Lee Trevino shares what Scottie Scheffler was already doing at eight years old better than anyone he’s ever played golf with including Jack Nicklaus

Add as preferred source on Google

The golfing world is still waiting to learn just how great Scottie Scheffler will prove to be after one of the most incredible seasons of all-time in 2024 as he won nine times worldwide.

If Scottie Scheffler‘s 2024 is a sign of what is to come, then the world number one is certainly going to establish himself as one of the best to ever play the game. But clearly, that is going to be a monumental task given just how good the 28-year-old has been in the past 12 months.

Of course, Scheffler has a golf swing which is far from conventional. You are certainly unlikely to ever find his footwork in a textbook.

But Scheffler makes it work for him. It has been claimed that Scheffler is as good at controlling the face as anyone who has ever played the game. And it turns out that he looked to be destined for greatness from an incredibly young age.

What Scottie Scheffler did better than Jack Nicklaus from a young age

Speaking to Golf.com, Lee Trevino shared how Scheffler became a member at the same club as him as an eight-year-old.

And the six-time major champion explained how it did not take long to see that there was something special about the youngster when they crossed paths at Royal Oaks.

“He comes out and joins and he’d come out there and he’d be putting on the green, wanted to putt for nickels. I wouldn’t putt with him because I couldn’t beat him,” he said.

“And he always had long pants since he was a little junior, never wore shorts. And we told him, we said, ‘why aren’t you wearing shorts?’ He said, ‘because I’m going to be a pro someday, and pros don’t wear shorts’. That’s exactly what he said.

“I tell you, I watched him hit, I was up close to him. I’d never seen anybody hit a golf ball like that. I played with Nicklaus my whole life, nobody ever hit a ball like this guy.

“His driver, he was flying the tee, putting for eagle on the 18th green.”

Who Jack Nicklaus picked as the best ball-striker of all-time

Considering that Trevino played in such a golden era, it is quite something when he says that a young Scheffler hit the ball better than anyone he has seen.

Jack Nicklaus actually named Trevino as one of the best ball-strikers of all-time in an interview in 2000, with Ben Hogan alongside him. But it is enormous praise for Scheffler, particularly as the two-time Masters champion will probably argue that he remains a work in progress to this day.

Scheffler has got a long, long way to go before he finds himself in the same conversation as Nicklaus. However, it is promising that he appears to have the tools to close the gap.