It’s been a remarkable few years for Scottie Scheffler. Having waited for so long to get his hands on his first PGA Tour title, the world number one now has two Masters titles in his pocket and despite the fragmented nature of the men’s professional game, the Texan is the undoubted best player in the game.
2023 was a frustrating year for Scheffler as his issues with the putter would see him go through the second half of the PGA season squandering numerous chances to capture various tournaments.
Through the first few months of this season, Scheffler still seemed to be having issues with the flat stick but a recent change to a new mallet style putter has worked wonders.
Igniting his season with a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler then became the first man in history to defend the Players Championship and followed that victory up with a sparkling performance at the 2024 Masters.
Not content to let the winning stop there, Scheffler then tasted victory at the RBC Heritage having only arrived at the course the day before the tournament started.
Having posted four victories in his last five tournaments, Scheffler could have made it five wins for the season had he not been denied on the very last hole of the Texas Open.
Ever since Tiger Woods’ era of dominance the best part of professional golf is that a whole host of players have had spells as the sports best player.
Rory McIlroy was the first to emerge out of Woods’ shadow and quickly racked up four Major wins. However, the last of those victories came over ten years ago and despite being one of the best ball strikers in the game, his inconsistencies make him frustrating to follow.
Brooks Koepka has five major titles and despite his move to LIV, he showed no signs of rustiness as he dominated the field in last year’s US PGA.
Injuries were a major reason behind Koepka’s defection to LIV and it remains to be seen if he can keep up the pace with the best players on the PGA Tour.
Jon Rahm shocked the world when he made the controversial decision to leave the PGA Tour to join Greg Norman and LIV Golf.
Yet to win on the breakaway tour, Rahm looked a shadow of himself when defending his Masters title and will hope that he can turn it round for the majors that will come later in the year.
Despite the talents of all the men we have mentioned above, none have gone on to have the blistering levels of success that Scheffler is starting to have on the game.
His Masters victory showed exactly why Scheffler is so feared. Up with the leaders throughout, his presence on the back nine of the final round forced all of his rivals into uncharacteristic mistakes.
Knowing that they had to play beyond their limits to beat Scheffler, when Scheffler is charging, very few can handle the heat.
So what is it that makes Scheffler so dominant?
With a swing as uncharacteristic as his, it would only be fair to assume that it would lead to inconsistencies with his ball striking, but Scheffler is able to suffocate his rivals with his accuracy off both the tee and from the fairway.
As a sign of his dominance Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in overall strokes gained, strokes gained from tee to green, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained through approach, overall greens in regulation and closeness to the hole.
Around the greens he ranks sixth and he is fifth in overall scrambling. Whilst his putting is only 90th and still a weakness, he is putting the ball so close to the hole that it barely matters.
As the stats above show, Scheffler is dominating the game in all facets and nobody has shown this level of greatness since Tiger Woods in his prime.
Scheffler is a mysterious player. His swing can’t be described as beautiful. Unorthodox and dare we say it, ugly, Scheffler’s short game is the exact opposite.
With a touch and feel that few can come to close matching, if Scheffler somehow misses the target with his approach, you can be assured that his chip will scare the hole.
There is an inevitably about Scheffler’s game that not even some of the best names in the business can come close to even matching.
What can Scheffler achieve this season?
Already with four titles in the bag including the season’s first major, it’s incredibly exciting to see what this year will hold for the world’s best player.
Whilst nobody will ever come close to matching the eighteen titles that Ben Hogan won in 1945, Scheffler will have Tiger Woods’ record of nine wins clearly in his sights.
With a busy second half of the season planned and with Scheffler dominating all before him, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he can reach double figures this season.
Having won the Masters talks of a Scottie Slam can’t be discounted either.
Laser focused whilst on the course, his rivals will hope that off course distractions could help give them a chance of stopping him in his tracks. Due to become a father for the very first time, it’s likely that Scheffler will miss some time due to the excitement that brings.
We are currently in the midst of witnessing something special and with Scheffler proving that he could be a player for the ages, who's to say that it will end anytime soon.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
