You could be mistaken for believing none of this truly matters to Scottie Scheffler, the new Champion Golfer of the Year. After all, he caused a stir earlier this week when he conceded that golf is just not “a fulfilling life” to him. But as the American cruised to a fourth major, eclipsing the field at Royal Portrush by four strokes with a dominant total of -17, the man’s presence in the game became apparent. The satisfaction is in the manner of his dominance. A unique dominance.
A yearning from the sport to elevate him into the same conversation as Tiger Woods has long since begun. A 10th consecutive win after holding the outright 54-hole lead, a habit that followed Woods throughout his career over a staggering run of 37 events. But Scheffler, so often unflappable and steely-eyed, sprinkled in a few moments at Royal Portrush to suggest he is carving out a path of his own, especially with his personality.
The legends in sport so often remove drama at their best, it is why Rory McIlroy’s vulnerability has won him more fans, but, in all probability, when their careers are over, fewer major championships. A birdie on the first hole extinguished ‘McIlroy Mania’, and two more birdies followed on four and five.
But Scheffler’s real satisfaction came from retaining that dominance. The sixth hole encapsulated the new Scheffler, too, a wizard with the short stick, a feat perhaps triggered by McIlroy’s proclamation in February 2024 that he should sample a mallet putter to fix his woes. He was the best putter this week and his newfound superpower ensured a par save from 16 feet to retain a seven-shot lead. It sparked a furious fist pump, then another, in a rare insight into the shots that truly matter to the world’s best player. That, and the bounceback birdie on nine, after “a silly mistake on eight” produced a double bogey after blasting into the face of the bunker. It was the only blemish, with no bogeys at all, in the final 36 holes of the tournament.
Scheffler’s soliloquy perhaps had a hidden meaning in the way golf expects its players to feel the weight of history and the privilege of accompanying them in the record books. Instead, Scheffler seems to prefer soaking in the journey at his own pace, while Woods’ personality was magnetic in the eye-popping moments. Even on 18, his 72nd hole of the week, with the Claret Jug all but won with Harris English four strokes back in second at -13. He showed a human beneath the steely exterior that dissects the greatest golf courses in the world. Caddy Ted Scott had stumbled across his line while reading the contours of this sprawling green. Scheffler waved him away, the job never truly done until the ball drops at the last, but a grin spread across his face.
“I felt a good amount of peace today,” Scheffler remarked. “I felt very in control, I was comfortable with my game, after that hiccup on the eighth, we bounced back on nine, every day is a battle, trying to get the best out of yourself and your game.
“I feel like I compete the best I can, inside the ropes, I don’t think about it too much outside the ropes. It’s hard to put into words [completing three quarters of the grand slam], right now it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
There is an eerie similarity with Woods, too. They both won their fourth major 1,197 days after their maiden victory. If Woods was eulogised for his dominance, then Scheffler, in an era of superior depth, if not truly elite players, has also become comfortable sprinting away from the field. He is now the first player in the modern major championship era to win his first four majors by three or more strokes.
The grand slam, a group that only expanded to six after McIlroy’s Masters triumph this year, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods, is surely a formality now.
“He’s on the same flight path [as Woods],” Dame Laura Davies told Sky Sports. “There’s nothing to separate them at the moment, he’s prolific and making it look easy.” While Wayne Riley added that Scheffler is “the best player out of rough I’ve ever seen.”
If Woods was the prodigy, then Scheffler’s rise has come with less ease, notably when he ranked a measly 162nd in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2023, before harnessing that talent to elevate further over his rivals. And not just in recent years.
“Scottie’s in a league of his own right now,” remarked Bryson DeChambeau, who rallied from a +7 round on Thursday to produce the round of the day with a 64 securing a top-10 finish. “I played with him a lot in college, and he was not that good, so he’s figured out a lot of stuff since then. It’s really impressive to see and something we can all learn from for sure.”
While Ryder Cup teammates Jordan Spieth pinpointed how Scheffler separates himself from Woods, and perhaps any other superstar in modern sport right now.
“He doesn’t care to be a superstar,” said the three-time major winner. “He’s not transcending the game like Tiger did. He’s not bringing it to a non-golf audience necessarily. He doesn’t want to go do the stuff that a lot of us go do, corporately, anything like that.
“He just wants to get away from the game and separate the two because I know that he – at one time, he felt it was too much, that he was taking it with him, and whenever he made that switch, I don’t know what it was, but he has hobbies. He’s always with his family. They’re always doing stuff.
“I think it’s more so the difference in personality from any other superstar that you’ve seen in the modern era and maybe in any sport. I don’t think anybody is like him.”
