Scottie Scheffler appears to have that aura that very few golfers have managed to find during their careers, where – particularly in 2024 – if he has even a sniff of victory, you almost expect him to get the job done.
Scottie Scheffler has now done something Tiger Woods did not even accomplish in his career, having won six times in a PGA Tour season before the end of June. You would have to go back to the great Arnold Palmer for the last time someone achieved that feat.
Scheffler’s latest victory came at the Travelers Championship, with the world number one beating Tom Kim in a play-off in Connecticut.
Kim had led since the opening round after opening with an -8 62. But Scheffler was always poised to make a challenge, joining Kim and Akshay Bhatia in the final group at TPC River Highlands.
Tom Kim shares why he doesn’t worry about competing with Scottie Scheffler
And the seemingly inevitable did indeed happen, with Scheffler getting the job done. He seems to have that feeling of invincibility that Woods had for so long.
You would imagine that Scheffler being in contention is incredibly daunting for players like Kim, but speaking in his press conference after the final round, the South Korean shared the brilliant reason that he did not worry about The Masters champion.
“You know, it’s actually kind of the other way, like no, you don’t need to worry about him because he’s going to play well. He’s just going to play well, so it’s almost like you’re not even worried about it,” he said.
“You’re not even thinking about him, and I did a really good job, not looking at leaderboards. I think a lot of guys were within a shot with a few holes left, I just kept my head down and I really birdied the holes I needed to give myself a chance.”
The one question Scheffler still has to answer
It must be impossible to not think about Scheffler, particularly when you find yourself in the same group. But it appears that Kim is adopting the old matchplay mindset of always expecting your opponent to make the shot they need to.
There were plenty of questions over how Scheffler would respond to such a disappointing showing at the US Open. He was not dominant, but it was almost more impressive how he paced his charge, getting the job done in the play-off.
The one question remaining over Scheffler is how long he can sustain this kind of dominance; are we really seeing another Tiger Woods? Clearly, many of his peers do not see him going away anytime soon.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
