What’s the best concert you’ve seen?
We saw Josh Abbott Band last winter, they were pretty good. Pat Green was good, saw him this summer. He’s probably my favorite.

What’s your best trivia topic?
Probably sports would be the one … I wouldn’t say I know a lot about it.

What’s a food you will not eat?
Kale. Easy.

Have you ever hit a half-court shot in basketball?
Yeah. Not in a game, but yeah.

Have you ever been scuba diving?
No, that would probably scare me too much.

Are you a fast or slow driver, car-wise?
I think I’m fast, but my friends make fun of me because they say I drive like a grandpa, so apparently I’m slow.

What’s your lowest score in golf?
60.

Never 59?
No. Missed an 8-footer for 59.

How do you take your coffee?
Water. No coffee.

Favorite ice cream flavor?
Cookie two-step. Blue Bell has cookie two-step and it’s like cookie dough and cookies-and-cream. But if I had my choice, I’d put together cookie dough and cookies-and-cream from Braum’s.

What color is your phone case?
I’m phone caseless right now. I don’t even know where it is, or I’d show you.

Do you have a superstition?
I always use the same coin when I play. It’s one of those bicentennial quarters, so that’s cool. 1776, 1976. Has a cool logo on the back.

Is your accent more New Jersey or more Texas?
Ooo, I don’t know. What do you think?

Probably more New Jersey.
I don’t really think I have a Texas accent. We’ll go New Jersey.

What restaurant do you go to the most?
Chipotle.

Hot dogs or burgers?
Burgers.

Dogs or cats?
Dogs.

Favorite club in your bag?
60-degree.

Best late-night meal in college at Texas?
We used to go to Whataburger a lot late at night. It was right around the corner from our apartment.

Longest you’ll wait in line at a restaurant?
Pretty long. I usually have something set in mind and I’ll usually wait for it.

What was cool when you were young that is not cool now?
I used to go to bed as late as possible. And I go to bed at 8:30, 9 o’clock now.

Last time you pulled an all-nighter?
Right at the end of college for my final exams. I remember I had to do it two or three nights during one week and I was just thinking, ‘I cannot wait till this is over with.’

What do you listen to when you’re driving?
I’ll listen to podcasts every now and then. Usually they put me to sleep, so I’ll listen to music more.

What type of music?
Texas country. Like old rock sometimes.

Par 3, 4 or 5?
Whatever. Depends on the day.

How many suitcases do you travel with?
I travel with two and then a carry-on and backpack. Four, I guess.

Who was your role model as a kid?
I’ve had a bunch, it’s hard to choose. Different stuff from different people. Definitely my dad and mom, they both have great qualities.

Your favorite color of pants?
Khaki.

What’s the best airport in your opinion?
(Dallas) Love Field.

Would you be confident in a self-driving car?
No.

What’s one topic you can give a 40-minute speech on?
Slow play.

Favorite smell?
Bacon.

Biggest pet peeve?
That’s a good question. I’ll think about that.

If magic were real, which spell would you try to learn first?
The ability to disappear.

Do you meditate?
No. I pray. I don’t meditate.

Aisle, window or middle seat on a plane?
Window.

Do you ever read a paper newspaper?
I’ve done that a few times, but I wouldn’t say that’s something that I do, no. Only when my dad has leftovers, then I'll read it.

What’s your middle name?
Alexander.

What’s your biggest fear?
Heights.

When is the last time you climbed a tree?
(Laughs) I don’t know if I’ve ever climbed a tree.

Your favorite superhero?
The Incredibles family.

Hot sauce or barbecue?
Barbecue.

How many golf clubs do you own?
Too many. I try to give away as many as I can, but all of my friends at home, they don’t really play golf, so when I give them a set of blade irons, they can’t really hit them. There are a decent amount at home. One hundred, probably.

How many hot dogs can you eat in one sitting?
I don’t really like hot dogs too much, so not too many.

The funniest joke you know by heart?
I know a few by heart that I probably shouldn’t say on here (laughs).

Last question, what is the best part of life?
I was talking to (caddie) Scottie about this today. I’m a Christian guy, so that’s important to me. But even if you’re not a Christian, life is important to spend with people you enjoy. If you don’t have close, quality friends, I don’t think whatever you’re doing is important. So that would be my most important advice to someone. Find something you enjoy doing, and enjoy doing it with other people.