Just how good is Scheffler?

[TigerTime]

His obvious win yesterday at the Amex yet again brings up more questions. How good is he compared to the greats? When all is said and done and his careers over, what will his achievements look like in comparison? Of course, it might be too early to say but some things to consider...

His ball striking is elite, his game from tee to green is comparable to peak Tiger, Rory, Hogan and Nicklaus. He is consistently number one in strokes gained tee to green. He is often number one in total strokes gained. He is dominant in his approach play, driving and scrambling statistically. Most players are elite in 1-2 areas, he is elite in 3-4 areas. He is elite in everything except putting and still wins, and even then his putting has improved over the last few years. Even when he doesn't win he is always there. He is consistent. Constantly top 10, very very rarely outside contention.

He usually doesn't win with heaters or putting weeks. He wins with control and that is historically significant because Tiger won with domination, Nicklaus won with strategy, Hogan with precision. Scheffler does it with structural superiority. He doesn't ever seem to spike and he just suffocates the rest of the field.

We are of course somewhat early in his career, and the best may be yet to come, which is worrying if you are out there on tour. He's probably the next grand slam winner, might even be this year. Then it's a case of how many can he get? How close does he get to Tiger and Jack? They of course dominated over long periods of time, Scheffler has been dominating for 3 years or so.

I think he will end up pretty close, he won't over take Tiger and Jack, but he'll be there or thereabouts which in the modern era could be argued is just as good. He might not be the flashiest or the most famous or even the most loved among some but he might be one of the most dominant ever and I think that deserves respect. Maybe we won't realise what we are actually witnessing until his career is over but of course, like anything in sport things can change quickly.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

The most difficult thing in the modern era is longevity. Plenty have threatened to dominate, none have. They have their moment and then they join the rest of the pack.

We will only know with Scheffler over time, boring answer I know.

He is certainly amazingly consistent, doesn't seem to get flustered, has a good life balance outside of golf. All of these help.

The one thing that does make me think that he can't keep this up, the way he hits driver and is so off balance. Can you keep doing that and keep being straight when you get older and your coordination is not quite as sharp. He keeps proving me wrong but it will be interesting to see whether he becomes a bit more erratic off the tee, like Speith, as he gets older.

Incidentally, I enjoy watching him, fabulous golfer. Undoubtedly the best in the world right now, has been for a couple of years.

 

[irip]

The most difficult thing in the modern era is longevity. Plenty have threatened to dominate, none have. They have their moment and then they join the rest of the pack.

We will only know with Scheffler over time, boring answer I know.

He is certainly amazingly consistent, doesn't seem to get flustered, has a good life balance outside of golf. All of these help.

The one thing that does make me think that he can't keep this up, the way he hits driver and is so off balance. Can you keep doing that and keep being straight when you get older and your coordination is not quite as sharp. He keeps proving me wrong but it will be interesting to see whether he becomes a bit more erratic off the tee, like Speith, as he gets older.

Incidentally, I enjoy watching him, fabulous golfer. Undoubtedly the best in the world right now, has been for a couple of years.

He has the ability to be the best for a long time.
If he has all the attributes mentally and physically remains to be seen.

Personally I don’t think he will dominate the way Tiger did but expect him to win a few more majors yet.

Rubbish in the Ryder cup though

 

[Lord Tyrion]

He has the ability to be the best for a long time.
If he has all the attributes mentally and physically remains to be seen.

Personally I don’t think he will dominate the way Tiger did but expect him to win a few more majors yet.

Rubbish in the Ryder cup though

To be fair, we have thought a few might dominate in past years, McIlroy, Koepka, Speith, Morikawa, but none have. How do we know he wont follow those names? He looks stronger at this stage but only time will tell.

 

[Orikoru]

I think he's the best we've seen since Tiger. Particularly in the sense of having no real weaknesses. In every new era it's harder to win majors, given the strength of the field, but I think he'll finish up on 9 or 10. I do feel like his interest might wane a bit earlier than most, given some of the comments he's made about golf not being his be-all and end-all - wouldn't be surprised if he eases off once he nears 40 years of age. But ultimately we will talk about the best three of all time being Jack, Tiger and Scottie.

 

[irip]

To be fair, we have thought a few might dominate in past years, McIlroy, Koepka, Speith, Morikawa, but none have. How do we know he wont follow those names? He looks stronger at this stage but only time will tell.

I think the difference is when Scottie plays poorly he still manages to get it round in an ok score the others when they blow up then it’s big.

They probably had a better chance of breaking the course record as well.

If a tournament finished and Rory and Scottie were both -16 it would not suprise me if Rory shot 2 rounds at -8 and 2 level were Scottie is more likely to have all at -4

 

[cleveland52]

The most difficult thing in the modern era is longevity. Plenty have threatened to dominate, none have. They have their moment and then they join the rest of the pack.

We will only know with Scheffler over time, boring answer I know.

He is certainly amazingly consistent, doesn't seem to get flustered, has a good life balance outside of golf. All of these help.

The one thing that does make me think that he can't keep this up, the way he hits driver and is so off balance. Can you keep doing that and keep being straight when you get older and your coordination is not quite as sharp. He keeps proving me wrong but it will be interesting to see whether he becomes a bit more erratic off the tee, like Speith, as he gets older.

Incidentally, I enjoy watching him, fabulous golfer. Undoubtedly the best in the world right now, has been for a couple of years.

I honestly say this every time SS hits a golf shot. How can this guy constantly hit great shots after being so off balance? No one's hand-eye coordination is that good. Maybe that's his superpower.

 

[peld]

100% the best since Tiger, and doing it in fields that are far stronger than Tigers early days too.
Im sure the interest will wane but can easily see him doing a grand slam of majors, getting 8+ majors and 40+ PGA wins

 

[D-S]

Just watching yesterday how often he hit the ball to 1 or 2 feet seemed extraordinary. He is a decent putter but his approach player from all distances is beyond remarkable.

 

[Mel Smooth]

He could very well end the debate about whether Jack or Tiger is the goat.

 

[howbow88]

The most difficult thing in the modern era is longevity. Plenty have threatened to dominate, none have. They have their moment and then they join the rest of the pack.

We will only know with Scheffler over time, boring answer I know.

Yep. Loads of players have had purple patches where they look like the best in the world, but it often only lasts a few months.

Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Rahm, De Chambeau, Thomas, etc. And all of these in fairness have dominant spells that seem to come back, but they don't seem to be able sustain it for huge amounts of time.

I would say McIlroy is probably above those guys I've mentioned, but I also think that Scheffler is more dominant right now than McIlroy has ever been.

A special mention to Spieth. People forget how incredible he was for a few years, before it just seemed to vanish.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

he is very very good

 

[Voyager EMH]

He is very very very good right now compared with his opposition. That in itself is brilliant when you consider how good those others are as well.
Already a short odds favourite for the Masters.

Compared with Jack and Tiger he is playing catch-up when you look at Majors won at the age he is now. That makes it a little bit harder for him to gain the same acclaim.
Very hard to say if his longevity at the top will be equal or better.
There might be some 13-year-olds out there right now who he will find hard to compete with in 12 years time. Who knows?

Anyway, for us golfing fans, it is great to have someone setting a such seriously good standard right now.

 

[Orikoru]

 

[kp17]

He is amazing when you look at his stats and scores, then that changes to mind blowing when you see stills of his feet and swing positions.

I personally don’t think he’ll reach the heights or numbers of woods and nicklaus but he’s easily going to be in that handful of the greatest ever.

 

[evemccc]

Yep. Loads of players have had purple patches where they look like the best in the world, but it often only lasts a few months.

Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Rahm, De Chambeau, Thomas, etc. And all of these in fairness have dominant spells that seem to come back, but they don't seem to be able sustain it for huge amounts of time.

I would say McIlroy is probably above those guys I've mentioned, but I also think that Scheffler is more dominant right now than McIlroy has ever been.

A special mention to Spieth. People forget how incredible he was for a few years, before it just seemed to vanish.

Strongly agree that Scottie is an absolute world apart from his rivals.

I disagree Rory is above the others you mention…he also dominated for about 18 months only. Obvs one of the best this century but Scottie is The Man.

 

[howbow88]

Strongly agree that Scottie is an absolute world apart from his rivals.

I disagree Rory is above the others you mention…he also dominated for about 18 months only. Obvs one of the best this century but Scottie is The Man.

The main reason I would put McIlroy above the others is the grand slam. And other than a couple of months in 2021, he's also been in the top 10 (OWGR) consistently now for over 15 years.

 

[Neilds]

He’s definitely better than me

 

[Voyager EMH]

The bookies make Scheffler a very strong favourite for The Masters.
Rory is second favourite by a noticeable margin from third.

As well as number of majors won and longevity, I have another interesting statistic regarding consistency.

Number of consecutive Majors without missing a cut.
I think Jack and Tiger both made a streak of 39. Scheffler currently 14.
Four years to beat them. I think it does look quite likely at the moment. But if he misses one and we start counting again, I think the chance has gone.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Whilst I think he is a very very good golfer

It’s just a bit different to other top golfers we have seen over the years

There doesn’t seem to be the same excitement or buzz or flair when he is playing

when the likes of Woods , Rory ,Spieth etc where crushing fields it just had a bit of excitement that made you want to watch it

I won’t for example switch on a tournament just because he is playing in it