PEACOCK'S EXCLUSIVE LIVE START-TO-FINISH COVERAGE OF EVERY STAGE OF THE 112TH TOUR DE FRANCE CONTINUES WITH STAGE 12 TOMORROW, THURSDAY, JULY 17 AT 6:30 A.M. ET
NBC Presents Encore Coverage of Stage 15 this Sunday, July 20 at 2 p.m. ET Following Live Coverage on Peacock (6:30 a.m. ET)
All 21 Stages of Tour de France Live Across Peacock with Select Coverage on NBC; Final Stage Exclusively on Peacock on Sunday, July 27, at 9:30 a.m. ET
Peacock to Stream Daily Tour de France Pre-Race Shows
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 16, 2025 – NBC Sports' live coverage of the 112th Tour de France continues exclusively on Peacock this week as the Tour enters Stage 12 tomorrow, Thursday, July 17 at 6:30 a.m. ET.
Defending and three-time champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) of Slovenia is in second place after Stage 11, sitting 29 seconds behind Ireland's Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost) for the yellow jersey and the general classification lead. American Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) enters Stage 12 in fifth place, two minutes and six seconds behind Healy.
Daily live coverage of the Tour de France, featuring all 21 stages, concludes in the French capital in Paris' Champs-Élysées with the final stage on Sunday, July 27 at 9:30 a.m. ET on Peacock.
This Sun., July 20, NBC will present encore coverage of Stage 15 at 2 p.m. ET (following live Stage 15 coverage on Peacock at 6:30 a.m. ET). NBC will present live coverage of Stage 20 (Saturday, July 26) at 8 a.m. ET, as well as encore coverage of Stage 15 (Sunday, July 20), the penultimate Stage 20 (Saturday, July 26), and the final Stage 21 (Sunday, July 27) at 2 p.m. ET.
Coverage throughout each day of the 21-stage event begins with the Tour de France Pre-Race Show on Peacock, followed by live race coverage.
Peacock will stream live start-to-finish coverage of every stage of the 2025 Tour de France, as well as full-stage replays, highlights, stage recaps, rider interviews, and more.
Following each stage, NBC Sports NOW will stream one-hour Daily Recaps, featuring highlights and daily special episodes of Tour de France: Beyond the Podium, providing analysis of the day's stage and looking ahead to the next day's live coverage on Peacock.
To sign-up and watch every minute of live action from the 2025 Tour de France, click here.
Peacock's expansive sports programming features live coverage including Sunday Night Football, Olympic and Paralympic Games, Big Ten Football and Basketball, Notre Dame Football, BIG EAST basketball, Premier League, NASCAR, golf, the NBA beginning in 2025-26, the WNBA beginning in 2026, La Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026, and much more. Peacock also offers daily sports programming on the NBC Sports channel.
COMMENTATORS
NBC Sports' cycling play-by-play caller Phil Liggett, universally known as the 'voice of cycling,' covers his 53rd Tour de France alongside analyst Bob Roll. Liggett and Roll will be on-site at each stage, along with reporters Steve Porino and former professional cyclist Christian Vande Velde.
Paul Burmeister hosts daily pre-race and post-race studio coverage alongside analysts Brent Bookwalter and Tejay van Garderen.
NBC SPORTS CYCLING SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can keep up with the Tour de France through NBC Sports' social media platforms throughout the race, including, interviews, video clips, up-to-date news reports and stories from around the cycling world via @NBCSCycling on X and the NBC Sports Cycling Facebook page. In addition, fans can visit NBCSports.com/cycling for a live stream schedule, stage maps, results, routes and more.
NBC SPORTS' 2025 TOUR DE FRANCE SCHEDULE
(subject to change, all times ET)***All live coverage on NBC is also available on the NBC Sports app:
For full event coverage preview, click here.
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Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fans fume over De Minaur and Katie Boulter snub days after Aussie's triumph
Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter will be hoping to get one of the final two places left in the US Open mixed doubles comp after being snubbed from the first round of selections, days after the Aussie won the Citi Open title. The US Open has made a controversial change to the mixed doubles in 2025 with singles ranked players earning preference into the main draw. The winners of the reduced 16 team competition will take home $1 million ($A1.6m) and the tournament will take place the week before the official US Open main card. There has been backlash over the decision to change the format with the combined singles rankings deciding eight teams. This means lower ranked players, who often rely on prize money from mixed doubles at grand slams to survive, have been largely excluded. But it hasn't deterred huge names such as Aryna Sabalenka, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz entering the competition. De Minaur and Boulter also entered their name in the competition, but missed out on automatic selection because their combined singles ranking was 53 at the time. Despite being fresh off his win at the Citi Open this week, de Minaur and Boulter have missed out on the first six wildcard positions with only two left. American teams were heavily favoured in the wildcard entry with Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka earning a ticket, while popular team Emma Raducanu and Alcaraz also gained entry. Djokovic was granted a wildcard with partner Olga Danilovich and last year's mixed doubles champs Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori made it. Unfortunately, de Minaur and Boulter will have to wait to see if they get one of the final two positions at a later date. But de Minaur has moved to express his interest in the competition and pleaded with the US Open to give them an opportunity. "Katie and I would like to ask for a WC pretty, pretty please," he wrote on social after learning they had missed out on initial selection. While British and Australian fans would like to see de Minaur and Boulter team up again, which hasn't happened officially since Wimbledon 2023, many feel for the mixed doubles pairs that have missed out. Katie and I would like to ask for a WC pretty pretty please 🙏😢 — alex de minaur (@alexdeminaur) July 30, 2025 While 2 places are still open in the new 16 team US Open mixed doubles event, it's surprising not to see Alex De Minaur and Katie Boulter already in the lineup. The field presently has 6 players who have been singles No1's and 9 who have won singles majors. — Craig Gabriel (@crosscourt1) July 29, 2025 Please add Boulter and De Minaur 🙏 — Gerard (@gstzombie) July 29, 2025 Tennis calls out US Open mixed doubles event The format changes have been heavily criticised among fans and the players. Dedicated doubles and mixed doubles players no longer have another avenue of playing in a grand slam and earning money at the US Open. Many of the lower ranked players were getting by on the tour thanks to entering mixed doubles competitions and earning money. Grand slams are the highest paying tournaments for these players. The US Open halving the number of pairs and favouring singles rankings has all but ended any chance of lower ranked tennis players earning money at Flushing Meadows. This has seen the tournament face backlash to their decision, which goes against tennis tradition. When the US Open announced the changes, Aussie mixed doubles player Ellen Perez led the frustration. The Aussie is World No.19 in doubles, but currently unranked in singles. The 29-year-old joined the chorus of players unleashing on the rule changes having suggested the US Open has disrespected the tradition of tennis. Tell us that you think doubles players are trash, that tradition is overrated and job opportunity is a thing of the past without actually saying it. 🤡👏 — Ellen Perez (@EllenPerez95) February 11, 2025 Alex de Minaur wins Citi Open title While de Minaur may have been deflated him and his fiancee were not selected in the first round of selections for the US Open, he would be elated having won the Citi Open in Washington earlier this week. De Minaur came from behind to beat Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Fokina was in tears after the match with de Minaur saving three championship points on his way to the three-set victory. De Minaur noticed how distraught his opponent was and immediately went to console him. The Aussie was seen sitting next to Fikona before wrapping an arm around his opponent and offering some words of encouragement. Tennis fans and commentators were blown away by de Minaur's gesture, which came before he even properly celebrated the victory with the trophy.
New York Times
8 minutes ago
- New York Times
Brighton's Jack Hinshelwood ‘happy to play anywhere, I just really want to be out on the pitch'
'Definitely,' says Jack Hinshelwood, when asked whether he felt any trepidation after Fabian Hurzeler replaced Roberto De Zerbi as Brighton & Hove Albion's head coach last summer. 'When you break through under one manager and then he leaves, there is a bit of doubt in your mind, but I just had to try to turn that into motivation, really go and prove to the manager my worth to the team. Advertisement 'I worked really hard, coming back from an injury (a stress fracture of the foot), to have a good pre-season, to gain my place in the team, and the manager has been great. He has a great personal relationship with everyone. It makes us want to give that extra 10 per cent on the pitch.' Reflecting on that summer of big change for his boyhood club reveals a rare flicker of vulnerability in Hinshelwood. Not much has fazed the versatile 20-year-old on his pathway to success for club and country. Since September 2023, when he made his full debut in the Premier League under De Zerbi, Hinshelwood has established himself as a first-team regular in a variety of positions — his next official appearance will be his 50th across all competitions, with a healthy eight goals and three assists in the 49 he's made so far. He approaches 2025-26 as a member of the England squad that won the European Under-21 Championship in June. Hinshelwood has taken the rapid rise in his stride, including the exit of De Zerbi prompted by irreconcilable differences over transfer policy and the appointment of American-born German Hurzeler as the Italian's successor. 'I've loved playing for both managers,' Hinshelwood tells The Athletic. 'I can't thank Roberto enough for giving me the introduction. They are both very passionate and very emotional. They give you the feeling as players that you want to go out there and run through brick walls for them. 'Roberto's style on the ball was very sort of strict. We had our patterns, and they were set patterns. Fabian is more fluid. There are no strict patterns. We go through ways to break down a team, but we play with fluidity. It is more about counter-pressing and transitions as well.' Although stylistically different, De Zerbi and Hurzeler both latched onto Hinshelwood's on-pitch versatility, each of them using him at right-back and left-back as well as in the central midfield role he grew up playing. The positions demand varying skill sets. Advertisement 'Playing full-back, it's tough defensively,' Hinshelwood says. 'You are up against some of the best wingers in the world, one on one. You have to roll your sleeves up and be prepared for the battle. In midfield, it's 100 miles an hour. There is a lot going on. 'When I play as a full-back, I love getting forward and getting into the box. I always want to be involved in goals and in stopping goals, so sometimes it's harder. I have to be a bit more disciplined, stop the counter-attacks. That is why I love playing in midfield so much. It gives me the license to really get forward but also at the same time be busy defending. Full-back, midfield, they are different challenges. I love them both.' That adaptability was replicated with England juniors at those Euros in Slovakia, a tournament made even more memorable as it was preceded by Hinshelwood becoming a father for the first time. Head coach Lee Carsley used him in midfield and at right-back but mainly at left-back over the course of five appearances. Hinshelwood was in the starting line-up for a 2-1 defeat by Germany in the group stage finale, and played every minute from then on through to the avenging victory against the same opponents, 3-2 after extra time, in the final. 'Our daughter was born on June 9, and then I was on the bench on the 12th (an unused sub in the first group match, a 3-1 defeat of the Czech Republic), so that was a crazy three days, and then it turned out to be an amazing month,' says Hinshelwood. 'In the first game (against Germany) I was centre-mid, unlucky not to score with a header, and then right-back and left-back for the rest of the games; so a few positions, which is always nice. 'I don't mind it. I think the more positions you can play, the more chance you've got of getting into the starting 11, so I can show my versatility. I can show I can do a job in a few positions, so it helps my selection for the team. I am happy to play anywhere — I just really want to be out on the pitch.' Hinshelwood's 26 appearances in the Premier League last season — 22 of them starts — included a goal off the bench at home to Liverpool (beating the newly crowned champions 3-2) and two more playing as a false nine at Tottenham Hotspur (a 4-1 victory over a side who'd won the Europa League final four days earlier) in the closing two games as Hurzeler's side finished eighth, narrowly missing out on European qualification. Advertisement 'I think overall, when we look back, it was a really good season,' Hinshelwood says. 'We had some really good periods and some tough periods, which is only natural with the amount of new players, new management, a new style and learning to play together. We finished the season really well, gave ourselves a chance at Europe and just missed out. 'We can use that energy now to spur us on and hopefully have another go this season. The bar has definitely been raised over the last few seasons and this club is growing so quickly — it is a privilege to be at the club. I have been here for a while, can see the growth of the club, and the club's growth has also helped me to grow. Coming off the back of an eighth-placed finish, we can really be excited to do even better than that this season.' Hinshelwood was described as a 'role model' by Brighton's technical director David Weir when he was awarded a new contract in April last year, which runs until the end of the 2027-28 season. He is the first academy product to make it all the way through to the first team since Brighton opened their new training centre at Lancing, west of the south-coast city, in 2014. 'I am really proud of this,' Hinshelwood says. 'Lots of other players have come through and are now playing professional football elsewhere. It has been an amazing journey at this club, joining at eight, training at Worthing Leisure Centre and the university (of Sussex) at Falmer. The club has come so far to have the training ground, the (Amex) stadium, and to have been a top-10 club for the last four years. 'I love every minute of it. I just want to repay on the pitch the faith that people have shown in me.' Brighton's captain Lewis Dunk, 33, and 31-year-old fellow multi-tasker Solly March have been figureheads for Hinshelwood as older graduates of the club's academy system. Defender Dunk has six England caps, and was an unused member of the squad that finished runners-up to Spain in the 2024 European Championship. 'It's probably not the answer you want to hear, but I don't really look too far ahead,' Hinshelwood says of his own ambitions. 'I already owe so much to the club. I want to really kick on this season, become a regular. Advertisement 'Lewis Dunk's journey has been an inspiring one for me. He is someone I have always looked to growing up. Solly as well, both local lads who have gone on to be heroes at the club. I want to have a similar journey to Dunky. He has been to a major competition with England's first team. That would also be a dream of mine.' The way his career is progressing suggests it is a dream Hinshelwood has a realistic chance of making into reality.
New York Times
38 minutes ago
- New York Times
The Scheffler paradox: How sportspeople cope when winning is not enough
There are certain things we've become accustomed to hearing from sportspeople on the eve of a major competition. Most are nebulous, designed to give away as little as possible. 'I'm in a good place,' for example, or 'I'm ready to give my all.' So when the world's top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, arrived in Northern Ireland ahead of the 153rd Open Championship earlier this month and told the world's media that he sometimes wonders what the point of it all is, it made headlines. Advertisement Most of what Scheffler said was not controversial. The 29-year-old American spoke about the importance of faith and family and about how, 14 months after the birth of his son, Bennett, the sport that is his job is not the be-all and end-all of his existence. 'I'm blessed to be able to play golf,' he said, 'but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or the relationship with my wife or son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.' In a press conference answer lasting around five minutes, Scheffler also spoke about the fleeting euphoria that accompanies success. There is a sense of accomplishment in winning big tournaments, he said, but not one that is 'fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.' 'You get to number one in the world, and… what's the point?' he added. 'Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?' Five days later, Scheffler had won yet another tournament, his fourth major in just over three years, and was naturally asked to reflect on those pre-Open comments. 'I've worked my entire life to become good at this game and play for a living,' he said. 'It's one of the great joys of my life. But having success is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart.' Scheffler did acknowledge he was 'pretty excited to celebrate this one', but the week was a rare insight into the mind of a champion athlete that seemed to contradict so much of what is written and spoken about elite sportspeople; that they 'want it' more than their opponents. That they are selfish. That they never switch off. That winning isn't everything to them; it's the only thing. What, then, can we learn from Scheffler? And how did his comments land with contemporaries in other sports who have also reached the pinnacle? Though the timing of his remarks, just before one of his sport's most prestigious tournaments and in the middle of a career-high purple patch, was rare, Scheffler isn't the only athlete to have found more questions than answers in success. In Aaron Rodgers' Netflix documentary series Enigma, the NFL quarterback reflected on his 2011 Super Bowl win with the Green Bay Packers and how accomplishing the one thing he'd always wanted in life at age 27 left him feeling lost. Advertisement 'Now what?,' he asked. 'I was like, 'Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn't give you true happiness?'.' When British boxer Tyson Fury ended the nine-year reign of Wladimir Klitschko to become world heavyweight champion in 2015, it was the realisation of a childhood dream. But in his subsequent book, Behind the Mask, Fury writes that though he had 'finally got to the end of the rainbow, the pot of gold seemed to be missing… The world tells of success as such a wonderful story, the pinnacle of happiness. But my experience was that there was just a void, and it felt like everyone was trying to get something from me.' A number of Olympic athletes have spoken openly about the emotional comedown that can follow triumph at the Games. American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 23 gold medals, talked to NBC News last year about how he would sink into depression after the conclusion of each four-yearly Games, starting in 2004 when he won six events in the Athens edition. 'You get to like the edge of the cliff and you're like, 'Cool… Now what?,' he said. While these are all individual cases, experiencing a down period after such a high is a familiar scenario among elite sportspeople. 'I worked with an Olympic athlete who won gold in Paris (last year) and there is a well-known psychological phenomenon about depression after this, because if your life reaches its crescendo in your early twenties, what's left?,' says Gary Bloom, the first psychotherapist to work at an English football club (Oxford United) and who has also assisted a range of top-level athletes. 'How do you motivate yourself to go beyond that? 'That's really an ego-driven concept, based on the idea that somehow your personality and your success are one and the same. Many sportspeople become synonymous with what they do, rather than who they are.' Advertisement Scheffler, though, seems to be the antithesis of the ego-driven athlete. Bloom says the golfer's assertion that winning is 'fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart' indicates he has 'stepped outside the euphoria of winning in sport and asked himself the existential question of, 'What's all this for?' If it's about winning a cup or a gold medal, I think that says a lot about the ego of the individual which needs feeding. 'Succeeding is very ego-driven. But something that's spirituality-driven is much harder to achieve. Also, for his age, it's pretty unusual. For someone so young, I would strongly suspect there's an element of religious observance going on.' Scheffler is, indeed, a devout Christian who, after putting on his first champion's green jacket at The Masters in 2022, told reporters that his identity was 'not a golf score. All I'm trying to do is glorify God, and that's why I'm here.' Performance psychologist Jamil Qureshi says that finding the sweet spot where an athlete's sport doesn't define them – where they can also be a partner, parent, sibling, businessperson or something else entirely – can lead to both happiness and success. 'Happiness is when you lose yourself to something which is bigger than you,' says Qureshi. 'This is why those people whose vocation turns into their vacation, who chase their passion more than their pension, are the ones who are happily successful.' Qureshi draws a distinction between having a purpose and having a goal. A sportsperson who has a target of winning three tournaments in a year or shooting in the 60s on all four days of a golf tournament might believe that's their purpose, but it's actually a goal. 'It's why Tiger Woods keeps working,' says Qureshi. 'Why Richard Branson keeps working. Why Cristiano Ronaldo keeps working. Because purpose is never achieved, it's fulfilled on a daily basis.' Advertisement That is something Britain's two-time Olympic rowing champion Helen Glover discovered as she went through a career that saw her return from five years in retirement and after having three children to reach another two finals at the Games — finishing fourth in the coxless pairs with team-mate Polly Swann in Tokyo, then winning a silver medal in the coxless fours in Paris last year at age 38. Initially though, Glover believed that achieving her goal of Olympic gold was all she needed to be happy. She recalls going for a walk in the weeks before her first Games, London 2012, and being confronted by a 'really clear thought that if I can just win the Olympics, I will never be sad again.' Speaking to The Athletic now, she says, 'winning in London was a great moment, but not for the reasons I thought it would be. When I was 12, I thought you cross the finish line, punch the air and feel this rush of success and excitement. But I crossed the line and felt nothing but relief for the fact that we had not mucked up. I felt a total dissociation with the moment. It was too big for me.' Glover knew very quickly after those Olympics that she wanted to do it again four years later at the next Games in Rio de Janeiro — not just the winning part, but the whole process. The motivation, she says, was waking up every day and training alongside coxless-pairs partner Heather Stanning and their coach Robin Williams to find out the answer to one question: How good can we be? 'It was just us versus us,' she says. 'They say you race how you train, and we trained every day with that mentality of, 'How good can we be?', not just, 'Can we win?'.' Part of the problem, says Qureshi, is that sport is judged on outcomes. That, he adds, is 'why people feel euphoria and happiness if they've achieved something, but it's almost like it's a monkey off their back more than an achievement.' There is also a kind of mismatch, says Qureshi, between the time, dedication and sacrifice it has taken to reach that moment of glory and the fact it is, by nature, fleeting. Advertisement 'When a boxer wins in the first round and people say it's £10million for two minutes' work, it's not. They've been training all their lives. Everything goes towards being good enough to win, so you almost want there to be a proportionate reward to effort. You want to achieve something and feel as though it's been worth it.' That's certainly a feeling that resonates with British double Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee. He believes Scheffler's comments cut to the heart of why the best athletes are motivated to do what they do. 'It's obvious to me,' he tells The Athletic, 'that when something means so much to you, when you've trained for 50 weeks a year, 35 hours a week, put in all that hard work and had sleepless nights with injuries over many years, standing on the podium for five minutes is never going to provide the satisfaction you need to make up for all of that.' Brownlee, who took Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016, then went on to race in Ironman events before retiring from professional sport last year, says that if trying to win at the Olympics had been his only motivation, it wouldn't have been enough. 'I had to have other forms of motivation and inspiration. It sounds clichéd, but it's very true; I found you really do have to find satisfaction and real joy in the everyday journey of getting better. 'The vast majority of athletes who are successful at anything start as young kids, doing it for fun — for some kind of intrinsic motivation. But sometimes the reasons why you do it can get lost along the way.' Brownlee's realisation of his 'why' came one morning in the period after London 2012, when he got up one morning and had no real reason to go to training. Regardless, he went along, got into the pool and started swimming up and down. 'After 20 minutes of swimming as hard as I could for no reason at all, it hit me — 'This is just what I do. It's who I am. I'm not here to train for races or for any particular reason, this is just fundamentally who I am'. Even now, I'm out cycling and running pretty much every day. It's very much part of my DNA.' For Qureshi, 'consistency of mind gives consistency of play', and athletes whose mood does not fluctuate wildly depending on their results may get better ones. Former England cricketer Ian Bell identifies with the sentiment. 'I felt that as a young player, sometimes my mood or how I could act would be determined by my outcome, and that shouldn't really be the case,' he tells The Athletic. 'As you mature and come through things, you realise that, actually, even though in sport we live in an outcome-focused world, as a person and as an athlete you can't live in that.' Advertisement Bell, who played in 118 Test matches between 2004 and 2015, says that as he went through his career, becoming a husband and father, he came to understand the importance of consistent behaviour and understanding that having a good day on the field 'doesn't necessarily mean you're the best guy in the world. It's trying to stay in that level emotional state where you're consistent in how you are with people around you and how you train.' When he heard Scheffler's comments before The Open, Bell says they resonated with the part of him that remembers how quickly life moves on. He looks back on multiple victories — particularly those against Australia, the arch-enemy for an English cricketer — as amazing experiences he would love to re-live but also recalls how 'everyone talks about it for 48 hours, then life carries on. All that work you put in as a young sportsperson to get there and you have this feeling that life will be so different or a certain way, and sometimes it doesn't feel like that.' For Bell, it means Scheffler has the perfect mindset to succeed. 'He wasn't putting any pressure on himself or on an outcome, even though he still got that outcome,' he says. 'It's a nice place to be as an athlete when you're not living or dying on your results and realise there's a bigger picture.' It all seems so contradictory to the rhetoric we often hear about success requiring an 'all-in' attitude. In reality, says Qureshi, 'it's about finding the right state. Some people (in professional golf) perform much better when they have an intensity which goes from Tuesday (when they arrive for a tournament) to Sunday (the final round). Others perform better when they do a small amount on the range, then come back and play with their kids. You find what works for you. 'Intensity really is in the impact moment; when you find yourself in the rough, when you're deciding on your course management, that's when we need to react with intensity, commitment and execution.' Advertisement Glover had success with both approaches during her rowing career. In her twenties, the sport was her everything. Later, after getting married and starting a family, that changed. While she maintained her aggression in her racing and training, she also came to realise 'there are aspects of life which I would drop rowing for in a heartbeat'. She would look at her team-mates, who were largely still in their twenties, and recognise that they felt differently. 'And that was cool, because it had been the same for me,' Glover says. 'Our definition of success will change. It's exciting that you'll find different things in your life that give you a massive sense of satisfaction. It doesn't always have to be finishing first.' Even taking this individual approach into account, Scheffler's closing sentiment in his pre-Open press conference was perhaps the one that raised most eyebrows: 'I love to put in the work. I love getting to practice. I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don't understand the point.' This sentiment is all about perspective, says Qureshi, and recognising that where you are in your life will create a new way of seeing what you do, how you do it and why. And the impact of that is hard to predict. 'If Scheffler is now seeing golf in a different manner to 10 years ago, he might be questioning it in a way that takes him away from performance or towards better performance,' says Qureshi. 'Would you be surprised if, in the next few years, he says, 'I'm giving up the game, I've achieved what I want to'? Or would you be surprised if he goes on and does even more and plays longer because he's found a state of mind and compartmentalised it in regard to the other elements of his life?'. It could be either. For Qureshi, what's most important is to understand that for athletes who do reach the very top of their sport, the outcome is often not the only thing that matters. He was working with another golfer, Paul McGinley, in 2005 when the Irishman was in contention to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational tournament in the United States going into its fourth and final day. 'Tiger Woods had barely hit a fairway for three days but ended up winning,' recalls Qureshi. 'In his interview afterwards, you could see that his excitement and exhilaration had come from the manner in which he'd played golf, not necessarily from the outcome. Advertisement 'He was pleased with how he responded and reacted to the mistakes he made. He was robust, resilient, committed. Players at this level get a lot out of understanding how they're playing the game as much as what they're achieving.' Ultimately, Scheffler is showing that there is more than one route to success. And his words have clearly resonated with athletes from a variety of sports. Before Formula One's Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, McLaren driver Lando Norris — a huge golf fan who plays off an eight handicap — said he related to the American's words. But his main takeaway is a pertinent one: 'Just let the person be whatever they want to be. They don't have to live the exact life that you think they should, or say what you think they should. 'He lives very much his own way, and I think it's quite cool to see someone like that achieving what he is. You have to respect that.' Additional reporting: Luke Smith
