While there have been a handful of golfers who have been dominant over a number of years since Tiger Woods, there does seem to be something different about how good Scottie Scheffler has been.
Scottie Scheffler has won four major titles since the start of the 2022 season. He is a US Open victory away from completing the Career Grand Slam. He has won 18 times on the PGA Tour, while he also has an Olympic gold medal to his name.
It is easy to forget now, but Scheffler seemed to make a slow start to 2025. He obviously missed the first few events with a hand injury. However, he has more than made up for lost time in recent months.
Scheffler has won five times in his last 10 starts, including at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. And if there was any doubt over his quality, Scheffler won against an incredibly strong field at the BMW Championship.
What Rory McIlroy has said about rivalling Scottie Scheffler
The big question is whether anyone can stop Scheffler from dominating the sport.
Rory McIlroy cleared a significant hurdle by winning The Masters earlier this year. He also won at Pebble Beach and at The Players Championship.
But it seems that the Northern Irishman is not expecting to be the man to consistently challenge Scheffler.
Speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport was asked about the likelihood of someone being able to really rival the world number one.
“It’s interesting, I had a conversation with Rory McIlroy very recently, and he said: ‘I can’t do it every single week. It’s not me. I go through emotional highs and emotional lows’. And we saw that after The Masters and he seems to be in much better spirits now,” he said.
“I feel like Rahm could do it. But they’re not playing together enough. Scottie’s on his own level right now, certainly on the PGA Tour.”
How Scottie Scheffler’s season compares with Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm
It did feel that golf was about to get a rivalry between Scheffler and Jon Rahm before the Spaniard decided to make the move to LIV Golf. It was fitting that the pair were tied in their singles match at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Scheffler won the FedEx Cup last year and will be tough to beat this week at the Tour Championship. Meanwhile, Rahm has won the individual title on LIV two years running.
| Player | Wins (2025) | Major wins (2025) | Average major finish (2025) |
| Scottie Scheffler | 5 | 2 | 3.25 |
| Rory McIlroy | 3 | 1 | 18.5 |
| Jon Rahm | 0 | 0 | 15.75 |
It is too soon to say whether Rahm’s move to LIV has negatively impacted his game. However, it is impossible to ignore how underwhelming Rahm’s major performances have been. He has not finished in the top five at one of the four biggest events of the year since winning the 2023 Masters.
We will never know what would have happened had Rahm not joined LIV in 2023. But it certainly seems that Scheffler has been able to make the most of his move away from the PGA Tour
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