Scottie Scheffler has been the best and most consistent golfer in the world over the past three years.
And something Jordan Spieth said about world no.1 Scheffler back in 2023 now seems rather peculiar.
The 31-year-old three-time major champion made a comparison between the 28-year-old Texan and Phil Mickelson that now looks bizarre to say the least.
Spieth and Scheffler are very close friends, having grown up playing against each other in junior tournaments in the Dallas area.
So Spieth knows all that there is to know about the two-time Masters champion.
Jordan Spieth once made Scottie Scheffler and Phil Mickelson comparison
Scheffler hasn’t been anywhere near his best on the PGA Tour this season.
However, he does have five top 10’s in eight events to his name.
The reigning FedEx Cup champion has won 13 PGA Tour titles, 32 short of Mickelson’s incredible haul of 45.
The two golfers clearly have a lot in common when it comes to their ability to win big events.
However, that’s where the comparisons stop isn’t it? Scheffler is very much the consummate professional. He is supremely focused on the course, with very much a ‘let’s get down to business’ attitude.
Mickelson is the polar opposite. He likes to interact with fans and his playing partners, and has a flair for the extraordinary.
Incredibly though, Spieth thinks the two players are similar.
The 31-year-old commented on Scheffler’s fine form back in 2023, “He’s got every shot, and then at this point, once he won last year and obviously won the Masters, I feel like his — when you’re presented with those shots, if you don’t feel like you have house money, you play them a certain way, but if you feel like it doesn’t matter, you’re going to play the shot that could go closest even if it means disaster could happen.
“You still sit there and go for it and pull it off, similar to how Phil Mickelson played most of his rounds.”
Now, that has to go down as one of the most surprising comparisons of all-time!
Scheffler is well-renowned for his conservative approach to his irons shots – it’s why he rarely misses on the short side of greens.
Meanwhile, Mickelson has forged a hall of fame career by being incredibly aggressive, so much so that it has sometimes been to his detriment.
However, it could be argued that he wouldn’t have won the tournaments that he did had he opted to play safe.
What Spieth told Scheffler before he made CJ Cup Byron Nelson debut in 2014
Scheffler was just 16 years old when he made his PGA Tour debut as an amateur.
Before the event, Spieth gave his buddy some advice, “He’s going to be nervous, I’m going to be nervous. I’m nervous about this event on the first tee now. I’ll be nervous in 20 years on the first tee at this event, but at the same time, he’s going to have support, get out there, hit a couple of greens and make a putt, and it’s so much easier once you get one putt to go in this kind of setting.“
Spieth is three years older than Scheffler, and he has admitted that his younger rival used to get the better of him when he was only nine or 10 years old!
Unfortunately for Spieth, that theme has continued on into professional golf.
The good thing for the 31-year-old is that his fellow Dallas native’s recent dominance should give him the motivation he needs to get back to his very best.
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