Scottie Scheffler is set to make one final appearance this year as he aims for a third straight victory at the Hero World Challenge this week.
In 2025, Scheffler competed in 20 PGA Tour events, securing six wins, including two major championships.
Since the Tour Championship in August, the 29-year-old from Dallas has only played once outside of the Ryder Cup, appearing at the Procore Championship in Napa Valley three months ago.
Scheffler has clearly been a cut above everyone else on tour over the past couple of seasons.
Scheffler’s focus on short game improvement
That might seem like a surprising thing to say about a player with such consistent success. However, it highlights how fine margins can separate even the very best players from true greatness.
Scheffler made big improvements with his putting over the last season after getting some help from instructor Phil Kenyon. He changed his stance and setup quite early into Kenyon’s tenure, and his accuracy noticeably improved by May of that same year – where he had an insane streak of top-10 finishes – despite not finishing outside the top five that entire month without making putts!
If there’s still room for growth for Scheffler anywhere now, it would be around his short game. Some might find that strange to say about someone who was ranked first in strokes gained overall last season. But he was also ranked tied 47th in scrambling and 25th around greens by January.
This is also what puts Nicklaus and Woods so far ahead of their competition: they were exceptional even when their games weren’t sharp elsewhere. That’s what separated them from just being world number one golfers to becoming sporting icons who left legacies outside golf as well.
Comparisons to Nicklaus and Woods Put Scheffler criticism in perspective
Scheffler’s schedule has come under scrutiny, with some pointing out that he doesn’t play as much internationally as others do.
While Rory McIlroy regularly travels to places like Australia, India, and Dubai, Scheffler tends to stay closer to home in Dallas, focusing on his preparation there.
So the question is whether Scheffler owes it to fans to appear in more events around the world given his status in the game.
Speaking on The Golf Channel, Gary Williams addressed whether Scheffler should be playing more often outside the US considering his position at the top of the sport.
“Yeah, it’s a flattering ask,” Williams said. “There are very few players that I think get to a place where we’re saying, ‘Well, they should play more,’ because they have an audience now.
“They have an attraction that very few have because the truth is there’s only a handful that actually do sell tickets. You’re selling the experience, not the individual.”
“I think his number one responsibility is for him to believe that whatever schedule he has allows him to keep his window of dominance and greatness open as long as he can. And if it’s what the current construct of his schedule is…
I have no criticism of it. Similarly to the way Tiger executed his schedule before him.”
Why Scottie Scheffler sticks to a US-based golf schedule
During the Scottish Open in July, Scheffler explained why he prefers to spend most of his season playing at home.
He said: “I haven’t really played too much golf internationally,” he told reporters here at The Renaissance Club.
“I always come over here and try to play this tournament and The Open Championship. I haven’t played in Asia or Australia yet as a professional.
“With the way our schedule is on the [PGA Tour], the thing that’s most important to me is my time at home. It would be wonderful to be able to play an international schedule, but right now we play most of our tournaments in the States and I come over here for these few weeks.
“The off-season for us is typically where guys will go play in Asia and Australia or start the year in Dubai.
“For me, it’s important to get time at home because that’s my priority and playing tournaments that I can.”
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