PGA Tour player says if he thinks Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy has a higher ceiling now

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It is going to be fascinating to see whether it is Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler who end their career with more majors, with the pair cementing themselves as the two best players on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods.

It was fitting that Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler won three of the four majors between them in 2025. McIlroy completed the Career Grand Slam, while Scheffler will join him if he ever wins the US Open.

How many majors do you think Scottie Scheffler will win during his career?

The world number one already has four majors under his belt

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Scheffler has arguably been the game’s most dominant player since Tiger Woods. Meanwhile, McIlroy’s longevity is potentially one of his most underrated qualities.

And it seems that one PGA Tour player believes that it is the Northern Irishman who has the edge in one particular category.

Rory McIlroy backed to have a higher ceiling than Scottie Scheffler

Speaking on 5 Clubs this week, Keith Mitchell outlined what he finds most impressive about the world number one, Scheffler.

“I think it’s his ability to prepare and to play like it’s life or death. The guy acts like it’s no big deal and it doesn’t matter. And that’s fine. That’s a great perspective to have. But if you watch him practice and then watch him play, if he was in 15th place, the guy doesn’t want to finish 16th. He doesn’t care if it’s 14th, 11th, 12th, first, he wants to win,” he said.

“Now again, I understand the fulfilment side of him. I completely agree with everything he says. But if you look at it as a competitor of him versus me, or him versus any other player, you can see that run through every single day. It’s not just between one and 18, it’s Wednesday, it’s Tuesday, it’s Monday, and then it’s his weeks off at home when nobody’s watching how much effort he’s putting in.”

Despite his praise of Scheffler, Mitchell suggested that McIlroy is capable of reaching a standard that no other player can get to.

“I think he has one of the highest ceilings I’ve ever seen in a player. Scottie has shown that his floor, now that he’s kind of got himself where he wants to be, is really high, and he doesn’t ever come down from that. But Rory’s ceiling, I think, is the highest in golf,” he said.

“And I think that’s because of his talent, number one. But his swing and his speed and his ability to make that solid contact, which turns a seven iron into 205 yards, not many people can do that.

“And I played with Rory on the weekend up in Canada when he won a couple of years back, and everybody’s used to watching him hit these towering high draws. Well, there’s a couple of holes out there that did not fit that. There’s a couple of tree-lined short dogleg rights, and he hits these drivers that came off head high and started cutting, something that I had never seen.

“So Rory has the ability to work the ball, move the ball, and play at a level that I truly think may be the highest in golf right now.”

The statistics that suggest there is a misconception about Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy

A lot of golf fans would agree with Mitchell’s view. Scheffler’s strength appears to be ensuring that his worst rounds are usually still very competitive.

The gap between McIlroy’s best and worst rounds, meanwhile, seems to be a lot larger.

Interestingly, the statistics agree with Mitchell’s point – in some ways.

Over the last three years, Data Golf shows that the best tournament played by either player from a strokes gained perspective was McIlroy’s display at the Wells Fargo Championship in 2024.

But when you look at the five best showings in each of the last three years, there is no denying just how impressive Scheffler’s performances have been.

McIlroy appears in the list twice. However, his performance at Quail Hollow in 2024 has taken top spot.

What is so intriguing is just how good Scheffler is.

Perhaps it is because he does not have the same on course charisma as Tiger Woods, or the endearing fallibility of McIlroy, but Scheffler is generally considered to be attritional and relentless.

And that is certainly one side of him. Scheffler has posted one round in the 70s across his last seven events.

But it seems that he does not get enough credit for what he can also do when he does put his foot down in a tournament.