Scottie Scheffler might be the best golfer in the world right now but when compared to Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy, he seems to have gone under the radar.
Scheffler is the top player on OWGR right now and while Rory McIlroy is in the form of his life, Scheffler’s -31 at the Byron Nelson last week showed he is still very much there.
However, while we’ve spent years marvelling at McIlroy, Tiger Woods and others, and in turn, have been well aware of their progress as youngsters, it’s not the case for Scheffler.
Instead, Scheffler has lived a very quiet life behind the scenes and in a story shared by golf analyst Brandel Chamblee, it seems Scheffler was never destined to be like Rory or Tiger.
Why Scottie Scheffler surprised many on the PGA Tour
Brandel Chamblee is always good for a historical golf story and speaking on the latest episode of his Favourite Chamblee podcast, he got onto the subject of Scheffler’s rise.
However, while impressive as it is, Chamblee has pointed out how the current world number one followed his own path.
“As a junior he was. Collegiate he wasn’t. Everybody knew what Rory was going to do and what Tiger was going to do. Phil Mickelson won a professional event as a collegiate golfer. But with Scottie doing all these amazing things as a junior then getting into college. I asked David Winkel that same question. And Winkel and I know how hard the business school is at the University of Texas,” Chamblee said.
“But Scottie really wanted to have an authentic college experience. He wanted to get a business degree, which is very hard to do if you are away playing full time golf because you are gone for two weeks out of every month and that’s a lot of work to catch up on, especially as you are in labs for some of those business courses. So he wanted the full business experience. He wanted to have a girlfriend in college, get a business degree and experience college life.
“He was also five foot something when he graduated from high school and grew to six foot something. He was growing and every day the ground was in a different spot. Every day he needed new clubs.
“So you had this collision of growth spurt and college experience disrupting the flow of what he did in junior golf. I think that’s the only way I could explain it, because somebody who is doing what he so quickly did. Going to Korn Ferry and having immediate success and coming to the PGA Tour and having immediate big success.”
The handicap Scottie Scheffler now plays off as world number one
In the professional game, handicaps never really come into things and it’s little wonder really, given how all the players are so talented.
However, given the rise of Scheffler in recent years and how good he is now compared to being under the radar in college, it’s interesting to know his own handicap.
Speaking recently on Grant Horvat’s YouTube channel, Scheffler actually revealed his handicap when he plays at home courses.
I have played anywhere from +5 to +7. The guys I was playing with, there was one guy in the group, at one point I was playing to a +7 and he was getting 22 shots or something like that. So we took it down a bit because it was getting ridiculous,” Scheffler admitted.
“There was one day out here, where I lipped out a chip on 18 for 59 and I got absolutely smoked in the wolf. I was mad too. I was like that was 59! You guys are so spoilt! I almost shot 59 and you didn’t even notice.”
Given the quality he displays weekly on the PGA Tour, it feels like Scheffler might well have shown the way forward for future stars of the game.
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