Photo credit: Kathryn Riley/USGA
With Scottie Scheffler turning the final round of The Open Championship into an 18-hole victory lap, giving himself his fourth major championship, the comparisons to Tiger Woods were inevitable.
Those conversations were further bolstered by an eerie number – the number of days between the first major win (The Masters for both) and their fourth major (The Open for both).
It took each of them 1,197 days to accomplish the tasks. The same exact time frame – and with the same tournaments to start it and accomplish it. That is amazing.
But let’s look at if Scheffler should be in the conversation with Woods for dominance. For this three-year run he has been on, sure there are some interesting numbers as listed above.
But after that, pump your brakes.
That’s not to say it won’t become more of a conversation, it’s just not deserving of it – yet. I am a big fan of Scheffler, and I am amazed by how he plays. He is a U.S. Open win from achieving the career Grand Slam.
But I am also a realist.
Let’s start with the consecutive weeks as No. 1 in the world. Scheffler just hit the 100-week mark. Woods first streak was 264 weeks, then later in his career he hit the 281-week mark.
Scheffler would have to hold the top spot for almost 3.5 more years before he could catch Woods. Granted right now he looks comfortably better than anyone else in the world.
But the PGA Tour is full of guys that have an incredible six-month, one year, or even 18-month runs, and that is all it would take to knock Scheffler from the top.
Then there’s the career numbers.
Scheffler has already tallied numbers that many professional golfers could only dream of. He has 17 PGA Tour wins, 4 majors, 10 runner ups, 13 top 10 finishes, and has made 127 of 146 cuts. He and Woods are the only two golfers to achieve 100-plus days of being No. 1.
Woods has 82 PGA Tour wins (110 overall including international events), 15 majors, 31 runner-up finishes, 199 top ten, and he made 339 of 378 cuts.
And Woods did all this while bringing the game of golf to the masses, growing the game to its biggest, most popular level.
It looks like Scheffler does have the staying power at this point, but there is a long way to go. He has mass appeal, and it seems like no one dislikes Scheffler – except one Kentucky law enforcement officer LOL.
The scene with his son on the 18th green at The Open during the presentation of the Claret Jug was adorable and another reason for the popularity of Scheffler.
He is great for the game and by the end of his career he may very well be mentioned among the greats in the game, but in the end, it takes more than a three-year stretch.
And I know I will be watching!
By Dennis Miller