With his third and fourth major titles added to his CV in 2025, it is getting harder to ignore the growing conversation about where Scottie Scheffler might eventually sit among golf’s all-time greats.
Rory McIlroy’s season included completing the Career Grand Slam, but he still feels a long way from winning PGA Tour Player of the Year since Scheffler has collected four wins, including two majors in recent months.
He still has a long road ahead, but it is hard not to notice how steady Scheffler has been over the past four seasons. The world number one is now just one US Open win away from joining that exclusive group of players with a Career Grand Slam.
While currently on a trajectory that suggests he could join the ranks of golf legends like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, it remains to be seen if the 29-year-old Scheffler can maintain his exceptional form over an extended period.
Jim Mackay shares his thoughts on Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods debate
Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, who spent years caddying for Phil Mickelson and now works as an on-course reporter, is well-placed to comment on the kind of career Scheffler might be building.
Mackay had a close-up view of Tiger Woods during his prime and was also inside the ropes at Royal Portrush to see Scheffler win The Open. He spoke about the differences between them during an appearance on Fried Egg Golf.
“For me, it’s where he gets to mentally. He looks like a guy out there when he’s playing that’s got nothing bothering him in the world other than the task at hand on the golf course, on that particular hole that day. He strikes me as a guy who has very little baggage in terms of what he brings to the golf course. He’s supremely confident,” Mackay said.
“And it’s fascinating to watch him go about his business. I mentioned Nicklaus a couple of minutes ago and that’s the guy I compare him to quite a bit in terms of the way he goes about his business. It’s just head down and walk to the green, hit your putt, go to the next tee, go through your process with Ted Scott.
Mackay added: “I covered him for 54 holes at The Open Championship and we never spoke once. As an on-course reporter, you tend to have the occasional conversation with players here and there. Scottie’s so plugged in, he’s just doing his thing, and I completely leave him alone when we’re out there.
“You talk about the comparisons potentially to Tiger Woods,” he continued. “They’re different in how they operate.
“And as I said at The Open Championship, I didn’t think in my lifetime I’d see a player that I would be willing to say, ‘gosh, this guy, he’s close to Tiger’. He’s certainly not Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods is the best player I’ve ever seen and probably will see through the course of my lifetime. But Scottie, he’s an amazing, amazing player.”
Scottie Scheffler reaches four majors, but still trails Tiger Woods at the same age
Scheffler is still a long way off catching Tiger’s major tally at the same age.
By December 2005, when he reached the age of 30, Woods had already secured 10 major titles, with four of those being The Masters.
Scheffler will have three more majors to play in before he hits that milestone. If things go well, he could reach seven by then.
But if you look at how quickly both players got to four majors, the gap isn’t as wide. This year’s Open Championship was Scheffler’s 25th major appearance.
Woods reached his fourth major win on his 21st start, which also happened to be at The Open Championship a quarter of a century earlier.
It seems strange now, but few would have predicted back then that Woods would only – and even that word feels out of place – win five more majors after reaching four so quickly. It makes it hard to predict what lies ahead for Scheffler.
Still, given how steady he’s been so far, there’s little reason right now to doubt that he can stay near the top for quite a while longer.
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