When I was at my most impressionable age, Tiger Woods was dominating golf tournaments.
I specifically recall the 2000-2001 time period. I was about eight or nine years old, mesmerized by Tiger’s complete control on the course.
He won 14 times in those two years. Over 39 starts, he finished in the top 25 every single tournament with only one exception.
Tiger would suck the life out of golf tournaments. He would get a lead and then grow a lead by doing everything a little better than his pursuers. There was no need to press when everyone was chasing.
I eventually reached a time in my life where I actively rooted against Tiger—but only to make things interesting. He had become so good that once he got into the lead, the rest was a forgone conclusion.
Personally, I never thought we would see that type of player again. I didn’t think we would see the kind of player who is so reliable in all aspects of the game that he sucks the life out of golf tournaments on a consistent basis over multiple years. The kind of player that can show up to an event with his C+ game and finish in the top 10.
We’ve seen great performances since Tiger’s heyday. We’ve seen Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka—phenomenal players who won in bunches.
But Scottie Scheffler clears them all now
I’m not saying Scheffler is the next Tiger. Nobody outside of Jack Nicklaus can claim that. Tiger was winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots and doing the unprecedented.
What I am saying is that Scheffler has become reminiscent of prime Tiger.
He has become, without any doubt, the best player since the Woods of old.
Just look at what Scheffler did at the Open Championship. He bludgeoned everyone to death with a steady diet of fairways and greens, patiently playing mistake-free golf while everyone else scrambled to match him.
News flash: it’s hard to match a guy who ranks first on the PGA Tour in both strokes gained off-the-tee and strokes gained approach.
He’s the best driver of the ball and the best iron player. Oh, and he’s in the top 25 for scrambling and putting. The worst part of his game would be someone else’s strength.
Because of that, he won’t stop winning. He won eight times last year (not including the unofficial Hero World Challenge) and has added another four victories this year.
Tiger’s pinnacle of 2000-2001 was 14 wins and four majors. With the FedEx Cup playoffs remaining, Scheffler is at 12 wins and three majors in 2024-2025.
Only three golfers have ever won two majors by four or more strokes in the same year: Ben Hogan (1953), Tiger Woods (2000) and Scottie Scheffler (2025).
And when you compare Scheffler to his peers of this generation, his pace is ahead for all meaningful metrics. His closest competition in that department is McIlroy, but Scheffler has surpassed him.
When McIlroy was 29—Scheffler’s current age—he had 15 Tour wins and four majors.
Well, Scheffler now has 17 Tour wins and four majors.
By win percentage, Scheffler is near 12 percent. McIlroy, for his career, is just below 11 percent.
This is even considering that Scheffler had zero wins in his first 70 starts. All of this has come in the last 75 starts. That gives him a win percentage of nearly 23 percent since he started winning.
From Tiger’s first major to his fourth, it took him 1,197 days—the exact amount of time Scheffler needed for his four majors. And all four of his major victories were by three strokes or more.
It’s remarkable—and there is no sign of Scheffler stopping anytime soon.
But this isn’t about stats anymore
It’s about greatness, which is what we are witnessing right now.
Scheffler is unflappable. Clinical. When he makes the odd mistake, he bounces back immediately.
On Saturday at Royal Portrush, Scheffler “struggled” out of the gate with six straight pars. McIlroy and others were putting on a show to narrow the gap.
He yawned and made eagle at No. 7. Order restored.
When he did mess up, yanking a wedge shot well left of the green on 11, Scheffler hacked it out of thick grass and cleaned up the par putt. He never gave a shot back.
McIlroy had played exceptionally well, shooting 66 with several fireworks, but had only gained one stroke on Scheffler.
It was rinse and repeat on Sunday when Scheffler opened with a tap-in birdie. Enter the Vince Carter gif, because this contest was over. Even with a double bogey on No. 8, his massive lead couldn’t be threatened.
With four hours left in the proceedings, everything remaining was elementary. The only question was margin of victory.
How do you catch a guy who does everything well and doesn’t make a mistake? A guy who smiles at mistakes and shows no signs of stress?
The answer is that you don’t.
You have to hope he doesn’t play well from the jump. Even then it would likely be a top-10 finish given that, of Scheffler’s last 11 starts, his worst finish is a tie for eighth.
Different but the same
Scheffler’s temperament is different from Woods in many ways.
Tiger magically did the unsustainable at a sustainable level. He went full bore at every drive, gave upper-cut fist pumps and hit unimaginable shots worthy of a YouTube rabbit hole. He stressed his body by pushing the limits.
It’s scary to think that this stretch of play by Scheffler reminds us of Tiger—and he’s doing it all with hardly any of the same theatrics.
He does the sustainable. He is uncommonly great, but in a way that feels as inevitable as a leaky faucet dripping every 20 seconds.
Fascinatingly, Scheffler seems addicted to the process of golf but unburdened by the results. Prior to this week’s Open, he talked at length about how the winning part of golf only lasts a few moments and is largely unfulfilling.
“You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, ‘OK, what are we going to eat for dinner?’ Life goes on,” Scheffler said. “It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes.”
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the exact perspective of someone who could win 10 majors. Someone who could cement themselves as a top five greatest player to ever hold a golf club.
There are no guarantees in this game. It is ruthless and unforgiving.
But for the moment—for the last few years—we’re being treated to the kind of golf I thought only one person could play.
Top Photo Caption: Scottie Scheffler dominated the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. (GETTY IMAGES/Richard Heathcote)
CB
11 months ago
Good points Sean. Hopefully Scottie just keeps rolling along with the status quo that is working so well for him. I often wonder what Tiger would have been able to accomplish if he hadn’t decided to start chasing swing changes and not split up with Butch. If he had just stuck with what was working so well, he might have actually surpassed Nicklaus’s major record.