Scottie Scheffler collected his third straight Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year on Tuesday, joining Tiger Woods as the only men to win the honour at least three years in a row. The Texan’s seven-win season compared favourably to some of the best seasons of Woods’ storied career.
A comparison to Woods was something that Scheffler felt strongly about during a media teleconference Tuesday evening—but not the way you might think.
“I think they’re a bit silly,” said Scheffler, who was surprised with the presentation of the Jack Nicklaus Award while attending a charity event at a PGA Tour Superstore in Plano, Texas. “I think we’re always looking to compare somebody to Tiger Woods. I saw it a lot growing up. … There’s really only one Tiger, that’s just kind of it.”
In that same vein, there really is only one Scottie Scheffler. He’s just kind of it. Scheffler, 28, was a near-unanimous selection for Player of the Year among a tally of his peers, receiving 91 percent of the vote over two-time major winner Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy, the only other player to win the Jack Nicklaus Award three times, though not in consecutive years.
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Taking a break from helping children from the Behind Every Door charity shop at the PGA TOUR Superstore during the teleconference, Scheffler appeared with the Jack Nicklaus Award, the Byron Nelson Award (for lowest scoring average—68.65) and the FedEx Cup trophy in the background. In addition to his seven tour titles, including his second victory in the Masters, Scheffler also finished in the top 10 in 16 of 19 starts and didn’t miss a cut. He also captured the gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Paris with a performance he classified as his best of the year during a season that he listed the best of the last three.
“I would say the nine holes that kind of sticks out to me the most maybe would be the back nine at the Olympics,” said the Dallas native. “The way that Teddy [caddie Ted Scott] and I kind of finished off that tournament was pretty cool. It had been a frustrating front nine. I birdied the first three holes and I had good looks on the next six holes, basically, and wasn’t able to hole any of them. Teddy just did a great good job of keeping me in the right head space and we had a great back nine. I think it was a back nine 29 to win by one. I think it was maybe a 63 or 64 on Sunday.”
It was a 62. But who’s counting?
Certainly not Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world for the last 82 weeks, whose goals for next year start with winning The Sentry, the season-opening event in Kapalua, Hawaii. After that, he’ll just take them as they come.
“I’m trying to get the best out of myself and that’s really all I’m focused on,” he said, having just come off his ninth win of the year overall with a six-stroke victory in the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event hosted by someone to whom Scheffler does not want to be compared. “I’m not chasing records or chasing history or anything like that, I’m just trying to day-in and day-out continue to improve a little bit, just go out there and compete, have fun.”
The fun is in the winning. On that, he and Tiger have a comparable outlook.
Main image: Scottie Scheffler celebrates winning the 2024 Masters. Andrew Redington
