Gary Player once highlighted a big issue with Scottie Scheffler’s record of winning, ‘it’s a pity’

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Scottie Scheffler is the number one golfer in the world right now by quite some distance, and he has been for a while.

However, Gary Player has highlighted something that bothers him about Scheffler‘s record of winning golf tournaments on the PGA Tour.

Scheffler has actually been compared to the great Jack Nicklaus by Butch Harmon, and praise doesn’t come much higher than that.

It’s actually frightening just how much better the four-time major champion is than everyone else right now.

In spite of that, Player recently claimed Jordan Spieth is actually the world’s best golfer ahead of Scheffler, but highlighted how the three-time major winner has just been incorrectly coached.

So the South African is clearly not afraid of sharing controversial takes!

And that statement applies to something he said about Scheffler earlier this year.

Gary Player highlighted an issue with Scottie Scheffler’s record of winning

Player is quite obviously a very big fan of Scheffler as a golfer.

How could he not be? The 18-time PGA Tour winner is well on track to reach legendary status in the game and who knows, he may well match Player’s major record within the next five years or so.

However, the nine-time major champion recently highlighted one issue he has with the majority of Scheffler’s victories.

During an interview with talkSPORT in the UK, Player pointed out how the emergence of LIV Golf means that Scheffler’s wins may not be quite as impressive as some people think.

“Scottie Scheffler is without a doubt the best player in the world today,“ Player explained.

“Golf is very healthy at the moment, but if only LIV Golf and the normal tour could get together, because confrontation is not good.

“Now here’s the thing. When you win a golf tournament today, you can’t say that you won a tournament with the world’s best players, because half are on the LIV Golf tour and half are on the regular tour.

“So there should be an asterisk when you win a tournament. If you win a major, that’s different. But it’s a pity it’s got to this.”

The LIV competition argument doesn’t hold up with Scottie Scheffler

LIV Golf was formed in June 2022. Since then, only two out of the 13 majors played have been won by LIV players – Brooks Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship and Bryson DeChambeau at the 2024 US Open.

During that time, Scheffler has won three out of the 13 majors played and has recorded 10 top-10 finishes.

He has proven consistently that he is far superior to the best that the Saudi-backed outfit has to offer.

It may well be easier to win on the PGA Tour now without the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm for most players, but not Scheffler.

Player’s point that Scheffler’s wins over the past three years should come with an asterisk is wide of the mark in my opinion.

It’s also worth noting what Lee Trevino once told Player about the current world number one.

The South African said, “Lee Trevino, who’s a great judge, was telling me that he watched him hitting balls the other day. He said, ‘he is so good’, and it’s wonderful to see that.”

Trevino doesn’t offer out praise cheaply and it’s fair to say that if he was amazed by Scheffler’s ability, the 29-year-old from Dallas, Texas, is very much the real deal.