Drew Stoltz has shared whether he believes Scottie Scheffler would swap his season with Xander Schauffele after the latter won The Open Championship on Sunday.
When Scottie Scheffler clinched his sixth win of the season at the Travelers Championship, it appeared that the world number one had wrapped up the player of the year title. The Masters champion had become the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win half a dozen events in a season before July.
Some thought Bryson DeChambeau was the only player who could rival Scheffler for the player for 2024, with the LIV Golf star needing to win The Open to stand a chance. What perhaps was forgotten about was that the pair were not the only players looking for their second major championships of the year at Royal Troon.
Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and he went on to win the Claret Jug by two shots on Sunday. It was such an accomplished display from the 30-year-old on the links, with Schauffele shooting a flawless 65 in the final round.
Has Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele had the better year?
That has opened up a genuine debate over whether Scheffler or Schauffele has had the better year so far. While Schauffele has not won outside of the majors this season, Stoltz told Subpar that he believes that Scheffler would probably swap their seasons.
“What do you think Scottie would say? I’m going to go out on a limb, this could be totally wrong and he could dispute this or say that’s false, but I think Scottie would rather have two majors to his resume than one,” he said.
“These guys are both are in the multiple major winner category now. At the end of the day, that’s how you compare greatness, how many majors did he win, the total wins isn’t really as big of a factor.”
A debate currently impossible to settle
Of course, the amount of wins on the PGA Tour does come into the equation when people debate some of the greatest to play the game, so Scheffler’s achievements this year will not be swept under the carpet.
But the major championships are such a strong barometer of the best of the best. There are some outliers – few would argue that Ben Curtis, for example, had a better career than Lee Westwood. But generally, the greats of the game particularly shine in the majors.
It is the reason McIlroy could not hole out from inside three feet at the US Open when his fifth major title was in sight. The Northern Irishman had gone nearly 500 putts without missing from that distance before what happened at Pinehurst.
What is clear is that it is impossible to claim that anyone is wrong regardless of which side of the fence they come down when debating which player has had the better year.
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