Scottie Scheffler is on a Tiger Woods pace after The Open

USA Today

a day ago

Five days after Scottie Scheffler waxed poetic about not finding his life's joy from winning golf tournaments, he won another golf tournament -- a big one. The Open Championship. His first win at The Open, and his fourth career major title.
True to form, Scheffler celebrated with the thing that does bring him fulfillment, his family. Which made for one of the cutest Open moments.
But if winning is fighting a losing battle against Scheffler's family in bringing him joy (as it should, by the way), a pursuit of Tiger Woods-like greatness might be enough to make it a really close second. And after his latest win, Scheffler is on a pace that makes that chase a reality.
SCOTTIE'S FAMILY: 9 sweet photos of Scheffler, wife and son
Like Woods, Scheffler went 1,197 days between his first and fourth major wins, which is a wild coincidence for the player who's come as close to the dominance of Woods as anyone over the last few years since the GOAT has faded from the top of the sport.
Of course, there's one major difference between the pace of Woods and Scheffler, that being their respective ages at the time of their fourth major. Woods was 24 when he won the 2000 Open Championship. Scheffler is 29. Woods' win also gave him the career grand slam, which Scheffler is still a U.S. Open short of completing. But Scheffler still has a lot of golf ahead of him, and doesn't appear to have any real competition at the top of the field. So, while I won't sit here and say he will definitely match Woods' 15 career major championships, it's hard to say he's not in position to give it a good try.
And contrary to how people interpreted Scheffler's comments last week, he said he does enjoy competing. So, I don't expect him to let up anytime soon.
"I've literally worked my entire life to become somewhat good at this game, to go and play this game for a living, and it's one of the great joys of my life being able to compete out here," Scheffler said Sunday after his latest win.
I think it's safe saying we're past the point of "somewhat good."
WNBA labor battle dominated All-Star Weekend
The WNBA's best players descended on Indianapolis last weekend for the All-Star Game, using the attention of the moment to put a spotlight on their labor battle amid ongoing negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
There's no secret the players want (and deserve) a bigger slice of the W's revenue split. They haven't been shy about that message, even wearing pre-game shirts with "Pay Us What You Owe Us" across the front. Unbeknownst to them, the fans would also help push that message, chanting "pay them" after the game when commissioner Cathy Englebert hopped on the mic.
The players also demonstrated their worth in ways that weren't as overt as shirts and chants.
Every time I opened X, it seemed like I was coming across a new viral W clip from the weekend, and most weren't basketball-related at all. It was just players being themselves, dancing, having a good time, and fans were eating it up. It was just another example of the league's booming popularity. And contrary to what some will have you believe, it wasn't just one player (OK, maybe a lot of it was Courtney Williams). There's a reason the WNBA is expanding so rapidly and franchise valuations are up 180 percent over last year.
That's why now is the perfect time for players to push this message. The weekend wasn't perfect by any means -- I'm not sure what Kelsey Plum was trying to accomplish by throwing shade at Team Caitlin Clark -- but from my view, it was a success in gaining public support as an October deadline to land a new CBA looms.
THEORIES: Was Plum taking a shot a Caitlin Clark?
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