The gap between Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings is as big as the points differential between the Northern Irishman and the world number 60.
That’s how dominant Scheffler has been over the past two years and even after a career season from McIlroy, the American only increased his lead in the rankings over the 36-year-old.
The number one and two ranked players in the world are so far ahead of every other golfer right now it’s actually frightening.
Aside from Tommy Fleetwood, is anyone else actually capable of consistently competing with them? That remains to be seen but nobody would be surprised if the duo dominated yet again in 2026.
Interestingly, it was actually McIlroy’s Masters win that motivated Scheffler to work even harder on his game.
How many majors do you think Scottie Scheffler will win during his career?
The world number one already has four majors under his belt
And boy, did he get his rewards for that. The world number one racked up six wins, 17 top-10s and didn’t miss a single cut all season.
Scheffler has a PGA Tour career win percentage of 12.7% – a figure that puts him fifth on the all-time list behind only Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead.
It’s easy to see why many players feel like Scheffler is the man to beat at every single event.
Rory McIlroy says what happens to him when he plays against Scottie Scheffler
The Northern Irishman is a huge admirer of the American, and vice versa.
Both players have often spoken in glowing terms about one another.
When speaking on The 5 Clubs Podcast, McIlroy was asked what is Scheffler’s most valuable trait.
“I think his most valuable trait is his indifference to celebrity, I guess, would be the easy way to say it,“ McIlroy replied.
“He wants to be a golfer. He does very little outside of his realm. He lives what, from the outside, looks like a very simple life.
“He has his family, and he has golf, and he’s very adamant about that.
“I think when you get into this position in the world of golf or in sport, you are pulled in so many different directions, and I think Scottie has been so disciplined in saying, ‘no, this is what I want to do, and this is what I want to focus on’.
“And then I think, because of that, you can see that in his results and the consistency of his results. So I think he’s got a great structure around him. He’s got a great family, obviously, but then on the golf course, he just doesn’t make mistakes.
“He knows that if you’re going to play 72 holes, he’s not going to make many mistakes, and you’re just going to have to beat him, and to beat him, you’re going to have to take on some risk.
“I think what happens is people, and I’ve found this as well playing with Scottie, you feel like you have to take on more risk to beat him because you just feel like he’s not going to make a mistake.
“If you look at the stats on the PGA Tour, he leads in a lot of different statistical categories, but one of the ones that he’s high up on is bogey avoidance, and I think that’s one of the hallmarks of this game.“
That’s a really interesting admission from McIlroy.
His tactic for countering Scheffler’s consistency and uncanny ability of avoiding mistakes is to take on more risk.
Perhaps he should consider taking more of a patient, sensible approach when playing head-to-head against Scheffler.
Who is the better player: Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler?
The world number one grinds his competitors down with his unwavering consistency, and players like McIlroy adopting a more aggressive approach only ends up playing more into the American’s hands.
Scottie Scheffler vs Rory McIlroy: 2025 PGA Tour results
Scheffler and McIlroy were the two standout players on the PGA Tour in 2025.
Their numbers throughout the year were hugely impressive and the levels of consistency they both displayed really was remarkable, considering the strength in depth of genuine on the PGA Tour.
| PGA Tour results 2025 | Scheffler | McIlroy |
| Events played | 20 | 16 |
| Major wins | 2 | 1 |
| Wins | 6 | 3 |
| Top-5s | 12 | 5 |
| Top-10s | 17 | 8 |
| Top-25s | 20 | 14 |
| Missed cuts | 0 | 1 |
| Money earned | $27,659,550 | $16,992,418 |
It’s worth mentioning that McIlroy also completed the career Grand Slam and won the Irish Open on the DP World Tour this year as well.
The Northern Irishman played a pivotal role in Europe’s Ryder Cup success at Bethpage Black and he also secured his seventh DP World Tour order of merit title, leaving him just one adrift of Colin Montgomerie’s record.
However, Scheffler was unquestionably more dominant on the PGA Tour than McIlroy was during the 2025 season.
If McIlroy is going to close the gap on Scheffler next season, perhaps he needs to take a leaf out of the American’s book by actually playing more risk-averse golf.
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