One of the big problems the PGA Tour has had in recent years is finding the next superstar of the game, with the sport spoiled by the exploits of Tiger Woods for more than two decades.
Tiger Woods is more than a once in a generation type figure. He completely changed the game when he burst onto the scene, and looked destined to become the most successful male golfer of all-time over the course of his career.
Moving on from Woods was nearly impossible. Nevertheless, the PGA Tour is arguably paying the price for not doing more to prepare for how they were going to fill that void once Woods’ time at the top came to an end.
Thankfully, in the eyes of Butch Harmon, the tour may have a player who evokes memories of the man Woods was unable to catch.
Butch Harmon compares PGA Tour star with Jack Nicklaus
As things stand, it is hard to see Jack Nicklaus‘ tally of 18 majors being overtaken in the future. No-one in the current game has more than six to their name, and it does appear that the window for a player to be competitive in the majors is generally getting smaller and smaller.
But perhaps there is one outlier.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, Harmon suggested that he can see similarities between Nicklaus and the current world number one – which helps explain why Augusta National is so perfect for him.
“I think Scottie Scheffler is the closest thing to Jack Nicklaus which we have seen and I mean that as a compliment because Jack was so smart in the way he plotted his way around golf courses and I see that in Scottie Scheffler. He is a machine. He does not miss a lot of fairways. He has got his putting sorted out. This is a big year for him. Not just here at Augusta, but for the whole year to validate what he did last year and the year before. He had the freak injury to the hand, so he didn’t play early in the year. Yes, he hasn’t won but he is trending in the right direction. He played beautifully in Houston, especially at the weekend. I think here we always have favourites. I think we have two, it’s Scottie and Rory, I can’t separate the two of them. Scottie seems to handle the pressure beautifully, that’s why he reminds me of Jack Nicklaus,” he said.
“You watch Scheffler play and he is like Jack. He doesn’t always shoot and flags, he puts the ball in the right place. He is totally in control of everything that he does. I think he has the same golf intelligence that Nicklaus had, not as aggressive as Arnold was, as Rory was or even as Tiger was. He is just so consistent in the way he is playing and this place is built for him.”
The area Jack Nicklaus where felt Scottie Scheffler stood head and shoulders above everyone else on the PGA Tour
You would imagine that Scheffler would shy away from any comparisons with the Golden Bear. He clearly has a long way to go before he is put alongside the greatest players to have ever played the game – but he is on the right path.
Interestingly, Nicklaus himself had plenty of praise for Scheffler as he previously discussed some of the issues within the current game, noting that there are too many players who rely on the advice of others to shape their games.
“I think the guys today, they need to take a little bit more responsibility for what their game is. They have the ability right now to blame it on their swing coach, their health coach, their sight coach. I never had any of that stuff. That would have driven me crazy. However, that’s what the deal is today. That’s what the guys do. But I still think that to compete better, I may be wrong but I think Scottie Scheffler appears to take more responsibility for his own game than any of the other guys, and he’s been very successful,” he said.
Scheffler will join Nicklaus as the only player to win three Masters titles in four years if he triumphs at Augusta National this week.
It really should not surprise anyone if that becomes the latest accolade in what is already a stunning career for Scheffler.
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