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New York Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Scottie Scheffler vs. Everybody: The Open Champion is making his case among the greats
As Tiger Woods wrapped up his eight-shot Open Championship victory at St. Andrews in 2000, his second-straight blowout major championship, a collective exasperation overcame the entirety of golf's competitive body. 'He's the best who ever played,' Mark Calcavecchia said that Sunday, 'and he's 24.' 'He is the best player in the world by a long, long way and we have got to raise our standards to join his,' Colin Montgomerie said. 'We have got to go up to his and we are all trying. We are all failing, but we are all trying.' 'He's got to leave a few for his friends, doesn't he?' Jean Van de Velde said. 'He can't have them all.' 'If you put Old Tom Morris with Tiger Woods,' Ernie Els said, '(Woods) would probably beat him by 80 shots right now. The guy is unbelievable, man. I'm running out of words. Give me a break.' Advertisement Oh, how eerily similar those sentiments sound in the aftermath of Scottie Scheffler's four-shot domination — that was at one point as large as eight shots — at Royal Portrush for his fourth major championship in four years and third in eight starts. Even if it was already understood, this Open Championship was the final confirmation that Scheffler is not just the current best player in the world. He's the type of supreme conqueror any given sport might find once every few decades. 'Scottie Scheffler is — it's inevitable,' Rory McIlroy said. 'Four shots behind, kind of like playing for second,' Haotong Li said. 'When you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us,' defending champ Xander Schauffele conceded. 'If Scottie's feet stayed stable and his swing looked like Adam Scott's, we'd be talking about him in the same words as Tiger Woods,' Shane Lowry said. It is time to truly have the conversation about where Scottie Scheffler belongs in golf history. First, it was only the best ball striking since Tiger. Then it was the best individual season since Tiger. But this is no longer simply a nice run, or a great peak. We're now at four, steady, undeniable years of golf so much better than any peer. Scheffler is not only the best of his era. He's among the greatest to ever play the sport. With his fourth major championship, Scheffler earned the third leg of the career Grand Slam. But he's just the fourth golfer to win the Masters, the PGA Championship and the Open Championship all before the age of 30. His company? Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Per Justin Ray, Scheffler is one of three players since the creation of the Masters in 1934 to win four or more major titles by at least three strokes. The others are Woods (seven wins) and Nicklaus (six). DataGolf created a metric called DG Points that interweaves underlying advanced strokes gained stats with tangible accomplishments to rank the best golf seasons since 1983. Scheffler's last four all rank in the top 20. Of the last 42 years in golf, 12 of the 20 best seasons are owned by Woods or Scheffler. Nobody else has more than two. Advertisement Scheffler's career in totality can't be properly judged until it's all over. His current run may be far greater than any peak in Phil Mickelson's career, but we can't argue against six majors, 45 PGA Tour wins and 21 1/2 Ryder Cup points. At least not yet. The pain and beauty of golf reside in the understood vulnerability that it could all end at any moment. Woods' career is primarily broken down between two all-time three-year runs with relative lulls in between. Rory McIlroy won four majors in four years. Brooks Koepka won four in three. Jordan Spieth won three in three. All of them experienced dramatic dips shortly after. Look at the timeline comparing McIlroy's and Scheffler's pace to winning four majors. McIlroy was four years younger, but the pace is identical in terms of major starts. It's a reminder that what feels inevitable rarely is. It took another 39 major starts for McIlroy to win his fifth. Amazing graphic here. Wow. — Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) July 20, 2025 With that said, there's zero indication that Scheffler's pace will slow. If anything, we thought it was happening this winter when Scheffler cut his hand in a freak cooking accident and needed surgery. It led to a 'slow start' as he 'only' finished top 25 each week instead of winning. That's in the past. He's won four of his last eight tournaments — including two majors — and hasn't been worse than eighth since March. In reality, none of the great peaks of Scheffler's contemporaries come close to the comprehensive significance of what Scheffler is doing. He is no longer competing with the greats of this era. He's competing with the greatest of all time. It can be unfortunate when we reduce golf greatness down to major championships. It's the most important test of that greatness, absolutely, but it does not paint the entire picture. Advertisement McIlroy's peak came the closest, winning four majors from 2011 to 2014. He won 12 times worldwide, and his 2012 and 2014 seasons rank in the DG Points top 20. At the height of his 2014 peak, though, he was gaining 2.40 strokes on the field per round. Impressive, but Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and Justin Rose were right behind him at 2.23, 2.23 and 2.05, respectively. Scheffler is gaining 3.10 strokes on the field. Next best is McIlroy at 2.10, followed by Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. That's an average, with recency weighed heavier, across the last 150 rounds. So nearly the past two years of golf. These four years, Scheffler has won 20 times worldwide, and counting. McIlroy finished top five 37 times in those four years. Scheffler has finished there 48 times (and it's just July). Those who hyperfixate on majors will then throw Koepka's (incredible) career in. But that's not even really a conversation. Koepka won four majors in three years, but he was always a strange, wonderful golf anomaly. He was not a dominant week-to-week golfer like the other names mentioned. During that three-year run of greatness, he won just two other PGA Tour events. Not that DataGolf is some end-all, be-all, but it does paint an extremely helpful picture of overall play. Koepka never actually ranked higher than No. 4 at any point in his career. Mickelson's longevity is his superpower, but he never had a single season rank in the DG top 30. His career peak was averaging 2.41 strokes gained on the field in 2000. Scheffler has been above that for three years straight. No, the actual comparisons for Scheffler's four-year transcendence are the names you're never supposed to compare anyone to. Tom Watson won five majors from 1980 to 1983, easily the best run of anyone between Nicklaus and Woods. Watson finished in the top 10 an absurd 11 times in those 16 starts. Since the start of 2022, Scheffler has four wins with 12 top 10s. If we avoid going too deep into the quality of competition argument, those are remarkably similar runs. Watson finished with eight majors across nine years. Advertisement Lee Trevino won four majors in four years from 1971 to 1974 (despite skipping two Masters), but he only had seven top-10 finishes and plenty where he missed the cut or was outside the top 30. What will be interesting to follow, though, is Watson's best four-year run came smack dab in the middle of an overall nine-year prime. He won majors before and after that run. This Scheffler four-year run is just the beginning. We don't even know if these will be his best four years. That's the thing about Scheffler. He's continued to get better, and better and better. His 2023 season was the greatest strokes gained approach season since Woods. The next two years have been far better. For much of his rise, he was a below-average putter. He's now top 10 in the world on the greens. His 2024 season was rightfully called one of the four or five best seasons in golf history, winning nine times worldwide. Well, Scheffler may only have four wins so far this year, but he has two majors. In the past eight starts as he recovered from his hand surgery, he's gaining 3.82 strokes per round. That's the best run of his career. That's just inches from 2000 Tiger territory (4.01). So, yes, at this moment in time, Scheffler feels inevitable in a way that truly only compares to Woods and Nicklaus at their best. Arnold Palmer never had a run this good. Neither did Gary Player. No, this isn't saying Scheffler is in the Woods or Nicklaus conversation. Not yet. Even if we only went on their best four-year runs, Nicklaus from 1972 to 1975 won four majors with 15 top 10s. From 1962 to 1965, he won five majors with 11 top 10s. Woods from 2005 to 2008 had six majors and 12 top 10s. Preposterous. And we all know he won four straight majors in 2000 and 2001 with seven total majors from 1999 to 2002. But the point of this is all to say: Scheffler is no longer just comparing himself to his peers. His greatness has only the absolute pantheon left to chase. (Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photos: David Cannon, David Madison, Alex Pantling / Getty Images)
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
World Golf Rankings: Scheffler strengthens No. 1 spot after Open Championship victory
The world golf rankings are finally ready following the final major championship of 2025, the Open Championship. Scottie Scheffler won by four strokes over Harris English to capture his first Claret Jug and fourth major championship. As a result, let's take a look to see how the top 10 in the world golf rankings shakes out after the 153rd Open Championship. 1. Scottie Scheffler, World Golf Rankings leader When a player achieves major victory No. 4, something is going right. To win four majors in a player's first 25 major championships starts is another. Scottie Scheffler became the sixth player in the last 35 years to win a fourth major. Those other five men are Tiger Woods in 2000, Phil Mickelson in 2010, Ernie Els in 2012, Rory McIlroy in 2014, and Brooks Koepka in 2019. Scheffler is also the third youngest at 29 years old to achieve four majors and 15 PGA Tour wins all time, joining Woods in 2000 and Jack Nicklaus in 1965. Last year, Scheffler won nine times, including a green jacket and a gold medal. Now, he has two majors in the same season. It is the second straight season a player has won both the PGA Championship and The Open in the same year, joining Xander Schauffele. What Scheffler is putting together over the last two-plus years is legendary, whether he likes the attention or not. Related: 2. Rory McIlroy In his return to his home country of Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush, Rory McIlroy played a lot better than he did six years ago. After missing the cut in 2019 by one stroke, McIlroy finished tied for seventh and retained his No. 2 spot in the world golf rankings. McIlroy shot all four rounds under par, highlighted by his 5-under 66 on Saturday. The home crowd enjoyed seeing their superstar play at home, with galleries walking with McIlroy from one hole to the next. Related: 3. Xander Schauffele Xander Schauffele put together a solid European trip in a season that has taken some bumps. Schauffele recorded two top 10 finishes at the Genesis Scottish Open and the Open Championship. That keeps him locked into the No. 3 spot of the world golf rankings. Schauffele, who tied with McIlroy at the Open Championship, recorded his best finish of the season. It marks Schauffele's 26th top 20 finish in 34 major championship starts. It is also his 14th top 20 finish in his last 15 major starts. 4. Justin Thomas Justin Thomas sits at No. 4 in this week's world golf rankings. The former World No. 1 tied for 34th at the Open Championship at 3-under par. Thomas was fueled by back-to-back 2-under 69s in the middle rounds. This came after firing a 1-over 72 in Thursday's first round. Thomas is still in a good spot for both the FedEx Cup standings and the Team USA Ryder Cup standings. Despite falling one spot to No. 7 in the Ryder Cup standings, Thomas is in a good position to at least earn himself a call as a captain's pick. 5. Russell Henley Russell Henley remains at No. 5 in this week's world golf rankings. Henley tied for 10th at 9-under par. Henley also shot an opening round 1-over 72, like Thomas, but was able to adjust as the week went along. His week was highlighted by a 6-under 65 on Saturday to give him a shot and opportunity to finish inside the top 10. A top 10 finish also secures Henley a spot in next year's Open Championship at Royal Birkdale next July. 6. Collin Morikawa Collin Morikawa struggled this week at The Open but still retained the No. 6 spot in the world golf rankings. Morikawa is one of the best strokes gained approach players on the PGA Tour this season, ranking sixth. However, in the field of 156, he ranked 147th in that statistic over the first two rounds. Morikawa is hoping to have better results in his return to the U.S. after a couple of missed cuts between the Scottish Open and the Open. Also read: 7. Keegan Bradley Keegan Bradley also holds his spot this week in the world golf rankings at No. 7. Bradley tied for 30th at 4-under par at the Open Championship. His best round came on Friday when he shot a 4-under 67 in the second round. The Team USA Ryder Cup captain is also trying to make himself an automatic pick for the team. Bradley is currently 10th on the list and about 2,350 points behind the sixth spot of automatic qualification. If Bradley does reach that before the BMW Championship next month, he will be the first playing-captain in the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963. 8. Harris English Harris English rose 11 spots in this week's world golf rankings to No. 8. This comes after his runner-up finish at The Open Championship. This marks English's highest world ranking spot as he recorded his second runner-up finish at a major this season. English shot three of his four rounds in the 60s, including a final round 5-under 66. He also rises to No. 6 in the Team USA Ryder Cup standings, which would give the final spot to automatically qualify. 9. J.J. Spaun J.J. Spaun dropped one spot to No. 9 in the world golf rankings. The reigning U.S. Open champion worked his way out of the positive numbers, like Thomas and Henley, after the first round. Despite an opening round 2-over 73, Spaun went 69-68-68 over his final 54 holes to finish tied for 23rd at 6-under par in his Open Championship debut. Also read: 10. Sepp Straka Sepp Straka also dropped in this week's world golf ranking, stepping two spots down to No. 10. Straka shot even par for the week, tying for 52nd at The Open. Straka is still in a good spot as the end of the season arrives. He is third in the FedEx Cup Standings and sixth in the Ryder Cup standings for Team Europe. Also read: Related Headlines New York Yankees Named Top Trade Fit for 2x All-Star Enjoying Career Year Phoenix Suns Express Interest in Former $177 Million All-Star Former NFL Star Blasts Jerry Jones Over Micah Parsons Comment Terry McLaurin Considering Holdout or Trade Request From Washington Commanders
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Scheffler seals The Open, fourth major victory
Watch the winning moment of Scottie Scheffler's dominant win in The 153rd Open Championship, his fourth major championship and third leg of the career grand slam.
Forbes
a day ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Scottie Scheffler Wins The 2025 Open Championship - 3rd On Money List
PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 20: Scottie Scheffler of the United States lifts the Claret Jug on ... More the 18th green following victory on Day Four of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 20, 2025 in Portrush, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) Scottie Scheffler wins the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush by four shots, finishing with a score of 267 — 17 under par. Scheffler bested runner-up Harris English by four strokes and third-place finisher Chris Gotterup by five. This marks Scheffler's fourth major championship victory, having already won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow earlier this year and The Masters in 2022 and 2024. He now surpasses Jordan Spieth, Nick Price, Payne Stewart, and Vijay Singh, each of whom holds three major titles. While four major wins already qualify as Hall of Fame caliber, current conversations aren't focused on Scheffler's existing total, but rather on how many more he could win. Vegas odds currently set the over/under for his career major championship wins at 9.5. Should he surpass that mark, Scheffler would trail only Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Walter Hagen in all-time major victories. In previous years, players like Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, and Jordan Spieth were seen as the next Tiger Woods. But injuries, mental struggles, and personal setbacks curtailed their momentum. Scheffler, by contrast, has displayed remarkable mental toughness, remained injury-free, and maintained a grounded personal life, proudly embracing his role as a drama-free family man. PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 20: Scottie Scheffler of the United States celebrates victory on ... More 18th green with his son Bennett Scheffler and the Claret Jug on Day Four of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 20, 2025 in Portrush, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Alex Pantling/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) Scheffler currently holds 17 PGA Tour wins and ranks third on the all-time money list, having earned just over $90 million. Adjusted for inflation, he would fall just outside the top ten. Over the past three years, he has earned $14 million (2022), $21 million (2023), and $29 million (2024). Time will tell whether Scheffler can reach the 10-major milestone, but he has clearly established himself as the best golfer in the world today and a future Hall of Fame inductee. Only a U.S. Open title remains for him to complete the career Grand Slam.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Scottie Scheffler's Son Goes Viral For Open Championship Celebration
Scottie Scheffler's Son Goes Viral For Open Championship Celebration originally appeared on The Spun. Scottie Scheffler may have collected his fourth major championship at The Open Championship on Sunday, but all eyes were on his son Bennett when the world No. 1 secured the Claret Jug. As Scottie embraced his wife after sinking the final putt of his three-under round, it was Bennett who was caught looking directly into the cameras during mom and dad's celebration. "Scottie Scheffler's son after Scottie won ANOTHER major championship 😭" ESPN joked. "Just another Sunday for Bennett Scheffler 🏆" It didn't take long for little Bennett to go viral following the tournament. "Bennett thinks winning these things is normal," a user said. "Bennett is already Aura farming at this point. 😂" another laughed. "His son is like 'what did you expect? 🤷♂️' 😂❤️" a fan commented. "'Expect anything different?' - Bennett Scheffler, probably." "Great to see!" another person exclaimed. "A superstar but down to earth, loves his family more than golf & remains an enigma as to his future in golf vs other life pursuits." "The son had to hit a MJ shrug," another user pointed out. "what a beautiful picture of Scottie and His family!" "Bennett Scheffler already collecting majors before kindergarten 🍼⛳️" another fan replied. "Kid's first word might be 'birdie' 🏆😂" Scheffler has been incredibly dominant over the past few years — so much so that some are even comparing him to the great Tiger Woods. And while it's taken the same amount of time for both golfers to collect their first and fourth majors, Scheffler doesn't believe those comparisons are apt. "I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf," Scottie said, via "He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf."Scottie Scheffler's Son Goes Viral For Open Championship Celebration first appeared on The Spun on Jul 21, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 21, 2025, where it first appeared.
