I don’t know how many times I’ve written it or said it, but the combination is probably well into three digits. I never thought we’d see anything close to Tiger Woods’ level of dominance in men’s professional golf ever again.
The fields are too deep now, I believed, for any human being to elevate himself that far above, and Tiger, of course, was barely human in the first place. It just wasn’t possible. Sure, players would have their runs and pick off a few majors, but it would never last long enough for them to be even remotely comparable to the great man himself.
Well, I’m here to say I’ve changed my tune. What we’re seeing from Scottie Scheffler is Tiger-esque, and there’s really no other way to put it.
That there was the exact same number of days – 1,197 – between both Tiger and Scottie’s first and fourth major wins is a nice little statistic, but it’s not really any more than that. There were 1,148 days between Rory’s first and fourth, and only 700 between Brooks’ Koepka’s first four, for reference.
No, what puts Scottie in Tiger’s league – and put’s Scottie alone in Tiger’s league – is the way he wins. As much as we all wanted to believe that there would be a sting in the tail on Sunday at Portrush, that the energy from the crowd would carry Rory on a wave and Scheffler would crumble under the marauding charge, few actually bought into it.
Instead, we were treated to an execution masterclass, in which the world number one systematically dismantled the golf course over the opening five holes and sucked the entire energy out of a crowd that were willing to pounce of every little morsel of hope.
It was over, and we all knew it.
Even when he had his Sunday blip – a double bogey out of nowhere – his demeanour didn’t change. It was as though he’d already forgotten about it by the time he stood on the next tee and went right back to executing the shots perfectly and recovering the lost ground.
From there, it was a victory procession of fairways, greens and either one or two putts.
Was it boring golf? Well, that depends on the lens in which you view it through? If excellence in execution is boring, then yeah, it was. What made McIlroy’s Masters win so thrilling to watch is that, even when he’d built the sort of lead that Scheffler had, you knew it was never going to be simple. You knew that he’d make hard work of it, he’d make terrible mistakes and be forced to pull off miraculous escapes, and in the end, it made his victory all the sweeter. But at the time, it was gut-wrenching.
Sure, Tiger had those moments too, but for every major that he won in dramatic fashion – think the 2005 Masters with that iconic chip-in on 16 before edging Chris DiMarco in a playoff, or the 2008 U.S. Open with that 72nd hole birdie to take Rocco Mediate to a playoff – there are plenty more that he won by five-plus.
Few said that Tiger was boring, back then. Aside from the interest he generated in the sport and the trappings of wealth that brought with it, he was hoovering up titles in a way that often made it a foregone conclusion that he’d win and typically, that is something that sports fans rally against because it’s in unpredictability that the true essence of sport lies. Instead, people genuinely realised that we were witnessing something extremely special with Tiger, and I think we’re witnessing something extremely special in what Scottie is doing now.
He’s not flamboyant. There are none of the club twirls, no exuberant displays of emotion, he just goes about his business with a ruthless efficiency, and when he’s got something even close to his best, he’s making the top players in the sport play for second place. And crucially, the others know it. The fans know it too.
Earlier in the week, much was made of Scheffler’s press conference comments that appeared to carry a nihilistic sense. The whole, “what is the point of it all?” narrative was one I felt was largely taken out of context. Instead, I read into it that all the victories do nothing to change Scheffler as a person. He’s a family man, a man of strong religious faith, he’s unassuming, and he also happens to be the best golfer on the planet.
He’ll always be a family man, he’ll always be a man of strong religious faith, and there’s no reason to believe he’ll ever be anything other than unassuming.
I don’t know Scheffler personally, or what motivates him, but I’d place a strong wager that he loves competition more than he loves money. That he loves practicing more than he loves anything outside of his family and religious circles. And that’s a scary thought.
Though he’s still young, he is considerably older than Tiger was when he broke through, but I’m not sure Tiger was ever completely comfortable in being Tiger Woods. Scottie seems like a man who is entirely comfortable in being Scottie Scheffler.
Injuries – some of them self-inflicted – and a scandal – entirely self-inflicted – derailed Tiger Woods’ career to the point that Jack Nicklaus’ major record looks certain to remain out of reach. Who knows what the future has in store for Scheffler, but if he remains injury, scandal and tragedy free, then there’s no reason to believe that he doesn’t have another six or seven years competing at the sort of level he is now.
And if that’s the case, he could well be in double-digits in major wins.
And that’s something I never thought we’d see again.
And there’s nothing boring about watching an absolute master craftsman at work.
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