While there is nothing in Scottie Scheffler’s golf game which hints that he may struggle to sustain his current dominance, there are a number of factors behind the scenes which will determine just where the world number one leaves himself in the pantheon of all-time greats in the game.
Scottie Scheffler appears to have all of the tools on the golf course to become one of the most successful players the sport has ever seen. Scheffler has been backed to win 10 majors during his career after clinching The Open Championship this past week.
But so much can change over the course of a career.
Few would have ever imagined that Tiger Woods would go nearly 11 years without winning a major after the 2008 US Open. Meanwhile, there are plenty of younger players who will hope to rival Scheffler. Golf fans may not even know about the 29-year-old’s greatest challenger yet.
What Scottie Scheffler’s peers really think of the world number one
But it seems that the Scheffler the public sees is very similar to the person his peers know. Jordan Spieth spoke of Scheffler not wanting to be a superstar as he closed in on victory at Royal Portrush.
And speaking on Indo Sport, Brandel Chamblee claimed that so many players on the PGA Tour have so much admiration for him, both professionally and personally.
“I think they have great respect for him as a person and obviously great respect for him as a player,” he said.
“There was probably a sense in the first year or two where you thought he is just in a rich vein of form. This will subside and the ebb and flow will happen.
“Now it has been working up on four years, three and a half years, where you have seen this ball striking dominance. He is racking up wins and winning by wide margins and he has now won three of the four legs of the Career Grand Slam.
“It’s finally, reluctantly dawned on these guys that they are watching the beginnings of the greatest careers of all time, and they want to give him his respect because he is worthy of it.
“He is a well liked person. Just watching him walk around the course with Haotong Li and when they were walking down the fairway for a time or two they were conversing and sharing some levity out there.
“I saw them both smiling and laughing, so he’s a liked guy. I think no matter how good you are in this game, you have to respect somebody who can distance themselves like that.
“They are giving it to him. I did think Bryson DeChambeau’s comments were reflective of what we have said in the media, because players don’t generally sneak up on us.
“We see them coming. We saw Jordan Spieth coming, we saw Rory McIlroy, of course we saw Tiger Woods. We saw Phil Mickelson coming. His college coach at the University of Texas, where I went, so I talk to him a fair bit and I ask how can you explain what transpired in college compared to what we are seeing now.
“He said he did win as a junior, he won like Tiger Woods, he won the US Junior and hundreds of golf tournaments. He shot 59 a few times in high school. So he was doing all these crazy things.
“But what happened in college was that he wanted the full college experience, he was taking rigorous classes, he wanted a social life and he grew at a crazy rate. I think he grew five or six inches in college, so every day the ground was in a different place than the day before.
“He was Freshman of the Year in the nation as a freshman, so he had a very good but not great college career, so he did sneak up on us a little bit! But now we have seen what we have seen you have to give him his due.”
What Harris English said about Scottie Scheffler as a person during The Open Championship
Harris English has got more reason to be annoyed with Scheffler than anyone else in 2025. English ended up finishing second at both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.
Of course, the player ahead of him on both occasions was Scheffler. English is now a two-time best of the rest major champion.
But ahead of the final round in Northern Ireland, English spoke about Scheffler and admitted that he cannot say anything negative about his countryman.
“He’s unbelievable. I call Scottie a friend. I’ve known him for a good while since his amateur days. I’m just so impressed with his work ethic,” he said.
“Number one in the world for I don’t know how many weeks, but he works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen. He’s got a great system. He’s got — just his belief, and he works like he’s never going to play in another major championship ever again. It’s really impressive.
“Just a great guy overall. He’s easy to root for. I can’t say anything bad about the guy. It’s impressive to watch, and what he’s doing is incredible.”
It is probably frustrating for his peers that Scheffler seems to be so likeable. You cannot begrudge him any of the success he has had already, and you would expect that there is so much more glory to come.
The fact that he is not behaving like a superstar makes it easier to believe that Scheffler is still yet to realise his full potential and has more to do before he reaches whatever summit he decides to park himself on.
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