Rory McIlroy will be amongst a host of players going into the off-season on the PGA Tour wondering how exactly he is going to get the better of Scottie Scheffler in the future after the world number one wrapped up The Tour Championship title to complete a remarkable year.
It may not have provided much drama for the viewer, but Scottie Scheffler was undoubtedly the rightful winner of the FedEx Cup as he clinched his first Tour Championship title at East Lake on Sunday, finishing four shots clear of Collin Morikawa.
Heading into the play-offs, there was a genuine debate over who had had the best year, with Xander Schauffele winning two majors as Scheffler won seven times. Most players viewed Scheffler as the best player in 2024, while they were more envious of what Schauffele achieved.
With Scheffler winning in Atlanta, it is hard to see the 28-year-old now not winning the player of the year vote in a landslide – and Rory McIlroy is surely going to be one of those who votes for Scheffler.
Rory McIlroy shares what he’s always admired about Scottie Scheffler
Of course, McIlroy will have very different emotions about his 2024, with the disappointment at the US Open likely to largely overshadow his achievements throughout the season. McIlroy knows better than most what it is like to be the player everyone else is looking to catch.
And speaking after his Tour Championship came to an end, McIlroy outlined what has impressed him so much about Scheffler throughout the year.
“Yeah, I think his consistency, his attitude. I feel like he just sort of brings the same demeanor to the course every single day, no matter what position on the leaderboard he’s in. He’s just amazing to just watch the way he manages himself around the golf course. Yeah, we’ll look back on 2024 and it’s obviously one of the best individual years that a player has had for a long time,” he said.
“He makes more birdies than I do and he makes less bogeys. That sort of adds up to him being a little bit better right now,” he added.
“I think the one thing I’ve always admired about Scottie is the amount of bogey-free rounds he shoots. If you just go back over the last two, three years and you look at how many rounds he shoots that he’ll shoot like 4-under par, no bogeys, doesn’t look spectacular at all, but it’s just so solid, doesn’t really put himself out of position. When you don’t make a ton of bogeys, the field has got to do something really special to keep up.”
World number one proved ruthless when he opened the door ever so slightly
Foolishly, some will have wondered whether Scheffler’s tournament was about to fall apart as he approached the turn during his final round at The Tour Championship. He made a bogey on seven and followed that with another on eight.
Scheffler stunned many golf fans by shanking a bunker shot on eight, and he then failed to get up and down to save a par. At that moment, it appeared that Collin Morikawa was in the ascendancy with the gap between the two just two shots.
However, within an hour, the tournament was settled once again, with Scheffler making three birdies immediately after the back to back bogeys. And he did not look back from there as he set his sights on the finishing line.
His ability to slam the door emphatically when it appeared that he had left it open to the chasing pack showed just how ruthless Scheffler has become, particularly when he is in and around the lead.
There is absolutely no question who the man to beat in 2025 is going to be.
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