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Donald Trump does not give Scottie Scheffler same treatment as Rory McIlroy

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Donald Trump Scottie Scheffler

Donald Trump is yet to congratulate Scottie Scheffler on his PGA Championship win after the current world number one secured the third major of his career on Sunday.

The 28-year-oldposted a level-par 71 on the final day of play to ensure he finished ahead of Jon Rahm and fellow countryman Bryson DeChambeau, giving a timely reminder of why he is considered the best player in the world after securing back-to-back victories on the PGA Tour. Just a fortnight earlier, Scheffler had claimed his first win of the year at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Scheffler had entered the final round at Quail Hollow with a three-shot lead over the rest of the field and, while a sluggish start to the day offered the chasing pack a glimmer of hope, there was only ever going to be one winner. As for Masters winner Rory McIlroy, it was a weekend to forget as he recorded a disappointing three-over par, marking his poorest performance since 2016.

Rory McIlroy

READ: Amanda Balionis has ‘full circle moment’ after Rory McIlroy controversy

Unlike Scheffler, however, the Northern Irishman received immediate congratulations from President Trump following his major success at Augusta last month as he became the sixth golfer ever to capture the coveted Grand Slam.

“I have to congratulate Rory,” Trump told a reporter aboard Air Force One when asked if he watched The Masters. “That took tremendous courage. He was having a hard time, but it showed great guts and stamina, and courage.

“People have no idea how tough that is. He came back. It’s better for him that it happened that way because that showed real courage to have come back from what could’ve been a tragedy – it was amazing.”

Trump, however, has remained silent since Scheffler’s PGA Championship victory. The 78-year-old hasn’t actually posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account since Saturday, when he shared a video of his recent visit to the UAE as part of his wider visit to the Middle East last week.

Given his obsession with golf and Scheffler’s American background, it is perhaps surprising that Trump hasn’t publicly congratulated him on his latest win, especially as it’s such a big one.

Just last month, Trump named Scheffler as one of his favorites to win the Masters, even branding him as a “friend”. When asked if there’s a specific player that he’s rooting for to secure the green jacket, he responded: “They’re all friends of mine. They have some great ones. Scottie Scheffler’s great. Bryson [DeChambeau] is great. Justin Rose, they’re all friends of mine.”

It came not long after PGA Tour star and Scheffler’s best friend, Sam Burns, was left shocked by Trump’s openness during their round of golf together. The 28-year-old admitted playing with the president was an eye-opening experience, with virtually no subject off-limits.

“He’s exactly how you’d think he would be. He’s exactly what you see on TV, brutally honest. He’s very open, you can pretty much ask him anything,” Burns told the GOLF’s subpar show. “And he loves golf. He has some really funny stories, so it’s pretty cool to listen to. I asked him some stuff. I wasn’t sure if he would answer or not, but he did.”

With regards to Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East, talks surrounding a LIV Golf deal were expected to be “on his agenda”, having become somewhat of a middleman for a potential merger between LIV and the PGA.

However, after a $1.5 billion investment offer from the Saudi-backed league was rejected at the start of last month, with the PGA Tour deeming the demands to be unacceptable, Trump was believed to have been tasked with informing Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that any deal between the PGA Tour and PIF will bring an end to LIV Golf.

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Scottie Scheffler Falls Way Short of Tiger Woods as PGA Tour Peers Downplay His 2024 Success

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Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler

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.

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