Pádraig Harrington admits he didn’t understand Scottie Scheffler’s comments in press conference ahead of The Open Championship

Pádraig Harrington has responded to Scottie Scheffler’s viral press conference ahead of The Open Championship, admitting he couldn’t quite understand what the World No. 1 was trying to say. Scheffler sparked a discussion on Tuesday when he spoke about life, golf, and priorities ahead of his bid for the Claret Jug. The American admitted that while he enjoys playing golf and living out his dream, it doesn’t completely fulfill the deeper wants of his heart.

The 16-time PGA Tour winner also made it clear that his family is his top priority. Scheffler said if golf ever started interfering with his relationship with his wife or son, he would not hesitate to quit. When asked about his motivation to complete the third leg of a career Grand Slam Scottie Scheffler said,

“I don’t know, because if I win, it’s going to be awesome for about two minutes,” Scottie Scheffler added

While many praised Scottie Scheffler’s comments as thoughtful and grounded, Pádraig Harrington admitted he found it hard to follow.

"I'm not sure what he was trying to articulate, and I wouldn't be putting words in his head, but I know I'm still celebrating my US Open Senior win, and it goes on for weeks. Every time somebody says, “Well done,” to me, I get a bit of acceptance and enjoyment out of it,” Harrington said.

Harrington explained that he finds tremendous satisfaction in golf and doesn’t believe loving the sport makes him any less of a family man.

"You can enjoy everything there is about golf and still be good elsewhere and do the right things,” he added.

Reflecting on his own career, the six-time PGA Tour winner admitted that he now makes it a point to enjoy his wins, saying,

“I wish I spent more time enjoying my wins back then. Now, when I win, I make sure to enjoy it.”

Scottie Scheffler arrives at The Open with 16 PGA Tour career wins, including three this season. His latest major win came at the PGA Championship, where he secured his second career major title.

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When will Pádraig Harrington and Scottie Scheffler tee off in the first round of The Open Championship?

Pádraig Harrington and Scottie Scheffler are set to tee off in the first round of the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush on Thursday.

Harrington will begin his round early at 1:35 a.m. ET alongside Nicolai Højgaard and Tom McKibbin. Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler is paired with former Open champions Shane Lowry and Collin Morikawa. They will start at 5:09 a.m. ET.

Here are the complete tee times of round 1:

• 1:35 a.m. – Padraig Harrington, Nicolai Højgaard, Tom McKibbin
• 1:46 a.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, Guido Migliozzi, K.J. Choi
• 1:57 a.m. – Cameron Smith, Marco Penge, Justin Hastings (a)
• 2:08 a.m. – Jason Day, Taylor Pendrith, Jacob Skov Olesen
• 2:19 a.m. – Phil Mickelson, Daniel van Tonder, Ryan Peake
• 2:30 a.m. – Max Greyserman, Byeong Hun An, Niklas Norgaard
• 2:41 a.m. – Jordan Smith, Haotong Li, Dustin Johnson
• 2:52 a.m. – Darren Clarke, Davis Riley, Lucas Herbert
• 3:03 a.m. – Kevin Yu, Julien Guerrier, Mikiya Akutsu
• 3:14 a.m. – Thomas Detry, Chris Gotterup, Lee Westwood
• 3:25 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young, Mackenzie Hughes
• 3:36 a.m. – Thorbjørn Olesen, Matthew Jordan, Filip Jakubcik (a)
• 3:47 a.m. – Henrik Stenson, Stephan Jaeger, Sebastian Soderberg
• 4:03 a.m. – Kristoffer Reitan, Martin Couvra, Adrien Saddier
• 4:14 a.m. – Takumi Kanaya, Justin Walters, Bryan Newman (a)
• 4:25 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick
• 4:36 a.m. – Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia
• 4:47 a.m. – Sam Burns, Aldrich Potgieter, Brooks Koepka
• 4:58 a.m. – Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Jon Rahm
• 5:09 a.m. – Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
• 5:20 a.m. – Corey Conners, Wyndham Clark, Tom Hoge
• 5:31 a.m. – Denny McCarthy, Nico Echavarria, Patrick Reed
• 5:42 a.m. – Matthias Schmid, Ryggs Johnston, Richard Teder (a)
• 5:53 a.m. – Dylan Naidoo, Darren Fichardt, John Axelsen
• 6:04 a.m. – Justin Suh, Oliver Lindell, Jesper Sandborg
• 6:15 a.m. – Sadom Kaewkanjana, Riki Kawamoto, Sampson Zheng
• 6:26 a.m. – Stewart Cink, Matteo Manassero, Marc Leishman
• 6:47 a.m. – Francesco Molinari, Jesper Svensson, Connor Graham (a)
• 6:58 a.m. – Zach Johnson, Daniel Hillier, Daniel Brown
• 7:09 a.m. – Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a)
• 7:20 a.m. – Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia
• 7:31 a.m. – Andrew Novak, Matthieu Pavon, Matt Wallace
• 7:42 a.m. – Davis Thompson, Dean Burmester, Rikuya Hoshino
• 7:53 a.m. – Si Woo Kim, Shugo Imahira, Sebastian Cave (a)
• 8:04 a.m. – Michael Kim, Bud Cauley, John Parry
• 8:15 a.m. – Matt McCarty, Shaun Norris, Angel Hidalgo
• 8:26 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Daniel Berger
• 8:37 a.m. – Rasmus Højgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Romain Langasque
• 8:48 a.m. – Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall
• 9:04 a.m. – Justin Leonard, Thriston Lawrence, Antoine Rozner
• 9:15 a.m. – J.T. Poston, Chris Kirk, Carlos Ortiz
• 9:26 a.m. – Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquín Niemann
• 9:37 a.m. – Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee
• 9:48 a.m. – Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose
• 9:59 a.m. – Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland
• 10:10 a.m. – Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
• 10:21 a.m. – Harris English, Nick Taylor, Tony Finau
• 10:32 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Jhonattan Vegas, Tom Kim
• 10:43 a.m. – Brian Campbell, John Catlin, Frazer Jones (a)
• 10:54 a.m. – Nathan Kimsey, Jason Kokrak, Cameron Adam (a)
• 11:04 a.m. – Daniel Young, Curtis Luck, Curtis Knipes
• 11:16 a.m. – Young-han Song, George Bloor, OJ Farrell