Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have had polar-opposite experiences at THE PLAYERS Championship 2025 so far. At the end of the first round, McIlroy finished 1 stroke below Lucas Glover, Camilo Villegas, and J.J. Spaun. He had a 5-under par 67 that included a flurry of birdies from the 9th to the 12th hole. In the second round, he finished strong again after a 4-under par 68, 2 strokes off the top. His final total? 9-under par 135. On the other end, Scottie Scheffler has been kind of struggling.

He sshown glimpses of his brilliance in a few holes but has managed relatively fewer birdies and 4 bogeys to end up with 5-under par 139 after two rounds. Not being able to dominate the course like he did in 2024 has been the case for Scheffler ever since he returned from his wrist injury at Pebble Beach. This has frustrated him to an extent. Golf Channel reporter Lav of Rex & Lav also suggested that Scheffler has been the “grumpiest” he has ever been.

The stark contrast between their play has also impacted their attitude, it seems. It was observed during their post-round press conference at TPC Sawgrass. A journalist asked Rory McIlroy, “You’ve been No. 1 before, and I’m sure you would like to be No. 1 again. Not that that’s your only goal, but when you’re in a group with Scottie and you’ve won already this year, is there anything that jacks you up a little bit for a round like the last two rounds like this?”

A focused McIlroy replied, “Yeah, not really. I think all of us were just trying to put our heads down and put ourselves in a position to go into the weekend. Look, I’ve always said I would much rather be a part of groups like that than not. It means you’re doing something right.” Clearly, his primary goal is to perform well no matter the circumstance. But he is still grateful to be put in this position to play alongside Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

He further added, “But, yeah, you can’t — Scottie and Xander are obviously great players, but you don’t want to be looking too much at what they’re doing. You just want to try to focus on yourself.” McIlroy is quite determined to perform better and just be a better golfer, no matter who he is playing with or against. May be he’ll complete his career grand slam this year with this attitude. Who knows?

The world #2 was asked how proud he was of being one of the most consistent golfers in the league. McIlroy replied, “I think there’s only been maybe one or two years in there where I haven’t had a win since like 2009. But, yeah, I’ve always tried to show up and do my best. I am super proud of that because I think as time goes on it’s getting a little more rare to see these sort of 15-, 20-year careers, and I’m thankfully on track, knock on wood, with no injuries and everything, to sort of have one of those. Yeah, I’m proud of that.” The records speak for themselves, as McIlroy has not won a title throughout a season only three times in his career: in 2013, 2017, and 2020. In fact, since 2021, the Irishman has won a whopping 9 PGA Tour titles.

While the last question was not recorded, McIlroy’s response to it suggests he was asked about being a top player throughout the last 15 years and how he feels about still competing to be the #1. “When I got to No. 1 in the world, Scottie Scheffler was, I don’t know, 12 years old, 13 years old, so there’s always new people coming up to try to — and I think the fact that the battles I’ve had for like that No. 1 spot in the world, whether it be with Luke Donald and Lee Westwood back in the day, all the way up to Xander and Scottie now and sort of everyone in between, it’s nice that the common denominator sometimes is me, that I’ve been able to stay there. Yeah, I’m super proud of that.” he said.

The fans might be aware of McIlroy’s battles with Schauffele and Scheffler in recent years, but those against Donald and Westwood are often overlooked. Donald and McIlroy shared an intense battle in the 2012 DP World Tour Championship, where the latter came out on top with a 2-stroke lead against the field. Apart from title glory, the two European veterans were also fighting for the world number one position. McIlroy briefly stole Donald’s position after the latter’s 40-week run at the top. Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy faced off in the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship 2012 Semifinals. Unfortunately, this time around, McIlroy was at the losing end as Westwood progressed to the last match to lose to Mark Wilson.

Rory McIlroy’s interview reflected confidence and a positive attitude. But Scottie Scheffler’s conversation with the media wasn’t as pleasant. The first question raised to Scheffler was about the crowd at TPC Sawgrass. A journalist wanted to know why the audience was not as energetic as it was during the Tiger Woods era. To which he replied, “Yeah, I mean, I didn’t really do a whole lot to fire them up today. Rory did some good stuff there, but he didn’t hole out or do anything crazy, but yeah, I don’t know.” 

One of the journalists pointed out, “Except on the first hole?” McIlroy’s first hole of the round saw him chip an excellent stroke off the rough that sunk in for a birdie. The crowd cheers loudly for the amazing shot he just hit. But it seems that Scheffler was not as impressed by the stroke as he commented, “He did, yeah. He chipped in on the first hole. That seemed pretty loud. But after that he just played solid, boring golf. Man, how terrible is that. I hate that for him,” while laughing it off.

There is no question that Rory McIlroy is incredibly proud of his achievements. And his attitude towards the game, as heard in this interview, is why he has remained so consistent over the years. But Scottie Scheffler‘s arrogance is coming through strongly. However, Scheffler didn’t have only sarcastic things to say about his rival.

Scottie Scheffler acknowledges Rory McIlroy’s effort

Sensing the tension in the air, the reporters started digging in, asking another question about Rory McIlroy and his incredible consistency. This time, however, Scottie Scheffler acknowledged the great career his on-course rival has had. He said, “Well, not only his consistency week-to-week but year after year. I think you got a guy there that’s played really well out here for about 15 years. May even be longer than that. You guys would remember better than me. But it’s very impressive, not only his week-to-week but his longevity year after year. The guy’s won, I think they said 27 times this morning on the first tee on TOUR, and he’s doing a few things right to be putting up those kind of numbers.”

McIlroy has certainly put up some numbers, alright. His 27 wins have included 4 major championships. Being a European player, McIlroy has also achieved 11 DP World Tour wins. This is not counting his Race to Dubai titles that he has captured 6 times. That’s not where the conversation about McIlroy ended.

The media then asked Scheffler how challenging it is to have a long career in golf, and he brought McIlroy back into the conversation. “I think in this game it’s very difficult. You can battle several things, injuries, aging. There’s a lot of different things that can happen. Rory has stayed healthy for a long time. He’s played great golf for a long time, and it’s definitely not as easy as you would think it is.”

McIlroy has been a professional golfer for quite a long time. He joined the PGA Tour in 2010, and has remained healthy without battling any serious injury. No wonder he is considered one of the most consistent and accomplished golfers in the world.