Scheffler entering Tiger territory

It would have to be something low-key yet powerful: perhaps a moose. The New Jersey-native doesn’t possess the easy charisma of Nicklaus, nor does he have the Sith Lord intimidation factor of Woods. But his victory at the American Express has intensified comparisons with the greats, signalling yet another season of Scheffler dominance. Scheffler’s runaway four-shot victory at the Pete Dye Stadium Course made it 20 PGA Tour victories for the affable Scheffler. He achieved the feat in 151 appearances, making him the 3rd quickest person to that mark behind Woods (95 appearances) and Nickalus (127 appearances). And he appears to just be getting started.

Making winning look so easy

Scheffler has now won 14 US PGA Tour events in the last 22 months! That is the reason that people are comfortable mentioning his name alongside that of Tiger Woods. The thing that startles me about Scheffler’s current dominance is the ease with which he achieves it. On Sunday, the unassuming American rinsed his tee shot on the island green 17th (affectionately known as ‘Alcatraz’). What should have been a moment of dramatic tension was a literal damp squib, as he had already built up a six-shot lead going into the final stretch. All in all, nine of Scheffler’s 20 PGA Tour wins have come by four shots or more. That level of dominance borders on the predictable (let’s hope it doesn’t come to that this season). Here’s a crazy statistic: you must go back to the 2024 BMW PGA Championship for the last time Scheffler finished outside the top 25 of an event!

Scheffler has cleaned up short-game kinks

But it appears – in these early stages of the season- that we could be seeing a more aggressive version of Scheffler this season. Ordinarily, Scheffler would just use his unparalleled tee-to-green game to bore players into submission (missing a green in reg is an anomaly in Scheffler’s world). Of his nine birdies on Sunday, just one was outside of that five-foot zone. Teenage breakthrough sensation Blades Brown enjoyed a front-row seat to the action on Sunday, heaping praise on Scheffler’s wedge game and putting (which was once perceived as a weakness in the Scheffler arsenal). Scheffler’s decision to switch to the TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet putter may be the most consequential equipment change since Tiger moved to a solid-core Nike ball in 2000.

Eyeing more Major glory

Earlier in his career, many critics pointed to the fact that he couldn’t parlay his regular-season dominance into major consistency- he won just once in his first 17 major appearances. But he has become an absolute force in recent seasons, winning three of the last eight major championships. The switch to the mallet putter certainly had an impact last year, as Scheffler steamrolled the competition en route to two major titles. In fact, he was 32-under-par across the four major championships last year, nearly tripling the next best player. That stat, perhaps more than any other, is eerily reminiscent of the trailblazing efforts of a certain Mr. Woods. Oh, and let’s not forget that he is now a two-time Players champion and the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist. He is made for the biggest stages.

Scottie eyeing Career Grand Slam

Later this year, Scheffler will have a chance of creating more history as he looks to become the 7th man in history to complete the Career Grand Slam. Victory at the US Open would ensure that he joins Rory McIlroy on that esteemed list (and just one year after the Northern Irishman). Shinnecock Hills is notoriously treacherous and will test every facet of Scheffler’s game. But if there’s anything that his recent dominance has taught us, it’s that he is equally efficient on exacting layouts as he is on more benign tracks. If he manages to tame Shinnecock, I doubt it will match the drama of McIlroy’s scarcely believable Augusta triumph. No, it will probably resemble his most recent Sunday procession. Scary times for the other guys on tour.