“What’s the Point of All This?”
When Greatness Still Leaves You Empty
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler, the number-one ranked golfer in the world for the past 113 consecutive weeks, made some thought-provoking remarks ahead of the final major championship of the year — the 153rd Open Championship.
The world No. 1 didn’t just deliver typical pre-tournament statements; he asked a question that seemed to transcend the game of golf:
“What’s the point of all this?” Scheffler asked the room.
Then came a vulnerable admission:
“This is not a fulfilling life,” he said. “It’s fulfilling from a sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from the deepest places of your heart.”
The comment drew a few puzzled laughs from the media. Scheffler continued:
“It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for a few minutes… it only lasts a few minutes.”
“I love getting to live out my dreams, but at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point.”
Tom Brady
Flash back to 2005 — twenty years before Scheffler posed his question.
Tom Brady, then at the peak of sports fame and coming off his third Super Bowl win (and second Super Bowl MVP) in four years, expressed a remarkably similar sentiment in a 60-Minutes interview:
“Why do I have three Super Bowl rings… and still think there’s something greater out there for me?”
After a moment of reflection, Brady added:
“Me, I think God… it’s gotta be more than this. I mean, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be. I’ve done it. I’m 27… and what else is there for me?”
The interviewer responded with a simple but profound question:
“What’s the answer?”
Brady paused, chuckled, then said with a somber expression:
“I wish I knew… I wish I knew.”
I wonder if Brady found the answer when he won his 7th Super Bowl 15 years later.
Countless Other Examples
Kobe Bryant, after winning his second consecutive NBA Championship in 2001, sat alone in the locker room with a towel over his head. The iconic photo captured not joy, but a look of emptiness and quiet disappointment — as if he expected more from the mountaintop.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, later admitted he felt hopeless and lost despite his historic accomplishments.
Deion Sanders, Hall of Fame NFL player and MLB all-star, reflected on his past pursuit of pleasure:
“I had everything the world had to offer — money, women, cars, homes — but no peace. I was empty.”
What Is the Issue?
Scottie Scheffler is just the latest athlete to express a timeless lesson: no matter how much we accomplish in this world, it will never be enough to satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.
But why?
Some call it “arrival fallacy” — the false belief that reaching a particular goal will finally bring lasting happiness and fulfillment. But as many have learned the hard way, even the peak feels hollow once you’re there.
Others describe it as the “God-shaped hole” — an inherent longing within every human being for something beyond what the physical world can offer. No trophy, contract, no girlfriend/boyfriend, or accolade can fill it. Only God can.
Solomon Knew This Too
This truth goes far beyond modern athletes. It’s the same wisdom recorded thousands of years ago in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, attributed to King Solomon.
Solomon had everything: unimaginable wealth, power, knowledge, pleasure, and status. But after indulging in it all, he came to a sobering conclusion:
“Then I considered all that my hands had done… and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
“Vanity” in Hebrew is “hevel” which means vapor/smoke. Here one second, gone the next. It looks solid, but when you try to grab it, it slips through your fingers.
He tried everything the world had to offer, and it still wasn’t enough. It slipped through his fingers. In the end, he gives us the answer Brady couldn’t name, Scheffler may be hinting at, and all of us were made for:
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
As Jesus once said: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)