Picking who the best golfer in the world is right now is subjective but when it comes to the OWGR stats, it is Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler has had a remarkable few years on the PGA Tour and his 2024 was akin to Tiger Woods in his prime.
However, with Scheffler yet to win in 2024 and Rory McIlroy seemingly in the form of his life going into The Masters, the debate around who is the top dog in golf is raging again.
At the moment, McIlroy is number two in the world behind Scheffler. There is hope among many that t Augusta, the duo are battling it out on the final day.
But when it comes to who the winner will be, Golf analyst Brandel Chamblee is certain one man wins out over the other.
Brandel Chamblee compares Scottie Scheffler to Tiger Woods
Chamblee was speaking in depth about The Masters and who might be the favourites to win out around Augusta National.
And getting onto the subject of Scheffler and McIlroy, Chamblee put his case forward for Scheffler being akin to Tiger Woods.
“There is only one person who has a lower scoring than Scottie Scheffler last year. It is not Rory. It was Tiger Woods. Tiger did it several times. So the whole if he plays his best…Rory is not the ball striker that Scottie Scheffler is tee to green,” Chamblee said. “
As much as people love to say if Rory plays his best [he wins]. Scottie Scheffler is Tiger Woods tee to green. I never thought I would say or see that. But tee to green he is Tiger Woods.
“Now, the thing that made Tiger Woods Tiger Woods was that he was as good on the green as he was tee to green. That is not the case with Scottie Scheffler, although he putted beautifully at Houston, we are looking at five years of data and he is an average putter but Tiger was the best. You add all that up and that is why Scottie Scheffler’s scoring average is not equal to Tigers.
“Tiger was average 67. A stroke and a third better than the next best but Scottie was 68.2 last year. Nobody but Tiger never better, Rory has never been better and Rory has been playing on the PGA Tour since 2010.”
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Brandel Chamblee picks who wins out of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy
Continuing the conversation specifically on a McIlroy and Scheffler head to head, Chamblee spoke of the details separating the pair.
And according to Chamblee, it is Scheffler’s iron play that puts him ahead of the Northern Irishman.
“Rory in that period between 2011 and 2014, he won two majors by eight shots. Only Tiger and Rory have won two or more majors by eight shots or more since the 1900’s. But that was when Rory swung completely differently.
“He had the same engine but the swing was different and if Rory swung like he did in 2014, in my view, he would have won another handful of majors between 2014 to now. I think to whatever extent you can say Rory has been held back, because he has played brilliantly since then, he has done a million things, great.
“But he is just enough off with the iron play. He was the second best iron player in 2012. Only Tiger was better. He hasn’t been ranked that highly since. So I would give the nod to Scottie Scheffler if they both play their best. It would be fun to watch, if they both got there Sunday. If we are going to dream here, if we get to Sunday and Scottie and Rory are tied at -13 and five ahead of everybody else and we get to see that. Every now and then sport gives us that. Every now and then it does and golf could use it right now!”
If it does come down to McIlroy and Scheffler, then we can expect serious fireworks and one of the biggest showdowns for years on the PGA Tour.
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