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New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Scottie Scheffler or the S&P 500: Which has been more profitable over the last 4 years?
It's no secret Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer in the world and has been for quite some time. He has been ranked No. 1 in the Data Golf world rankings every week since early September 2023, and his current rating is the best by anybody since Tiger Woods' untouchable 2000 season. After wrapping up his fourth career major — and second of the 2025 season — with a win at the Open Championship on July 20, Scheffler finished one of the all-time seasons at the major championships in style. Now he'll try to become the first player ever to defend his FedEx Cup crown as we head down the home stretch of the PGA Tour schedule. Advertisement That's all pretty impressive stuff, even though Scheffler tends to shy away from the all-time comparisons. But did you know Scheffler also doubles as a high-yield retirement fund? If you'd timed things right at the start of his peak, you could have beaten the stock market — by a lot — just by betting on Scheffler to win every time he teed it up. There's a good case to be made that Scheffler himself is the greatest growth stock in sports. That's why we're introducing the SCOTTIE index — aka the Scheffler-Centric Outperformance Tracker for Tournament Investment Efficiency — a hypothetical fund based solely around betting on Scheffler to win golf tournaments. Here's how it works: We'll track how much in net profits an investor would have made if he or she had either: Early in Scheffler's PGA Tour career, this would admittedly not have looked like a great financial plan. He didn't win any of his first 60 tournaments after joining the Tour full-time in 2019-20, so a bet-100-bucks-each-time-he-plays strategy would have left you $6,000 in the hole at the low point of that drought, if you'd bet on every tournament in that span. However, once Scheffler began to hit his stride, the money started to stack up. You could have made back $2,425 on a $100 play when he won the 2022 WM Phoenix Open at +2425 odds — and by the end of his stretch of four wins in six tournaments early that year, culminating in his first major W at the Masters, you would have actually been up $1,775 despite the early losses. And that's if you began using the SCOTTIE index when he made the leap from the Korn Ferry to the PGA Tour in 2019. If you'd waited a few years to start playing, you could have really made bank. If someone bet $100 on Scheffler to win every tournament he entered since the beginning of the 2022 season, they would currently be up by a cumulative total of $8,964 after banking another $487 with Scheffler's win at the Open Championship. That's a 101.9 percent overall return on our $8,800 total investment in the SCOTTIE index — or a 20 percent compound annual growth rate, more than doubling our money in just under four full seasons of action. Advertisement By comparison, our alternative investor who dropped $100 in the S&P 500 every time Scheffler teed it up would currently be up just $3,092 on that $8,800 investment. A 35.1 percent overall return on investment is nothing to sneeze at — it's an 8.2 percent annual growth rate, which is respectable in any portfolio — but it's not quite a SCOTTIE-level return. Sure, betting on golf winners is what the pros call a 'high-volatility' asset class. The $487 net profit we would have earned from the Open is indicative of how the SCOTTIE index is also experiencing diminishing returns lately. Oddsmakers have caught up to his dominance, so his odds have shortened accordingly — the more he wins now, the less you win when he wins. ($7,250 of our entire profits came through his win at the Players' Championship in March 2023.) But still, Scheffler has won 24 percent of the events he's entered since the start of 2022, a rate that is comparable to Woods' (him again!) and well ahead of any other contemporary golfer on the all-time list. With a 67 percent success rate at converting 54-hole leads (or co-leads) to victories — and a current streak of eight in a row — plus no finishes outside the top eight since March 16, he is as solid an investment as it gets in the sport. That's true even if the SCOTTIE index is meant to be a bit of silly fun — obviously, this isn't a recommendation to liquidate your 401(k) and go all in on outright golf bets. But it says a lot about how dominant Scheffler's been lately that he has basically run out of other pro golfers to beat. Now he's beating the market, too — and by roughly as comfortable a margin as he laid on the field in his two major wins this year. Neil Paine is a freelance writer whose work also appears regularly at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sherwood News and his eponymous Substack. He is the former Sports Editor at FiveThirtyEight, and was also an analytics consultant for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
USA Today
17-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Open Championship 2025 projected cut line: Live tracker from Royal Portrush
The 2025 Open Championship has begun, and tricky slopes and unorthodox strategy needed to effectively play links golf has again created a packed leaderboard as first-round action at Royal Portrush wraps up on Thursday. It has set the stage for a wide-open second round, with a dynamic in which the same golfers could be competing to be in contention over the weekend at golf's final major of 2025 and make the cut in the same round. The 156-golfer field will be cut down to the top 70 and ties on the leaderboard following Friday's tee times. The cut line isn't finalized until every golfer is finished with their second round. The cut line at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon wound up being +6 following 36 holes of tournament play. USA TODAY Sports is tracking the projected cut line during Thursday's first round and keeping tabs on the notable golfers in danger of missing the cut at the 2025 Open Championship. Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth are among the big names and former major winners in danger after shaky performances during Round 1 at the British Open. Here's a breakdown of what's happening around the cut line ahead of Friday's second round at Royal Portrush. 2025 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP: Friday tee times, groups for Round 2 at Royal Portrush British Open projected cut line 2025 The cut line as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 17 would be +1 based on the top 70 and ties on the current opening round leaderboard. All golfers with a score of +1 or better would make it through to the weekend at the 2025 Open Championship. The model used by Data Golf to project the cut states there's currently a 36.5% chance it lands at +2 by the end of Friday's second round and a 36.3% chance the cut line winds up at +3. Open Championship 2025 leaderboard FULL LEADERBOARD: Click here for the complete leaderboard at the 2025 Open Championship Open Championship 2025 cut line: Golfers to watch Watch the Open Championship with Fubo The Open Championship 2025: TV, streaming and where to watch Live coverage of this year's Open Championship will be provided by NBC, USA Network, Golf Channel and Peacock. Live streaming is also available via Fubo, which is offering a free trial for new subscribers. All times Eastern Round 2 Round 4 The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
British Open Championship 2025 live leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler one shot off the lead
The final men's major of the season is here. It's the 2025 British Open Championship, where 156 of the world's best players will tee it up at Royal Portrush in hopes of capturing the coveted Claret Jug and being named champion golfer of the year. The stacked major field includes defending champion Xander Schauffele, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who will look to create some magic in his home country of Northern Ireland, and Shane Lowry, who won this event the last time Portrush hosted it in 2019. Keep up with all the action across the pond by following along below for live updates, scores, highlights and more from the first round 2025 British Open. British Open Championship 2025 leaderboard, scores See every score being carded with our 2025 British Open Championship leaderboard from USA Today Sports. Here's what it looked like at the top as of 10:40 a.m. ET: POS PLAYER SCORE THRU T1 M. Fitzpatrick -4 F T1 H. Li -4 F T1 J. Skov Olesen -4 F T4 S. Scheffler -3 F T4 M. Jordan -3 F T6 L. Westwood -2 F Scottie Scheffler is one shot off the lead at the 2025 British Open Championship World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler fired a 3-under 68 in the first round to finish within one shot of a three-way tie at the top as of 11 a.m. ET. Scheffler caught fire on his way in, making back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17, setting himself up to contend for the rest of the week as he seeks the fourth major title of his career. Scheffler, a two-time Masters champ, won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow earlier this year. Scheffler — who made headlines on Tuesday when he offered deep insight into his life as the best player on the planet — entered as a significant betting favorite to hoist the Claret Jug and he's off to a good start at Royal Portrush. In fact, Data Golf already has Scheffler tabbed as having a 24 percent chance of winning the tournament as of 11 a.m. ET. A Buddhist monk is contending at the British Open Championship If you woke up on Thursday morning and wondered who the Thai golfer was near the top of the 2025 British Open leaderboard, you weren't alone. But there are some amazing facts about Sadom Kaewkanjana, an ordained Buddhist monk, started off the first round at Royal Portrush with some low numbers. Click here to read more about him. Rory McIlroy tees off in first round of 2025 British Open Championship The hometown darling has arrived. Rory McIlroy hit his first tee shot of the 2025 British Open Championship just after 10 a.m. ET, marking the official start of his quest for a sixth major championship and the first in his home nation of Northern Ireland. He's been dealing with maximum fanfare all week, but he's embracing it. McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete the Career Grand Slam, looks to capture his second British Open title. His first came at Royal Liverpool in 2014. McIlroy missed the cut last time the event was held at Royal Portrush in 2019, which saw Irishman Shane Lowry emerge victorious. Matt Fitzpatrick cards 67 to join tie for clubhouse lead Matt Fitzpatrick is on the board with a stellar round on Thursday at the 2025 British Open. The Englishman made one bogey, three birdies and an eagle, which came on the par-5 second hole. He had a highlight-reel hole-out for birdie on the par-3 16th, which got him to 4 under. Fitzpatrick made par on the final two holes to close out a solid 4-under 67, putting him in contention after 18 holes as he seeks the second major championship of his career. He won the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline. Jon Rahm rebukes fan for whistling in his backswing Quiet, please! Daniel Brown holes insane chip to make birdie Check out this one from England's Daniel Brown. He holed out from off the green on No. 6 for his second straight birdie to get back to even par for the day. Heavy rain falling at Royal Portrush as play continues in the first round of the British Open It may come as no surprise, but rain is falling at the British Open. A large cell of showers is hanging over the entire northern coast, and radar indicates it's going to be like this for a while. And likely tomorrow. And the next day. The elements and weather conditions have, for centuries, played a massive role in making golf's oldest major exceedingly challenging, and this week appears to be no exception. Click here to see the full weather outlook for this week at Royal Portrush. Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li lead at 2025 British Open Championship One of the beautiful elements of major championships, especially the British Open, is the wide variety of players who get to compete. You probably hadn't heard of Jacob Skov Olesen before you woke up and checked the leaderboard, but here he is, sharing the lead with Haotong Li as of 8:20 a.m. ET. Olesen made an eagle on the par-5 12th and chipped in for birdie on No. 15 before stumbling on the 18th with a bogey. Still, it was good enough for a 4-under 67 which puts him in prime position to make the cut. Read more about Olesen here. Meanwhile, Li carded the same score, 67, in much different fashion. Li had four birdies and 14 pars. About as clean as it gets. We haven't heard from Li in a while, but you might remember him from his solid run of major tournament performances several years ago. Li finished in solo third at the 2017 Open Championship, which saw Jordan Spieth win at Royal Birkdale, and he also has top 20 finishes at both the PGA Championship (2020) and the U.S. Open (2018). Hot-tub Time Machine at Portrush It's early but Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are partying like its 1999 at Royal Portrush. The two old guys are leading the way at the 153rd Open at 2 under. Mickelson, 55, went out in 34, making both of his birdies at the par 5s — Nos. 2 and 7 — and a wild hole-out par (as detailed below) at the third. Westwood, 52, had to go through qualifying but he's back for his 90th major and 28th Open, three years on from his last appearance. He's making the most of his opportunity. He birdied the second and sixth holes to tie Mickelson. Weather forecast As weatherman Al Roker would say, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods — if you happen to be attending the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. Bright early on before the clouds move in. Mainly dry in the morning with a chance of heavier showers as the day goes on, with potential for thunder. The risk of rain should gradually ease later in the evening. Winds changeable with potential gusts of up to 25-35mph. Indeed, the sun is popping through the clouds this morning in County Antrim and it's a very comfortable 61 degrees, which has the likes of Padraig Harrington donning shirtsleeves. Mickelson magic What will Phil Mickelson do next? How about one of the most Phil Mickelson-esque pars we've seen in a long time. First, old Lefty left his bunker shot at the par-4 third hole in one of Portrush's fearsome bunkers. Could a big number be in the offing? Not so fast my friends. Mickelson, the 2013 Open champion, still is an artist with the wedges. And on his second attempt in the bunker was perfection. Just another routine par for Mickelson. And they're off... Irishman Padraig Harrington had the honor of hitting the first tee shot of the 153rd British Open at 6:35 a.m. local time on Thursday, and while the 53-year-old wanted to make it perfectly clear that he doesn't think of himself as a ceremonial golfer, he enjoyed the moment and found the fairway. Harrington knocked his approach from 210 yards to 15 feet and also had the honor of making the 153rd Open's first birdie. Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, in contrast, had the dubious distinction of making the championship's first bogey. McKibbin redeemed himself with the first eagle of the championship at the par-5 seventh. In any event, they are off and threesomes will continue to tee off from the first tee in 11-minute intervals until 4:16 p.m. local time. British Open Championship 2025 Thursday first round tee times Click here for the complete list of tee times for Thursday's opening round. Here are some of the notable groups: All times eastern 4:58 a.m. - Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, J.J. Spaun 5:09 a.m. - Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry 9:48 a.m. - Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau 9:59 a.m. - Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg 10:10 a.m. - Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas How to watch the first round of the 2025 British Open Championship Streaming: 1:30 a.m. ET to 4 a.m. ET on Peacock TV: 4 a.m. ET to 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network Radio: 2 a.m. ET to end of play on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio USA's coverage will also stream on the NBC Sports app. In addition, official website has featured groups and a channel dedicated to Calamity Corner, the par-3 16th hole. The R&A also announced this will be the first pro golf event with the Spidercam, which will by flying around the 18th hole all week. British Open Championship 2025 Thursday first round weather forecast at Royal Portrush Thursday is projected to be the windiest day of the week, according to forecasters, who are calling for cloudy conditions with winds at 15-25 mph from the southeast. Expect temperatures in the upper 60s and rain showers for most of the day. Click here for the full weather forecast at Royal Portrush this week. British Open Championship 2025 betting odds, picks, predictions Scottie Scheffler enters the 2025 British Open as the favorite to capture his fourth major title. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have the next shortest odds. See more betting odds and check out who the Golfweek staff is picking to win the Claret Jug this year. British Open Championship 2025 prize money, purse The 2025 payouts are the same as 2024's, with the winner receiving $3.1 million of the $17 million total purse. See the complete prize money breakdown here. Who won the British Open Championship in 2024? World No. 3 Xander Schauffele enters Royal Portrush as the defending champion. He was victorious at Royal Troon in 2024, edging out Justin Rose and Billy Horschel by two strokes. Other past winners in the field this week include Brian Harman (2023), Cam Smith (2022), Collin Morikawa (2021), Shane Lowry (2019), Jordan Spieth (2017) and Rory McIlroy (2014), among others. There are 16 past champions in all playing in the 2025 Open. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: British Open Championship 2025 first round live leaderboard updates
NBC Sports
22-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
'Search goes on, I guess': Tommy Fleetwood suffers another PGA Tour heartbreaker at Travelers
Surely Tommy Fleetwood had done it. The 34-year-old Englishman had tried, tried and tried again, 158 times in fact, but to no avail. His 41 career top-10s? The most on the PGA Tour by a player without a victory since 1983 – and seven more than the next closest player, Brett Quigley, who is now 55 years old. Forget best player to win a major; Fleetwood has long been the best player never to win on the world's biggest tour, period. And yet, late Sunday afternoon at the Travelers Championship, Fleetwood's moment had seemingly come at last. Even Rory McIlroy, on his way out of town, had called game with Fleetwood leading by a shot with one to play. 'He was more than due,' McIlroy said, 'so, yeah, he's got so much talent and so much ability, and obviously it's great to see him get over the line.' There was just one problem: Fleetwood didn't do it. With a closing bogey at TPC River Highlands' par-4 closing hole coupled with a Keegan Bradley birdie, Fleetwood saw his PGA Tour breakthrough suddenly replaced by a sixth career runner-up finish. 'It's a crappy way to finish,' a devastated Fleetwood said afterward. Fleetwood's three-shot lead through 54 holes was erased as he bogeyed three of his first four holes. But he steadied himself and with birdies at Nos. 11 and 13 re-took control of the tournament. With three holes to play, he led Bradley, Russell Henley and Jason Day by two. Then came the par-3 16th hole, where Fleetwood flew the green, about 25 yards long of the flag. He raced his chip 21 feet past and couldn't save his par. Still, Fleetwood, after a par on No. 17, entered the final hole with over an 85% chance of winning, according to Data Golf. Both Fleetwood and Bradley hit the fairway before Fleetwood, going first, struggled to judge the wind and left his approach just short of the green, though only about 50 feet from the hole. It was a straightforward chip until Bradley upped the pressure by throwing a 137-yard dart to 5 feet. Fleetwood left his birdie try from off the green about 7 feet short, then missed the putt, and just like that, Fleetwood had lost outright when Bradley calmly canned his winner. After signing his card, Fleetwood admittedly wanted to 'go and sulk somewhere' – and he didn't rule that out – but first, he stepped up to the mic and vowed to find the positives, however hard it would be. "I'm upset now. I'm angry ... it hurts." 'I haven't been in this situation for a while,' said Fleetwood, who now has 12 top-25s this season but no other top-3s. 'I think, you know, when it sort of calms down – I'm upset now, I'm angry – when it calms down, look at the things that I did well, look at the things that I can learn from. … Felt like I did a lot of good things, but there was things that I definitely can do better, and I have to do better. So, I did plenty of things well enough this week to win, I didn't do that, it hurts. When it calms down, the most stupid thing to do and the worse thing to do would be make a week like this a hindrance to what you do going forwards. I obviously played great, I put myself in a great position, I was leading the tournament for 71 holes. 'I just want to make sure that I can put myself in this position as soon as possible again and try and correct what I did this time.' The shock continued for a few more questions, as Fleetwood added: 'I would have loved to have done it today. Search goes on, I guess. When it happens it will be very, very sweet. 'You know, like in my mind, yeah, I've won loads of PGA Tour events; I just haven't done it in reality, and I'm sure that time will come if I keep working.'
New York Times
20-06-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
Don't count Hatton out…
Spaun surged back after heavy rain delayed play in the final round at Oakmont Country Club, with four birdies on the back nine to win his first major. Getty Images J.J. Spaun has won the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a thrilling late rally. Spaun, who led after a bogey-free first round, stormed back after play resumed following a weather delay Sunday. Birdies on the 12th, 14th and 17th, then a miraculous long birdie putt on the 18th, sealed his win by two strokes. This is Spaun's first major championship win. He was the only golfer to finish under-par through 72 holes, with Robert MacIntyre claiming second at 1-over. GO FURTHER J.J. Spaun wins wild, wet U.S. Open with dramatic birdie putt finish Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Associated Press Tyrrell Hatton may be three back with 10 to go, but he's risen up to a 9 percent chance of winning this thing. Maybe most importantly, he's the only player near the top of the leaderboard gaining strokes in both approach and off the tee so far today, per DataGolf . And he's not just positive. He's gaining +2.78 strokes tee to green on the field Sunday. For the week, he's gaining 2.97. So, sure, deep down I think it's between Sam Burns and Adam Scott and will be one of them — but you really should be keeping an eye on Hatton. Associated Press The weather conditions are starting to improve in terms of electricity and showers, per a USGA Rules Official on the NBC broadcast. But no word yet on the resumption time of the final round. Getty Images Perusing as we wait this out — Sam Burns has a 46.6 percent chance of winning right now, followed by Adam Scott's 27.7 percent. More interesting to me is the probability of the winning score: 2-under : 19.8 percent : 19.8 percent 1-under : 26.2 percent : 26.2 percent Even par : 22.6 percent : 22.6 percent 1-over: 11 percent The Athletic This weather delay is the perfect time to get involved with our coverage. Who do you think is going to win the 2025 U.S. Open? Are we going to be able to finish this thing up today? And have you enjoyed watching the last four rounds at Oakmont, or was the course just too difficult to make for truly exciting viewing? Let us know by emailing live@ The top contenders were already struggling enough — Sam Burns, Adam Scott and Viktor Hovland have all lost two strokes, and J.J. Spaun five — and now the conditions are going to add another element to the equation once play does resume. Who can be a mudder? Even if the rain holds up enough to allow them to get back on the course, it's probably not done falling. So who can manage their equipment and just stay present enough to focus on the next shot over everything else? If I had to guess, it's Tyrrell Hatton, who is tied-third at 1-over-par, three shots behind Burns. Hatton is, he'll admit, almost always miserable anyways. What's being wet on top of that? Getty Images The good news is that, according to AccuWeather , the current downpour at Oakmont should stop within a matter of minutes. Then it will be a matter of ensuring there are no lightning strikes in the area and determining when the greens will be safe to play. The bad news is that rainy conditions are expected to continue throughout the afternoon and worsen in the evening, when thunderstorms and a 64 percent chance of rain are forecast for the 8 p.m. hour. It may come down to the wire to see whether the U.S. Open can complete its final round on schedule today before the worst of the storm hits around sundown. Sky Sports in the UK are reporting the weather delay is currently expected to last for somewhere around 45 minutes. Getty Images Despite drifting down the leaderboard early in the round, both Viktor Hovland and J.J. Spaun are within arms reach of the lead here at Oakmont. Spaun earned a par on the 8th, remaining +2 overall and +5 on the day. He bogeyed five of his first six holes. Hovland will be coming off a bogey on the 8th, his third of the round. He sits at +2 for the round and +1 overall. These two will resume play on the 467-yard, par-4 9th, featuring a relatively straight fairway proteced by various bunkers. Associated Press Adam Scott and Sam Burns were standing on the eighth tee as the rain began pelting down at Oakmont. They didn't even tee off at the lengthy par-3 before the horn blew, stopping play due to a weather delay. When the round resumes, the final group has a 301-yard par-3 to come back to. A tough restart, isn't it? Associated Press We are officially in a weather delay. This is not just about the rain. There is electricity in the area. The players are going to be evacuated. There's a lot of standing water on the course… Getty Images Moments before play was suspended, the right bunker welcomed Viktor Hovland to the par-3 8th. He recovered with a nice shot out, which landed within 10 feet for par. The par putt drifted left and he tapped in for bogey, dropping to +1 overall. J.J Spaun's tee shot found the green but he was left looking at 61 feet for birdie. He left it a couple feet right of the hole but cleaned up for a par to remain at +2. Getty Images Bad news, folks. Play has been suspended at the 2025 U.S. Open due to adverse weather conditions. Getty Images There's already standing water on the greens, and the heavy stuff might not come down for a while… Those are two solid pars for Sam Burns and Adam Scott. The Aussie nearly sank a mammoth 52-foot birdie putt, leaving it inches short of the pin. The American missed the 35 footer for birdie before making par. Burns leads by one over Scott heading to the lengthy par-3 eighth. Getty Images Rainfall is picking up by the minute here at Oakmont. From a sprinkle to a drizzle to now a heavy patter atop the media center roof, which is next to 18 fairway. The only bright spot to this development is it's forced Viktor Hovland into a rain jacket and we're longer having to watch him walk around in three different shades of blue between pants, belt and polo. Getty Images A tidy two-putt from Tyrrell Hatton on eight to remain within three strokes of the leader, Sam Burns. The Englishman is scrapping hard. Hatton has improved both his score (73, 70, 68) and greens in regulation (12, 14, 15) each day so far this week. He's very much in this thing. Getty Images A birdie would have been big for J.J. Spaun there, instead he has to settle for a par. After a nice approach shot, he had a 28-foot look for birdie but couldn't convert despite a great roll. Viktor Hovland met a similar fate, leaving a 27-foot birdie putt within two feet and tapping in a par. Getty Images That's a sloppy bogey for Adam Scott on the par-3 sixth. He three putted from 37 feet on the green, recording his third bogey of the final round. With Sam Burns' par, the American retains his solo lead at 2 under. The Aussie falls to 1 under.
