Scheffler invokes comparisons to the greats with a win that rarely seemed in doubt

The Guardian

15 hours ago

No sooner had the Claret Jug been lifted high above Scottie Scheffler's head than the scramble for superlatives began. With every word and exaltation there was also a sense that golf's Overton window had shifted, with his peers daring to voice opinions previously beyond the pale.
It was Xander Schauffele who perhaps said it best, as Scheffler was slow‑walking up the 18th, as if trying to savour every second of a first Open Championship victory.
'I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger [Woods] come through so soon, and here's Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,' said Schauffele, the 2024 champion, having finished seven shots back. 'You can't even say he's on a run. He's just been killing it for over two years now. He's a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard it sucks for us.'
Scheffler is making a habit of this. This was his fourth major title in three years. For good measure, he has 17 PGA Tour wins over the same period. The majority of them have been like this, a four‑shot victory margin from Harris English that rarely looked in doubt.
Rory McIlroy was another player who had hoped for a miracle on Sunday only to see golf's ultimate dementor had sucked his hopes with three early birdies. After that the result was not in doubt, with Scheffler easing to victory at 17 under par.
'In a historical context, you could argue that there's only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run like the one that Scottie's been on for the last 24 to 36 months,' said McIlroy, who finished tied for seventh on 10 under.
'It's incredibly impressive. He just goes about his business. Doesn't do anything overly flamboyant, but he's the best at executing in the game. All you can do is tip your cap and watch in admiration.'
We are clearly in Scheffler's imperial phase, where the victories appear preordained and no superlative seems outlandish. The only question now is how many majors he may win. Double figures does not seem outlandish. Which would put him behind only Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen.
Tommy Fleetwood certainly believes he can do it. 'If he keeps going the way he is, we're all going to look back and talk about him in the same breath as some of the all-time greats,' he said. 'And he's played in our generation.'
Not so long ago, such comments would have seemed premature. Now they are accepted wisdom. Scheffler's temperament is something special. Little seems to faze him. He plays golf like someone who has had their adrenal glands removed. Not that he sounded that way afterwards.
'Every day is a battle, it is a battle with yourself all the time,' Scheffler said. It certainly didn't look that way as he decimated a quality field.
Shane Lowry, who won at Portrush in 2019, was another player to evoke comparisons with Woods. But in his view the ungainliness of Scheffler's drive, which often results in him losing his balance as his ball flies 300 yards down the fairway, has taken people off the scent.
'I played with him the first two days and honestly I thought he was going to birdie every hole,' Lowry said. 'If Scottie's feet stayed stable and his swing looked like Adam Scott's, we'd be talking about him in the same words as Tiger Woods.
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'I just think because it doesn't look so perfect, we don't talk about him like that. I think he's just incredible to watch, and his bad shots are really good. That's when you know he's really good.'
If Scheffler had not been in Portrush, this would have been a thrilling final day. On Sunday morning, there were 11 players within four shots of China's Li Haotong in second place on 10 under. The problem? Scheffler was on 14 under.
Any hopes of a Devon Loch-style shock were soon extinguished. On the first hole, Li hit his approach to within six feet. Scheffler's response? To play it within three feet and record a birdie.
In truth, it was the most sedate Open final day in nearly a generation. Scheffler had won his last nine tournaments after having led after 54 holes. He wasn't going to lose from here.
At the 4th hole someone shouted: 'What's the point, Scottie?' – a reference to his press conference from earlier in the week. A few minutes later he had made his point with a birdie and followed it up with another on the 5th. True, there was a minor wobble at the next three holes – with two long par saves followed by a double-bogey six at the 8th. But the result was never in doubt.
As Bryson DeChambeau put it: 'Scottie's in a league of his own right now. I played with him a lot in college, and he was not that good, so he's figured out a lot of stuff since then. It's really impressive to see and something we can all learn from for sure.'
The bad news for the rest? Scheffler is only 29. He knows how to play links golf now and he clearly wants titles. As gave his victory speech, his 14‑month‑old son, Bennett, was swinging a plastic golf club just off the 18th green before the Claret Jug. He looked a natural. Just like his father.