Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the best two golfers in the world right now.
However, the problem for McIlroy is that Scheffler has been on another level to him over the past few years.
And now, Brandel Chamblee has weighed into the debate regarding who is actually the better golfer out of the two.
How many times do you think Scottie Scheffler will win in 2026?
Over or under 4.5…
Scheffler and McIlroy are the standard-bearers for every single PGA Tour player right now, with the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele looking to them for inspiration.
However, the American has been the standout player on the PGA Tour, and indeed the world, over the past four years.
Since February 2022, the 29-year-old has won 20 PGA Tour events, including four major championships, two Hero World Challenges and an Olympic gold medal.
While Scheffler may not be the ‘box office’ star that McIlroy is, he has quite clearly outperformed the Northern Irishman on the golf course over the past four years.
However, who is the better player out of the two? Notoriously outspoken golf analyst Chamblee has just had his say on the matter.
Brandel Chamblee says who’s better out of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy
The common train of thought is that Scheffler is far more consistent than McIlroy, but the 2025 Masters champion’s ‘A+’ game is slightly better than the Open champion’s.
One thing that cannot be debated is that Scheffler has been posting numbers over the past few years that we haven’t seen since Tiger Woods‘ prime.
When speaking on the 5 Clubs podcast, Chamblee was asked whether Scheffler could leap-frog McIlroy in the all-time rankings by the end of 2026.
“Well, look, I mean, Rory’s been playing professional golf for almost 20 years,“ Chamblee said.
“You can cherry pick his best year, and he’s not been as good as Scheffler has over the last two years.
“So cherry pick his best year, it could be 2012, it could be 2014, it could be 2019. It could be last year.
“And from a purely statistical standpoint, he’s not been the player that Scottie Scheffler has been the last two years.
“We haven’t seen the likes of Scottie Scheffler, not named Tiger Woods, and what Scottie Scheffler has done the last three years, you know, we could argue is that trend gonna continue?
“What he did in 2023 was unbelievable. He became number one in 2022, but at the end of 2024, would you have said he’s likely to have a better year in 2025?
Who will win more on the PGA Tour in 2026 out of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood?
Will anyone end 2026 with more PGA Tour wins than Scottie?
“You know, common sense would have said, ‘Probably not’.
“But he did. He had a better year in 2025 than he had in 2024. Maybe not from a win standpoint all the way around, but from a statistical standpoint.
“He separated himself to a degree that only Tiger Woods has been able to match, and Tiger Woods only exceeded the degree to which Scottie Scheffler separated himself last year three times in his career, only three times.
“Scottie Scheffler was about a shot last year, better than Rory.
“He was about a half a shot the year before, better than Xander Schauffele. I say Rory, because Rory was number two in scoring average. And the year before it was Xander Schauffele.
“The year before that, he was about two tenths of a shot better than Rory McIlroy.
“So he’s continuing to distance himself from his competition as time’s going on, and he gets into his physiological prime the same way Tiger Woods did.“
Chamblee makes a great point there. McIlroy has not been close to Scheffler statistically over the past few years.
While the 36-year-old will unquestionably still triumph at some huge events between now and the end of his career, he most likely will not be able to keep up with Scheffler’s brilliant and consistent win-rate.
Scottie Scheffler vs Rory McIlroy: PGA Tour careers compared
Scheffler and McIlroy are already in possession of two of the greatest golfing resumes of all time.
The fact that they are only 29 and 36 respectively is quite remarkable.
Here is how their respective records stack up against one another:
| Results | Scheffler | McIlroy |
| Events played | 151 | 273 |
| Major wins | 4 | 5 |
| Wins | 20 | 29 |
| Top-5s | 57 | 84 |
| Top-10s | 77 | 133 |
| Missed cuts | 19 | 32 |
It will be fascinating to see what both of their records look like in 10 years’ time.
If Scheffler continues along his current trajectory, he will be close to the records set by Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
It will be incredibly difficult for him to maintain his current levels for another decade but if anyone can do it, Scheffler can.
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