The query on everybody’s lips within the {golfing} world: Is Scottie Scheffler the New Tiger? Nicely, the statistics do not lie. Till 2024, Tiger Woods was the one golfer to have gained each the Masters and the Gamers Championship, however now he is not alone.
Scottie Scheffler is just dominating the world {of professional} golf, with a persistently humble and composed perspective, by no means attracting an excessive amount of consideration. This may increasingly frustrate some golf followers abroad who crave a bit extra “spark” to really change Tiger.
Each time Scottie steps onto the tee, very similar to Tiger in his prime, he is at all times thought of in rivalry for the win, whatever the course or the competitors. This, to me, is already a telling signal of Scheffler’s dominance, and I am unable to recall anybody fairly like him within the final decade.
Simply how shut is Scottie Scheffler to Tiger’s numbers? The statistics are merely staggering.
Scottie Scheffler, numbers
In his final 5 outings on the PGA Tour (together with the Masters), he is gained 4 tournaments and was only a putt away from a clear sweep on the Houston Open.
He is earned $18.7 million in 2024 alone and is on observe to simply surpass his earlier document of $21 million in 2023. His caddie, Ted Scott, based mostly on a fast calculation of incomes 10% of Scottie’s winnings, would at present rank among the many high 40 gamers on the PGA TOUR, bringing dwelling thrice as a lot as Viktor Hovland within the first 4 months of the yr.
This instantly attracts comparisons to what Steve Williams, Tiger’s legendary caddie, earned, making him the highest-paid “athlete” in all of New Zealand in 2006. Now let’s speak jaw-dropping figures. Scheffler began the season with 39 (THIRTY-NINE!) consecutive rounds at par or higher.
In his final 5 tournaments, he is shot a complete of -76. His scoring common is at present 67.50 strokes. The PGA Tour document for scoring common in a season is 67.79, set by Tiger Woods in each 2000 and 2007. The hole in factors within the official World Golf Rating between Scheffler and the world’s quantity 2 participant, McIlroy, is bigger than the hole between McIlroy and some other golfer on the planet, together with us.
Solely twice in eight occasions measured over all 72 holes did Scheffler not end first in tee-to-green knowledge, and in these tournaments, he nonetheless got here in second and third. Final weekend, Scheffler was the worst putter among the many high 9 golfers within the RBC Heritage rankings and nonetheless gained by three strokes over Theegala.
The information below the microscope: Is there a weak level? In the intervening time, Scheffler leads in Stroke Gained (strokes gained in comparison with different gamers) in pictures between 50-100 yards (practically 2 strokes), between 150-200 yards, and even over 200 yards.
He positive factors 1.56 strokes in comparison with everybody else on method pictures, 3.43 tee-to-green, and a whopping 3.45 strokes total in all areas of play. Guess who was the final participant to have greater than 3 strokes gained on the remainder of the sphere? It might solely be Tiger again in 2009, when he final dominated the tour and gained 6 tournaments in simply 16 appearances.
The one draw back in the mean time? Placing, the place Scottie ranks solely 66th for accuracy however is tirelessly working with world-renowned placing guru Phil Kenyon. Simply think about what would occur if he improved right here as properly; there would virtually be no competitors come Thursday on the primary tee.
At his peak, some argued that Woods’ presence was value half a shot, and now Scheffler is beginning to have the identical impact on his rivals, particularly on Sundays. Any comparability to Tiger is as unfair as it’s unfounded. Tiger was a generational participant who completed essentially the most troublesome feat: surpassing the massive expectations he had since he was 5 years previous.
Nevertheless, Scheffler’s present kind is harking back to Woods when he dominated world golf with out query. We’ll simply have to attend till the tip of the yr to see if Scottie manages to interrupt all data. Within the meantime, let’s proceed to get pleasure from this phenomenon that may entertain us for a few years to return.