Paul McGinley has suggested Scottie Scheffler is doing something which Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods did in their prime.
Scheffler, unsurprisingly, has been the centre of attention ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
There were doubts over his participation at the start of the week, but now the two-time Masters champion is red-hot favourite to secure his first Wanamaker Trophy in Louisville.
Scheffler will also be looking to end an unwanted record, having failed to win a tournament past April in his entire career.
Paul McGinley compares Scottie Scheffler to prime Tiger Woods
After winning four events in his past five outings, comparisons to Tiger’s prime have been made.
Scheffler will have to continue this form over an extended period, but his current level is reminiscent of the 15-time major champion’s heyday.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ PGA Championship preview show, McGinley has suggested the 27-year-old’s mental stability is similar to what Woods was producing in the early 2000s.
He said: “I just want to add to that, there is one separator which makes Jack different, which makes Tiger Woods different. That separator, the genie in the bottle, is the ability to take that talent that he has got and apply it in competition.
“That’s what he does so brilliantly. He brings an intensity, a focus, a competitiveness, a minimising of mistakes, at the very, very top level in the heat of battle, he has the lowest bogey count on tour over the last couple of years.”
McGinley added: “So it’s not just going forward; it’s minimising mistakes and having the ability to not lapse mentally. That’s what is so impressive to me. It’s the mental thing that really intrigues me, and can he keep that separator because that’s what separates the greats in any sport.”
Two-time Masters champion still has a long way to go
READ MORE: Here’s our day one preview for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla
Longevity is needed to be considered one of the all-time greats. We’ve seen plenty of players enjoy good runs of form over the years before fizzling out.
Jordan Spieth in 2015, Rory McIlroy from 2011 to 2014, and Brooks Koepka in 2017. All these players were performing at an exceptional level, but remaining at the top is difficult.
In the case of Koepka, documented brilliantly in Netflix’s hit series, ‘Full Swing’, mental issues were at the heart of his poor form, something he has now seemingly overcome after his 2023 PGA Championship victory.
Furthermore, Scheffler will have to deal with other players hitting top form. McIlroy, for example, is coming off a dominant win at the Wells Fargo Championship and is playing some of the best golf of his career.
It will have to be a near-perfect performance from the American if he’s to prevent four-time major winner McIlroy from triumphing once more at Valhalla.
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