Scheffler's Fourth Major Win Evokes Prime-Tiger Woods Comparisons

Forbes

a day ago

Scottie Scheffler kisses the Claret Jug following his victory at the Open Championship at Royal ... More Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. (Photo by Alex Pantling/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
When Tiger Woods was in his prime and took a 54-hole lead into the final round of a tournament, the result felt like a foregone conclusion. It often seemed the rest of the field was playing for second place. Scottie Scheffler's dominating victory at The Open Championship – and fourth win in eight starts – had that same feeling of inevitability.
The 27-year-old Texas carried a four-shot lead into the final round and promptly birdied three of the first five holes at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland to quell any questions about whether he might relinquish the lead. Scheffler won with relentless efficiency, finishing 17-under par overall, and the winning margin felt wider than it was.
"What he's doing is so dominant and so clinical," NBC Sports analyst and former professional golfer Brandel Chamblee said of Scheffler, who has moved within a U.S. Open win of the career Grand Slam. "I can't help but think that we are on an inevitable march towards one of the greatest careers in the history of golf."
Given his current streak of dominance, including 11 straight Top 10 finishes and four wins, among them two majors, since the start of May, the comparisons to Woods are perhaps inevitable.
Scottie Scheffler won his fourth career major title (all since 2022) at Royal Portrush. (Photo by ... More)
"I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here's Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance," said Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and Open Championship in 2024, but finished seven shots behind Scheffler despite closing with rounds of 69, 66 and 68.
"You can't even say he's on a run. He's just been killing it for over two years now. He's a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us."
$90 Million in Career Earnings
All 17 of Scheffler's wins have come over the past 3 1/2 years, a stretch that includes Masters Tournament titles in 2022 and 2024, and the PGA Championship in May of this year. By winning another $3.1 million, Scheffler pushed his career earnings past $90 million, the fourth-highest total in history.
With his final-round coronation at Royal Portrush, Scheffler collected his fourth career major 1,197 days after his first – the exact timeframe Woods needed to go from one to four majors. Given the vagaries of the Open Championship – including wind, weather and the different skillsets and mindset that links golf demands – Scheffler is just the second No. 1 player since the advent of the Official Golf Ranking in 1986 to claim the Claret Jug. The other was Woods.
"I look everywhere and I try to find some kind of weakness, somewhere where he can get derailed, and I just can't find it," NBC Sports analyst Paul McGinley, a former Irish professional who captained Europe to victory at the 2014 Ryder Cup, says of Scheffler. "He might even prove to have more longevity than Tiger Woods."
A fan favorite at Royal Portrush, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland finished seven strokes behind ... More winner Scottie Scheffler. (Photo by)
Rory McIlroy finished in a tie for seventh place at 10-under par and the Irishman, the fan favorite all week at Royal Portrush, acknowledged that no one in the pack could 'hang with Scottie this week' given the mistake-free efficiency with which Scheffler was playing.
"He is the bar that we're all trying to get to,' McIlroy said. 'In a historical context, you could argue that there's only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run (like) the one that Scottie's been on here for the last 24 to 36 months. Incredibly impressive."
Scheffler's Final Round
Scheffler's final-round performance at the Open Championship was particularly Woods-esque. While names like McIlroy, Harris English, Chris Gotterup, Wyndham Clark, Haotong Li, and Matt Fitzpatrick all shot below par on Sunday and at times seemed poised to make charges, Scheffler charged right alongside them. He had four front-nine birdies and offset his lone double bogey of the week (a 6 on the par 4 8th hole) with two birdies over the next four holes.
"That was, I felt like, one of my best performances mentally," Scheffler said. "To only have one double -- really only one over-par hole in the last 36 holes of a major championship -- that's how you're able to win these tournaments.'
Scottie Scheffler walks up the 18th hole during Saturday's third round at the Open Championship at ... More Royal Portrush Golf Club. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Harris English, who has twice been a major runner-up to Scheffler this year -- by a combined nine strokes at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship -- summed up the challenge facing the rest of the tour.
"There's no stat that he's bad in,' English said afterward. 'It's like, how do you beat this guy?"
Tiger Woods Comparisons
Scheffler remained characteristically humble during his post-championship news conference when asked about the comparisons to Woods.
"I still think they're a bit silly. Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there," Scheffler said. "I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy."
Scottie Scheffler with son Bennett and the Claret Jug on the 18th green after winning the 153rd Open ... More Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. (Photo by Alex Pantling/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
And yet, when you look at Scheffler's pace, his trophy cabinet is growing almost as quickly. Already, only 21 golfers in history have won more than his four major titles. Besides Woods, who hasn't played in 2025, the only other active players with more majors are Phil Mickelson (6), Brooks Koepka (5), and McIlroy (5).
At just 27 years old, Scheffler still has time on his side. And if the comparisons to 'prime Tiger' feel premature now, that sentiment may not last much longer.