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USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Ahead of 2025 Tour Championship, the Scottie Scheffler-Tiger Woods comparisons continue
ATLANTA — If the late ESPN SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott was still alive, he'd use one of his trademark lines to describe Scottie Scheffler's play of late: Just call him butter 'cause he's on a roll. Scheffler won for the fifth time in 2025 last Sunday at the BMW Championship, erasing a four-stroke deficit quickly and chipping in at 17 to seal the deal in impressive fashion. This week, he has caddie Ted Scott back on the bag and aims to become the first back-to-back winner of the FedEx Cup. He'll have to do so at East Lake Golf Club at the 2025 Tour Championship without a two-stroke lead on his nearest competitor this year after the Tour scrapped the Starting Strokes handicapping system that has been in place since 2019. Instead, all 30 players in the field will start the tournament on Thursday at even par. 'I guess no more sandbagging for me at the end of the year,' Scheffler cracked before turning more serious. He isn't pouting over receiving no advantage despite lapping the field in the season-long points race. His lead of 3,769 over second place is more than the number of points that Rory McIlroy has earned this season (3,687). 'I was not a huge fan of the starting strokes format,' Scheffler said. 'I was a fan of the points format, but I understand why people wanted to move away from that with FedEx being a huge sponsor and having to give out two trophies at the end of the week and explaining the season long race. This to me is a much simpler format to end the year. We all start even par, and it's time to go chase what you want.' With a win, Scheffler would join Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) and Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022) as the only players to win multiple FedEx Cup titles. He's been on a dominant run with 14 Tour wins in his last 33 starts. Since the Players Championship ended in March, Scheffler has played 13 events, including all four major championships. Across those events, he has 'lost' to players over the course of four days just 34 times (or three times per event). It's Tiger-like stuff. Following his win at last week's BMW Championship, Scheffler became the first player since Woods (2005-07) to record five or more wins in back-to-back seasons. In May, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee went so far as to compare Scheffler's tee-to-green game to Tiger in his heyday. 'I never thought I'd see that,' Chamblee said. But the comparison to Woods also seems premature. Scheffler, 29, likely will claim a fourth straight PGA Tour Player of the Year award win or lose this week. No one is questioning that he stands alone at the top of the mountain. He has been World No. 1 for 118 straight weeks and counting, but to break Tiger's all-time record of 281 consecutive weeks, he needs to hold the top spot until Halloween 2028. Scheffler has 18 career wins; Tiger has 82. Scheffler will need to win at least five tournaments every year for the next 13 years to surpass Tiger. It's a bit like Aaron Judge being the fastest player in Major Leage Baseball history to reach 350 career home runs, achieving the milestone in 1,088 games. But Judge has a long way to go to get to Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds as the all-time home run king. He's not even halfway there. Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy once seemed on pace to match Tiger but haven't been able to keep up with Tiger's longevity. Scheffler may have Tiger-like staying power at the top of the game but for now it's more comparable to Vijay Singh's run of winning four times in 2003 and nine times in 2004. It's kind of like making birdie at the first three holes and saying he's on track for the course record. How many Tigers are there? Only one. Scheffler echoed that sentiment. 'In the simplest form, I think it's very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods,' he said. 'I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will. Tiger inspired a whole generation of golfers.' Just as Scheffler is inspiring comparisons to greatness, and that's not such a bad thing.
USA Today
09-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
King Green 'not done' after brutal wheel kick KO loss at UFC 313
King Green is taking his knockout loss to Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 313 in stride. The longtime fighter ended up on the wrong end of the early Knockout of the Year frontrunner Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas when Ruffy (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) unleashed a vicious spinning wheel kick that instantly floored Green (32-17-1 MMA, 13-12-1 UFC) in the first round. It was a spectacular and shocking end to the lightweight bout, which opened the pay-per-view main card. The finish went viral and was No. 2 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10, and as the defeated fighter, it can be a difficult pill to swallow. Green, however, was nothing but gracious in defeat. 'This is the game we play,' Green said on Instagram Stories after UFC 313. 'There's wins, there's losses. It's just how it goes, you know? Shout out to Ruffy. You did your thing, brother. I'd like to see you have success in your future. Obrigado.' With the defeat, Green has lost three of his past four and is 3-3 in his past six dating back to a submission of Tony Ferguson at UFC 291 in July 2023. He's also notched wins over Grant Dawson and Jim Miller, but in the losses during that stretch was finished in Round 1 by Jalin Turner, Paddy Pimblett and Ruffy. The 38-year-old has been an active fighter since his January 2008 debut, and is one of just a handful of athletes on the UFC roster with more than 50 professional bouts. Green is showing many of the traits of a fighter trending toward the end of their career, but he was definitive that this loss won't be his end point. 'Shout out to everyone that rides with me and came through this whole thing,' Green said. 'I love all you guys. I thank you so much for supporting me through all this bullsh*t. But we're not done. I just need some more time to get myself back to the cage. We'll be back.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 313.
