There was never a doubt in anyone’s mind that Tiger Woods had the best seasons when he had multiple victories. However, with Scottie Scheffler, things are different. The 27-year-old emerged victorious in six events, including the Masters, and won a gold medal at the Olympics as well. Notably, the five events were also all elevated, including four signature events and the PLAYERS Championship.
On the other hand, his competitor and the man Scheffler has been getting compared to, Xander Schauffele, carded only two wins this season. Albeit both were majors, once at the PGA Championship and then at the 152nd Open in Royal Troon. Despite breaking one of Tiger Woods’s records, and getting near his level, Scheffler’s popularity among the PGA Tour pros hints that he needs more to stand tall with Woods.
Scottie Scheffler becomes the second option for PGA Tour pros
It’s hard to argue whose season was the best when two of the best golfers are against each other. On one hand, Scottie Scheffler has been dominant in comparatively every event, whereas on the other, Xander Schauffele took on two out of the four majors. The question remains a puzzle, yet most of the PGA Tour pros chose Schauffele.
At the BMW Championship in Castle Pines GC, the question of whose season you would choose was a popular one at the press conference. When Viktor Hovland was posed with it, he commended Scheffler’s run and said he had a better season compared to anyone at this point. However, he was still more inclined towards Schauffele. The Norwegian pro said, “I think in like 20 years back — 20 years in the future, looking back at the year, I think I’d rather have won two majors, just personally.”
And Hovland was not alone in doing so. The 13-time PGA Tour winner Jason Day also expressed that he would rather have Schauffele’s season than that of world no. 1. The Australian pro praised Scheffler and said that he had a tremendous and phenomenal year, which will probably make him the Player of the Year. However, the 2-time major winner surpassed here too. Day said, “Even though Xander has won two majors, I would probably go more towards the majors just because I want to add more majors to my career.”
Furthermore, Justin Thomas also joined in to share that he would also choose Xander Schauffele’s season over Scheffler’s, prompting the same reason as others. While many opted for the world no. 2’s 2024 season, all was not lost for the world no. 1 as two of his PGA Tour comrades came in to support him.
Who has chosen Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 season?
Technically, Scottie Scheffler has more odds of winning the PGA Tour 2024 Player of the Year than Xander Schauffele. So far, no one could deny that the world no. 1 was unstoppable on the courses and his form was ordinary in only a few games. Thus, not everyone on the PGA Tour opted for Scheffler, at least not Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy.
The 2023 US Open winner was hesitant to give an outright answer to choose between his two buddies. But he put Scheffler over Schauffele. Clark said, “With how good Scottie is playing right now and what he’s done this year… Scottie is on a run that we haven’t seen since Tiger.” That was true, the last time any player won the PLAYERS, Masters, and 3 or more events was Tiger Woods in 2005 before Scheffler matched it in the 2024 season.
So, Clark gave Scheffler the upper hand but still said, “I would choose both of them if I could.” Meanwhile, the Ulsterman, Rory McIlroy, has the clear winner between Schauffele and Scheffler. When he was asked the same question, without any hesitation, the Northern Irishman said, “Scottie’s. I think winning the Masters, an Olympic gold medal, winning, whatever it is, six times, it’s pretty hard to top that.”
So, although Scheffler has been ranked world no. 1 for more than 66 consecutive weeks, to match Tiger Woods, he would have to be ranked no. 1 for the next four years. Thus, reaching Tiger Woods might still be far away but Scheffler has been on the right path despite Xander Schauffele coming out to be the better choice to his PGA Tour comrades.
