Are we witnessing the next Tiger Woods run of golf dominance? After this past weekends come from behind win at The Players Championship, there is little doubt that Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer in the world right now. In recent memory we have seen great runs of golf, Spieth in 2015, DJ in 2017 and most recently last year Rahm’s run of excellence.
However, none of these compare to what Scottie has done over the past calendar year. Having seemingly fixed his putting woes, Scottie is DOMINATING the field this month on Tour with two consecutive wins and is looking like he’s playing on a level of his own. The statistics are incredible. On the season, Scottie is 1st in total strokes gained, strokes gained off the tee, greens in regulation percentage and strokes gained around the green. Not to mention my favorite Scheffler stat. He hasn't shot a competitive round over par since August of 2023. 25 straight rounds under par. Unbelievable.
In the last 8 days, with two wins under his belt, Scottie has amassed an impressive $8.5 million in prize money. Having won the unofficial first Major of the season, the door is wide open for a Tiger slam of consecutive Major victories. Unsurprisingly, oddsmakers released opening lines for April’s Masters Tournament with Scottie a clear favorite at +250 to win. Not since Tiger’ decade of dominance have we seen one golfer as the head and shoulders favorite over the field.
One thing is for certain as bettors look ahead to future tournaments. Scottie Scheffler is guaranteed a top 10 finish in upcoming tournaments until proven otherwise. His game and competitive mindset are clearly unrivaled right now in the game of golf. The only question remains is how many wins will he notch under his belt this year.
Side Notes From The Players:
Who has been impacted by Scottie’s dominance more than Wyndham Clark? After missing a brutal 17 foot putt that circled the entire cup, Clark has finished 2nd to Scheffler in consecutive tournaments. His “hit it as far as possible” mentality off the tee has led to some easy scoring chances and right now his game is clearly top 5 in the world. The only question for Clark is how does he rebound after a brutal finish. Golf being one of the most mentally demanding sports on earth leads me to expect a drop-off coming from Clark.
Rory, Spieth and Hovland had quite the interesting situation unfold on Thursday’s opening round at Hole No. 7. Following Rory’s drive left into water, a question emerged as to where the proper spot to drop would be. Taking cues from the crowd, Jordan Spieth proceeded to question Rory as to the correct spot to take his drop. This is very atypical behavior in a sport considered to be a “gentleman’s game”. Rory himself had a very up and down weekend, setting a tournament record for birdies in a round but finishing out of the top 20 on Sunday.
