Scottie Scheffler seemed to be on track to beat Tiger Woods. All it took was one poor day at the Scottish Open to change it all. Despite ending his 78-game cut streak, Scheffler used the time to rest and recover.

Scheffler spoke to The R&A's Open Zone at Royal Birkdale on Monday ahead of the 154th Open Championship. The interview was shown live on The R&A's YouTube channel. It was his first public appearance since he missed the cut at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick. When asked what he did over the weekend after missing the cut, Scheffler gave a simple and honest answer.

"I rested Friday afternoon. Saturday for us was a travel day; we drove down here, and with two kids in the car that can be exciting, but we survived the drive," he said in the interview.

He also played some golf at North Berwick before making the trip south. The missed cut handed him unexpected preparation time at Royal Birkdale.

"I came out yesterday, played 18 holes, and I got a little bit of extra prep that I wasn't expecting to have," he added.

Arriving at the course brought back memories too. Scheffler won The Open at Royal Portrush last year. Walking into Birkdale this week, he saw the tournament imagery and signage already up.

"It was really cool coming here and seeing all the stuff they put up, brought back some good memories," he said. "It's been fun to reminisce a little bit to start the week, and then you got to get to work."

The last time Scheffler missed a cut was at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, 1,428 days ago.

Scottie Scheffler Arrives at Royal Birkdale as Defending Champion for the First Time

In 2026, Scottie Scheffler has one win, four runner-up finishes, and two third-place finishes.

His worst result before the Scottish Open miss was a T-24 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He has never played Royal Birkdale before. This week is his first look at the course where he will try to win a second consecutive Open Championship and a fifth major overall.

Scheffler had his family walking the course with him while he hit a few chips. No pressure. No scorecard.

He survived the car ride. He played 18 holes on Sunday. He got the extra preparation he wasn't expecting.

Do you think Scheffler can defend his Open Championship title at Royal Birkdale this week? Tell us in the comments!

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar