The generation of players who grew up idolising Tiger Woods are now getting a sense of what it must have been like to compete with the 15-time major champion at his peak, with Scottie Scheffler dominating the current game.
Scottie Scheffler is certainly the most impressive competitor golf has seen since Tiger Woods was at the game’s summit. The 29-year-old has won 15 times worldwide since the start of the 2024 season.
Tiger Woods’ verdict on Scottie Scheffler’s swing
He has won four major titles overall, and is now just a US Open triumph away from completing the Career Grand Slam.
What is slightly strange about Scheffler is how easy he makes his brilliance look.
Justin Thomas discusses the challenge of facing Scottie Scheffler
There is none of the showmanship that you would associate with Woods, Jordan Spieth or Bryson DeChambeau. And there is none of the drama that you would expect from Rory McIlroy or Phil Mickelson.
It seems that his peers are just as baffled by how Scheffler navigates his way around the golf course.
Speaking on the No Laying Up Podcast, Justin Thomas insisted that there is no intimidation factor when it comes to Scheffler.
“It surprisingly doesn’t [have an impact coming up against Scheffler]. It probably does deeper down in the grand scheme of things. But I personally don’t feel any different with it,” he said.
“I think a lot of it is just because of who he is though. It’s such a different way than the dominant, dominant guys that have had these streaks.
“Tiger obviously had a lot of things that made him Tiger – and intimidating. DJ had the same kind of thing where he would just go unconscious and just seemed to do crazy things. And obviously, it’s the same thing with Rory.
“Scottie just seems, I don’t know what it is, some of it’s probably his personality, but it’s also not him. He’s not playing mind games in the sense of ‘I want to have this aura and intimidate you’. It’s more like, ‘I’m just going to beat you. If we play 72 holes, I’m better at golf than you and the more golf that we play, the better my chances are of shooting lower than you. I don’t need to do anything else, I’ll just do that’.
“It is wild because I’ve never had the feeling or thought of when I get to a tournament or a Sunday of alright, I’m playing for second today. But it’s been more apparent than it hasn’t, so I could definitely see maybe somewhere deep down it is, but I haven’t internally told myself that yet. Maybe I should, I don’t know.”
What Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth have said about Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler did not have a huge amount of fanfare surrounding him as he was coming through the ranks. Scheffler was not exactly a superstar as a junior.
Meanwhile, it is easy to forget now that he was a slightly contentious pick for the 2021 Ryder Cup. At the time, he had not won on the PGA Tour.
But there is no question that he is the best player on the planet right now.
And Thomas went on to explain what he and Jordan Spieth have discussed after watching Scheffler up close over the last few years.
“Jordan and I have talked about it a lot, just us two, because it’s so motivating playing with him. Everything that he does, I know us two [feel] is completely attainable. Rory hitting a drive, I can’t do that. DJ and some of the drives he hits, I can’t do that,” he said.
“Tiger with his long irons, throwing them way in the air, I can’t do that, and Bryson with his drives and stuff, there is stuff that is just completely unattainable for a lot of players.
“But if you go and play with Scottie and see what he does, you’re like, I can do everything that he is doing. It’s just I have to get better.
“His distance control and his spin control and to me his demeanour and intensity internally, all that stuff, is motivating and inspiring and feels like that is the stuff that makes you think how can I control my distance better like Scottie does.
“It’s not like a situation with Bryson and Rory where you are like I have to start hitting it further, it’s basically just like I have to get better at golf.”
Perhaps that is Scheffler’s superpower. Because he is not perfect in any particular category – besides his iron play – he feels that need to continue to try and improve, even when he is seemingly leaving all of his rivals behind.
It is going to be fascinating to see how long Scheffler can sustain this level of success for.
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