The conversation concerning where Scottie Scheffler will rank amongst the all-time greats has been reignited with a vengeance in recent days following his victory at the PGA Championship this past week.
Scottie Scheffler won a third major championship in hugely impressive fashion. The 28-year-old clinched the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow by five shots after an assured display. The win moves Scheffler to within two victories of the career grand slam.
Some are already putting Scheffler amongst the greatest of all-time. But clearly, he has a long way to go before he is rivalling the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. He is currently 12 majors behind Woods, while 15 off the Golden Bear.
But clearly, Scheffler is on the right path. It is remarkable just how confident and comfortable Scheffler looks when he is winning. He has won by a combined 13 shots on his last two starts.
Scottie Scheffler backed to not make the same mistake as Tiger Woods
And it seems that that mental game gives him a fantastic opportunity to become one of the best ever.
Scheffler is known for his unique swing, which coach Randy Smith has never looked to change. And speaking on The Favorite Chamblee, Brandel Chamblee suggested that he cannot see Scheffler making one big mistake he feels Woods made at the peak of his powers.
“He is not going to do what Tiger did. You could say Tiger is the greatest player of all time without anybody questioning. People will say what about Jack and people can make a reasonable argument for Hogan and maybe even Jones. But you could literally say he is the greatest player of all time,” he said.
“I say that but I also say that he is the most underachieving golfer of all time because of the two year down turns that he had when he was changing his golf swing, twice. Middle of 97-98 and part of 99 and then again in 03 and 04 and again in 2010 and 11. He was dealing with other things but also changing his swing and his body.
“When you extrapolate his win percentage for those years, it’s not hard to get to 20 majors. It’s not hard to get to 100 and something wins. I can’t think of a single player in the game who left five or 10 majors on the table and another 30 tournaments on the table.
“When I look at Scottie Scheffler I am like he is not going to have these massive physiological changes or a technical change. Yes, life does happen from time to time. You can’t look into a crystal ball and predict there is not going to be hurdles.
“I don’t foresee that [Scheffler doing similar]. I look at it different. I mean, Tiger from 99 to 2002 had what Scottie has. But after that Tiger audited with error. He was like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You look at it and you’re like that’s crazy but unbelievable.”
What Tiger Woods makes of Scottie Scheffler’s golf swing
There is clearly a good reason that Smith has never looked to alter Scheffler’s action. And, as Chamblee suggests, it is hard to imagine that the American will overhaul his game in the future.
It turns out that despite how chaotic his action can appear – with his foot moving all over the place – Scheffler is so reliable with his strike.
And one of those who hugely admires Scheffler’s swing is Woods himself, as he told the Today Show in 2024.
“His iconic foot movement belies what the club is actually doing through the golf ball: how good it is, how stable it is, how solid he hits it. You just stand back and you just watch the ball flight, there’s something different about his. It’s just so consistent,” he said.
Perhaps changes will be made if the results dry up. However, there appears to be something quite different about Scheffler. Few players have probably ever trusted their own game to the same degree as the best golfer on the planet right now.
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