What makes Scottie Scheffler so good?

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Well the 82nd Masters is now in the books and this tall Texan named Scottie Scheffler took home the green jacket. Scheffler is the author of a four stroke victory and was aided by a remarkable six under par on the closing 11 holes…..on a Sunday, at Augusta! If you are not familiar with Scheffler, there’s a good chance you will know more about him very soon. How about some background on what makes Scottie Scheffler so good. 

Humble Beginnings

As a high school senior, with his sister carrying his bag, the New Jersey native-turned-Texan finished the 2014 HP Byron Nelson PGA tour event four under par and in a tie for 22nd place.  

Because he was obviously still an amateur golfer, he had to forego the 60,000 payday.  An illustrious college career (Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year in 2015) preceded an amazing year on the Korn Ferry Tour.  Scheffler won two times and led both the finals points list and the overall points list which earned him a fully exempt PGA Tour card for the 2020 season.

The Rook

In 2021, Scheffler started to take the golf world by storm – albeit a very calm, reserved storm. When the skies cleared from the 2021 PGA Tour season, Scheffler had a fourth place finish at the PGA Championship, shot a 59 (-12) in the Northern Trust tournament, played on the victorious US Ryder Cup team (oh yeah, Scottie defeated current World #1 ranked golfer Jon Rahm in his singles match), and won the PGA Tour Rookie of the year award.

Sophomore Success

Just when you thought that year was good, how does this sound for the first four months of the next PGA Tour Season? 

Win at the WM Phoenix Open. 

Win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

Win at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship. With this last win, Scheffler was now the number one ranked player in the world. 

Then he went on to win the 80th Masters. With that victory, Scheffler became just the fifth golfer to enter the Masters as the top ranked player in the world to go on and win it. 

He joined Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Tiger Woods, and Dustin Johnson. 

Okay, now I know, this is getting old. right? Let’s get to the how’s of this guy instead of the what’s. 

For sure, I have to leave out the back-to-back victories at the ’23 and ’24 Players Championship, a PGA Tour Player of the Year Award (2022), another win and plenty of near misses. The list grows.

The How’s

For the last 80 weeks, Scheffler has been ranked as the top golfer in the world. With nine PGA Tour victories and three European titles, Scheffler has earned over 82 million dollars in less than three and a half years. 

What makes him so special? 

First, he is a solid 6’3” and a very fit 210 lbs. Second, Scheffler is a driving machine. If you like ‘em long and straight, then you have found your man. He finished second in strokes gained off the tee, 14th on approach, and first in around the greens.  

His worst stat, which is usually the case, was his putting where he finished 22nd .

Tiger Talk  

The bottom line? This guy is the most sublime ball hitter since Tiger Woods in his prime. Yep, here we go. You knew the comparisons were coming. I will say this for sure, the fiercest, most ruthless competitor and a guy who never gives up on any shot under any circumstance is Woods. But the guy with the highest competitive drive since Woods, is Scheffler. 

Woods had a superior game in all aspects, with his mind being the strongest and most potent aspect of an impressive arsenal. This is where I believe Scheffler can stand toe-to-toe with Woods. 

He hits the ball with the utmost of control and has the deft touch needed to be a major champion, but his mind?? This is Scottie’s greatest asset by far. He can get locked into the processes of committing to shots, targets, putts, pitches over bunkers…you name it. He cruises through with the calm and skill of any great champion to precede him.  

This is about where the comparisons stop, truthfully. Woods had fist pumps galore. Scheffler will occasionally get fired up. Woods was “destined” to change the world. Scheffler still drives the same old vehicle he drove in high school. 

Woods has won 82 times on the PGA Tour. When he won, you saw his mother and father, when he was still alive, and maybe very seldomly did we ever see his wife and kids in tow on the 18th green.  

We all knew this was the Tiger show. Not the Woods’ family, but the Tiger show. 

Whenever Scheffler wins, he heads immediately to his wife, Meredith.  Then his parents and down the line. He talks about them in press conferences, crediting them with his success. In fact Scottie does anything he can do to deflect attention from himself.  

So yes, the PGA Tour has a superstar. A true superstar who, for the look of it, will be around for quite some time. 

I want to end this article with one cool story.  Several weeks ago, a fan yelled to Scheffler, “go get em Scotty!!! Just like Tiger!!  You are World #1.  Now all you need to do is stay here for 11 more years!!”.  That’s right, Woods held that position for a whopping 683 weeks! Let’s see if Scheffler can do the same.