It’s been a tough few days for the No. 1 player in the world at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where he came in as the two-time defending champion at Jack Nicklaus’ tournament but has shown only a glimpse of the form that earned him a pair of coveted Sunday handshakes with the host.

Fortunately, that glimpse arrived just in time.

Trolling the cutline at four over par, Scheffler birdied three of his last six holes for an even-par 72 and a one-over 145 total to ensure weekend tee times for a 77th consecutive PGA Tour event.

One day after microphones captured him ranting to caddie Ted Scott about the windy conditions that had him confused and frustrated after he found the water at the par-3 16th hole, Scheffler battled gamely, even birding the 16th by holing a 40-footer that felt like “stealing one.”

How did he turn it around? “I’m about to go find out,” he said. In other words, he didn’t quite know but he was heading to the practice range to figure something out while inside the top 25 but trailing clubhouse leader J.T. Poston by 10 shots.

Scheffler found himself fighting to make the cut when he suffered three straight bogeys starting at the par-3 eighth hole. He finally made his first birdie at the par-4 13th after a wedge to three feet and followed up with a 21-footer for another at No. 15 before the unexpected bonus at 16. His one-over 145 total is his highest opening 36 holes at the Memorial since he began with 149 in 2023 before surging to a third-place finish.

“I don’t know if you were out there on the course, but I was going to be hard to find if you were out watching my group,” said Scheffler, the four-time major winner, who was paired with PGA champion Aaron Rai. “I felt like I got my first birdie putt of the day on the 13th hole. I maybe had one on 11, but I couldn’t imagine I hit more than six or seven greens today. So around this golf course, with heavy rough and deep bunkers, you got to be hitting the ball in the right spots and for a long time today that was definitely not the case for me.”

Poor starts continue to dog Scheffler in 2026 after he began the year with his 20th tour title at The American Express in Palm Springs. On Friday at Muirfield Village, the Texan hit just seven fairways and eight greens in regulation. When he finished, he was losing more than two strokes to the field in strokes gained/approach the green over 36 holes, but he was saved by his short game and putting.

He remained undaunted in his belief that he was far from out of the tournament with 36 holes remaining.

“That’s maybe some of the worst I’ve hit it in a couple years out there, and I still managed to shoot even par around a golf course that requires to you strike the ball really well. Yeah, I’m definitely very proud of stuff like that,” Scheffler said, finding some solace. “This tournament was one that definitely could have got away from me, but right now I’m only nine shots back and still have a chance going into the weekend. With the conditions the way they are, you never really know what’s going to happen around this golf course and just getting inside the cut line you still have a chance.”

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Ben Jared

The post Scottie Scheffler is 10 shots off the lead at Memorial. He’s also convinced he can still win come Sunday appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There was one thing that Scottie Scheffler did not prepare for when he headed into the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday outside of Philadelphia.

Among a sizeable and boisterous crowd at Aronimink Golf Club, the World No. 1 said he got chirped at fairly regularly for the native Texan’s love of the Cowboys. Philly’s hatred for its NFC East rivals is visceral, and that Scheffler hadn’t thought there’d be some good-natured needling would be like him not expected to see his jail mugshot on T-shirts two years ago at Valhalla.

These are fans, after all, infamous for cheering for the “Broad Street Bullies” and throwing snowballs at Santa Claus. At one point in a practice round this week, a guy yelled from the stands, “Dallas sucks, Scottie!” and added with a laugh, “We’re gonna smash you on Thanksgiving!”

Scheffler, thank goodness, was savvy enough to laugh it off.

“I got quite a kick out of it,” he said. “The fans were quite funny today.

“Philly is definitely a sports town,” he added. “I said it a little in the beginning, I haven’t played much golf here and haven’t spent much time in the city, and I certainly won’t this week with it being a golf tournament.

“… The crowd had some great energy today. There were some really cool spots on the golf course where you can kind of get punch-bowl type of feel and the crowd can get loud.”

Philly fans are one of a kind, heckling Scottie Scheffler for being a Cowboys fan.

(via Frank_Mcfillin3) pic.twitter.com/vWm122vMZQ

— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 14, 2026

Philly fans appreciate an extraordinary athlete when they see one, and Scheffler gave them plenty of reasons to cheer for him. He strung together four birdies in a six-hole stretch in the middle of the round and hung on amid cold and windy afternoon conditions to shoot three-under-par 67.

Not only did the effort put to rest the chatter about Scheffler’s Thursday foibles this year, but it also placed him in the lead with six other players on a tightly bunched leaderboard, with 33 players two shots or closer to the lead. Scheffler was told that this is the first time that he has ever held a solo or co-lead in a major championship after the first day—despite the fact he’s won five already.

He chuckled at the stat, saying, “Yeah, I think the emphasis would be ‘share of the lead,’” Scheffler said. “… It’s a really tight leaderboard. At this moment, it’s anybody’s tournament.”

Scheffler, 29, is certainly the valedictorian among his current class of seven front-runners, with only 41-year-old German Martin Kaymer having won a major title (he has two—2010 PGA, 2014 U.S. Open).

There are more statistics that will prove that Scheffler should be satisfied and relieved about his first-round performance. His lone victory this year came in his first start, when he opened with a 63 in The American Express and went on to shoot 27 under. Since then, he has three top-five finishes and in only one of those did he start with a round in the 60s. Most notably, in the Masters, Scheffler opened 70-74 and lost to Rory McIlroy by one shot. For the season, Scheffler ranks 77th in first-round scoring average (70.33), and then is a completely different player, being seventh (68.33), first (67.22) and first (67.22) in the other three rounds, respectively.

There is also this notable tidbit: Only two players have ever won a PGA and then led after the first round in event’s following year: Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka.

“Yeah, definitely the best start I’ve gotten off to this year, maybe besides American Express,” he said. “I felt like, especially going into the weekend when you look at like the Masters and Hilton Head and Cadillac, finishing second was probably not all that bad from where I was starting the weekend.”

Unlike his top rival, Rory McIlroy, whose wild driving and balky putting led to a 74 that will have the reigning Masters champ battling to make the weekend, Scheffler was strong off the tee in hitting 13 fairways, and he made some lengthy putts, including birdie bombs of 38 and 28 feet at the seventh and 11th.

“It’s always important to get the ball on the fairway,” Scheffler said. “I think around this golf course there’s a lot of run-ups on the greens, and they put the pins on some of the high points. So your scores are definitely going to be lower if you hit the ball on the fairway, but it’s still really, really difficult to make birdies.

“You hit some really nice iron shots in there to 10, 15 feet, and you’ve got putts with a ton of break on them. This golf course, especially on the greens, is quite challenging.”

That slope did fool him on one hole, No. 14, with Scheffler watching Matt Fitzpatrick’s putt on a similar line dive one way, and then, on his four-footer for par, he played for that break and saw his ball move in the opposite direction.

When the short putt didn’t touch the hole, Scheffler tilted his head back and let out a long, loud chuckle.

“There’s just not much you can do there other than laugh,” he said. “That’s part of the game. Sometimes you get good and bad breaks. I holed a couple of long putts today, and any time you’re able to do something like that, you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

The same could be said for Philly fans, and happily for Scheffler, by that juncture in his round, they’d already begun laughing not at him, but with him.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

X

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Main Image: IconSportswire

The post PGA Championship 2026: Scottie Scheffler gets off to a happy start on the course and with Philly’s infamous fans appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But it was Chris Gotterup who made birdie on the last hole to shoot a final-round 64 and then beat Hideki Matsuyama on the first hole of a playoff with another birdie to collect his second PGA Tour victory of the year. Yes, it was a hard-earned win, but Matsuyama bogeyed the 72nd hole to back into a playoff and then hit his drive into the water on the first extra frame. Gotterup rolled in the birdie from outside 20 feet and adds this trophy to that from the Sony Open just a few weeks ago. It’s his fourth career win.

Gotterup, for his efforts, walked away with $1.728 million from the overall $9.6 million purse and heads to Pebble Beach next week on a roll.

Here’s the rundown of what each player earned who made the cut.

WIN: Chris Gotterup, -16/268, $1.728 million

P2: Hideki Matsuyama, -16/268, $1.0464 million

T-3: Scottie Scheffler, -15/269, $439,680

T-3: Akshay Bhatia, -15/269, $439,680

T-3: Si Woo Kim, -15/269, $439,680

T-3: Michael Thorbjornsen, -15/269, $439,680

T-3: Nicolai Hojgaard, -15/269, $439,680

8: Jake Knapp, -14/270, $300,000

9: Matt Fitzpatrick, -13/271, $280,800

T-10: Pierceson Coody, -12/272, $242,400

T-10: Viktor Hovland, -12/272, $242,400

T-10: Ryo Hisatsune, -12/272, $242,400

T-13: $Zecheng Dou, -11/273, $188,000

T-13: Kevin Roy, -11/273, $188,000

T-13: Maverick McNealy, -11/273, $188,000

T-16: Daniel Berger, -10/274, $160,800

T-16: Jordan Smith, -10/274, $160,800

T-18: Michael Kim, -9/275, $122,720

T-18: Jacob Bridgeman, -9/275, $122,720

T-18: Rickie Fowler, -9/275, $122,720

T-18: Mac Meissner, -9/275, $122,720

T-18: Sepp Straka, -9/275, $122,720

T-18: Sahith Theegala, -9/275, $122,720

T-24: Ryan Fox, -8/276, $82,320

T-24: Rico Hoey, -8/276, $82,320

T-24: Kurt Kitayama, -8/276, $82,320

T-24: Rasmus Hojgaard, -8/276, $82,320

T-28: Harris English, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-28: A.J. Ewart, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-28: Nick Taylor, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-28: Ben Griffin, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-28: Mackenzie Hughes, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-28: Stephan Jaeger, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-28: Min Woo Lee, -7/277, $62,948.57

T-35: Sam Stevens, -6/278, $46,800

T-35: Wyndham Clark, -6/278, $46,800

T-35: Alex Smalley, -6/278, $46,800

T-35: Tom Kim, -6/278, $46,800

T-35: J.T. Poston, -6/278, $46,800

T-35: John Parry, -6/278, $46,800

T-41: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, -5/279, $34,080

T-41: Keith Mitchell, -5/279, $34,080

T-41: Cameron Young, -5/279, $34,080

T-41: Johnny Keefer, -5/279, $34,080

T-41: Sami Valimaki, -5/279, $34,080

T-41: Kristoffer Reitan, -5/279, $34,080

T-41: Xander Schauffele, -5/279, $34,080

T-48: Christo Lamprecht, -4/280, $24,608

T-48: Zach Banchou, -4/280, $24,608

T-48: Max McGreevy, -4/280, $24,608

T-48: Chad Ramey, -4/280, $24,608

T-48: Michael Brennan, -4/280, $24,608

T-48: S.T. Lee, -4/280, $24,608

T-54: S.H. Kim, -3/281, $22,272

T-54: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, -3/281, $22,272

T-54: Joe Highsmith, -3/281, $22,272

T-54: Brian Campbell, -3/281, $22,272

T-54: Kensei Hirata, -3/281, $22,272

T-54: Collin Morikawa, -3/281, $22,272

T-60: Patrick Rodgers, -2/282, $21,312

T-60: John VanDerLaan, -2/282, $21,312

T-60: Takumi Kanaya, -2/282, $21,312

T-60: Adrien Saddier, -2/282, $21,312

T-64: Davis Thompson, -1/283, $20,736

T-64: Gary Woodland, -1/283, $20,636

T-66: Chandler Phillips, E/284, $20,352

T-66: Max Homa, E/284, $20,352

T-68: Bud Cauley, +1/285, $19,872

T-68: Hank Lebioda, +1/285, $19,872

T-68: Neal Shipley, +1/285, $19,872

71: Keita Nakajima, +3/287, $19,488

72: Patton Kizzire, +4/288, $19,296

73: Cam Davis, +7/291, $19,104

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Christian Petersen

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2026 WM Phoenix Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

What gives? Why is Scottie Scheffler, the World No. 1 ubermensch who seems to win or come close to winning in every event he plays, now 0-2, and staring down a 2-4-3 career record that parallels in miniature Tiger Woods (13-21-3), the only golfer this century who played at his level?

“It’s 18-hole sprints, that’s what match play is,” offered Paul McGinley on USA Network’s television coverage. “It’s a different mindset. Scottie Scheffler is a marathon runner, 72 holes, brilliant. Match play is a different dynamic.”

RELATED: The subtle way Europe has cracked the code to motivating its players

An intriguing explanation but there are a couple big problems. First off, a 72-hole “marathon” is just a series of four 18-hole sprints, and in some of those sprints you’ve got to play phenomenal golf, which Scheffler does often. The idea that he can’t excel in 18-hole increments doesn’t hold water. But an even more damning counter to this argument is that in the only three WGC-Match Play championships he played, from 2021 to 2023, he finished second, first, and fourth, compiling a 16-3-2 record along the way. That seems a lot like a guy who’s pretty darn good at the “sprint” of match play golf, doesn’t it? And it carries over to the Ryder Cup singles, where he’s played Jon Rahm twice in his only two matches, winning the first and halving the second. (This also parallels Woods, who despite his poor overall record, was 4-2-2 in Ryder Cup singles, and thrived at the WGC-Match Play.)

So the better question to ask is, what’s going on at the Ryder Cup in these team matches?

There are a couple possibilities here. Maybe he doesn’t like playing with a partner and is worse when he can’t go at it alone. Maybe his teammates are intimidated by playing with him and underperform, or maybe he’s just been unlucky with bad teammates. Maybe he’s facing opponents on a heater. Or maybe it’s the small sample size. In any case, it’s terrible mojo for the U.S. to keep watching their alpha dog lose match after match, and just as in the Tiger era, it’s costing them dearly in the overall match.

Michael Reaves/PGA of America

So let’s look at the stats. In Friday morning foursomes at Bethpage, Scheffler had a -0.32 strokes-gained number, almost dead average, while his partner Russell Henley was worse, fifth to last among all players at -1.33. Here we see both outcomes: Scheffler underperforming compared with his usual high standard, watching inferior players strike the ball better, and also being saddled with a struggling teammate. In afternoon fourball, it was the same story through 15 holes, where his strokes gained were just below average again, and he failed to make any putt longer than 22 inches. Then he caught fire on the last two holes, draining long birdies in a too-little-too-late salvo, and finished with positive strokes gained (that’s an example of small sample size within a single match). Yet again, he had a partner in J.J. Spaun who struggled (-0.84 strokes gained).

Going back to 2023, he had two lousy days by his high standards in foursomes, played extremely well in earning a fourball half point, and then was one of the best players on the course in singles. And yet again, his partners in both of his losses were below average.

And we have to note that in at least three of the four pairs losses from 2023 and 2025, he ran into strokes-gained juggernauts—Matt Fitzpatrick Friday morning at Bethpage, Jon Rahm Friday morning in Rome, and both Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland Saturday morning in Rome, who put the infamous 9-and-7 licking on Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.

Where do the stats leave us? With a confluence of hurting factors that paint the picture of a guy playing poorly and getting the bad end of the luck spectrum on both teammates and opponents. None of it, however, adequately explains the larger phenomenon of why the best player in the world keeps getting thrashed in the world’s biggest team event.

For that, we have to guess, and it’s hard not to look to Tiger Woods for answers. The Americans never found him the right partner, and he never found his game in pairs matches. Scheffler’s story is still early, but it’s playing out along similar lines, and it makes you wonder if perhaps there are certain players who are so far above their contemporaries that the combination of their own single minded focus and a kind of aura that sets them apart makes life harder in the world of pairs matches. Does he put his arm around his teammate, the way McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood do? No. Are there bear hugs? No. Does he seem more isolated than his European counterparts? Yes.

Michael Reaves/PGA of America

Then again, even that can feel unfair and incomplete. But there’s not much info to be gleaned from Scheffler himself, whose quotes after both matches on Friday were unrevealing.

“It really just came down to me not holing enough putts,” he said in the afternoon. We put up a good fight at the end … it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to, but overall it was a good fight at the end, and we’ll come back out tomorrow.”

RELATED: Why Bryson DeChambeau was the unluckiest player on Friday

In the morning, he gave even less.

“I felt like Russ and I did some good things,” he said. “We just didn’t hole enough putts early. We had some chances. I think the putts just didn’t fall. But overall, the guys we played, they played a really good round and go back out this afternoon and see what we can do.”

He’s conditioned to think along those simple, short-term lines, and part of his superpower as a player is he doesn’t get lost trying to construct broader narratives about things like why he can’t seem to win these important matches. It may be a fool’s errand for us, too; in two more Ryder Cups, he might have amassed six wins, and in his first Ryder in 2021, he won a match and halved a match with Bryson DeChambeau. But for now, it’s a serious problem for the United States, and a major contributing factor to lopsided margins and eventual defeats. Even if we can’t figure it out, and even if Scheffler doesn’t want to figure it out, it would behoove Keegan Bradley to dig deep in the next 24 hours if there’s any hope to turn this Ryder Cup around.

Main Image: Michael Reaves/PGA of America

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

The post Ryder Cup 2025: Scottie Scheffler isn’t playing like himself and it’s killing the U.S. appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scottie Scheffler walked off the 18th green Thursday at Silverado Resort and he wasn’t pleased but he also wasn’t all that bothered. The World No. 1 hadn’t played in a few weeks and he’s at the Procore Championship to shake off some rust, get into contention over the weekend and round into shape for the Ryder Cup in two weeks in New York.

But he did make a little news even though it didn’t seem top of mind.

Scheffler shot two-under 70 in the first round in Napa, Calif., making it the first time in 22 rounds that he failed to shoot a score in the 60s. The last time was a 72 during the third round of the Travelers Championship in late June, the week after the U.S. Open.

That week in Connecticut, Scheffler shot a final-round 65 and tied for sixth place. He then tied for eighth place at the Scottish Open before capturing the claret jug with a British Open victory at Royal Portrush, his second major of the year. Scheffler closed with a T-3 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, a victory at the BMW Championship and a fourth-place tie at the Tour Championship.

The streak of 21 ends up tying Patrick Cantlay for the best in the history of the PGA Tour.

Scheffler bogeyed the fourth hole, then rattled off birdies on Nos. 7, 8 and 10. A bogey on 11 set him back, but he made birdie on 16 and then, uncharacteristically, blew it way left off the par-5 18th tee box and was not able to make birdie, although his third shot onto the green was impressive coming from way left and having to travel over a massive tree and leaderboard. Still, the 70 ended the streak.

“I think it was a pretty frustrating day overall,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I did some things well out there, I just wasn’t quite getting the reward. Yeah, that’s pretty much it on my end.”

Mackenzie Hughes is at the top of the leaderboard, shooting 63 in the morning wave. But this week, even though many players are jockeying for tour status for next year, is about the 10 U.S. Ryder Cup team members who are playing.

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley is on hand and only watching. He is not playing. But he’s had plenty of meetings and dinners with his team and vice captains and was able to get his squad to play together and in the same late-early wave for the first two rounds.

Scheffler was grouped with J.J. Spaun and Russell Henley. Cameron Young, Ben Griffin and Justin Thomas were in another group. Harris English and Collin Morikawa played with vice captain Webb Simpson while Cantlay and Sam Burns played with another vice captain, Gary Woodland.

Griffin topped all 10 by shooting a bogey-free 64 to stand a shot off the lead. Henley was next shooting a 65 that included 10 birdies and three bogeys and Spaun shot a bogey-free 67. Harris, Morikawa, Cantlay, Young and Thomas all shot even-par 72. Thomas was four under after 10 holes but closed with bogeys on four of the last six holes.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Jed Jacobsohn

The post Scottie Scheffler’s impressive streak of rounds in the 60s comes to an end appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But things have been good for a while for this guy. And ahead of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, Scheffler shared a funny story that illustrates his lofty status in the game.

Scheffler was asked on Wednesday about the last time he had to pay for a round of golf. And, not surprisingly, it’s been a while. So long, in fact, that he pivoted to telling a story about a time he didn’t have to pay. And one of his friends wasn’t quite as lucky. Take it away, Scottie!

Scottie Scheffler doesn't have to pay for his golf, but apparently, his buddies still do. pic.twitter.com/yLtn7J1eAj

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) August 6, 2025

“We kind of walked into the pro shop at a local public course and I knew the pro there,” Scheffler says in the clip. “And so he was like, ‘Hey, Scottie, how are you doing? Great to have you out.’ And I was like, ‘Hey, man, I’d like to pay for the round, we’re teeing off at 2.’ And he’s like, ‘No, you’re good.’ My buddy was like, ‘Oh, thanks, man. That’s awesome. Appreciate it.’ And he’s like, ‘Actually, you’ve got to pay.'”

Ouch.

“It was probably five years ago,” Scheffler added. “We still laugh about it to this day.”

Again, it’s good to be Scottie Scheffler. A friend of Scottie’s? Well, that’s a different story.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Mike Mulholland

The post Scottie Scheffler shares funny story about not having to pay for round of golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scheffler sat down with Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley for a “Live From” segment, taking the time to point out the first thing he noticed about the claret jug. And you’ll literally never guess what it is.

“Well, the first thing I noticed is this,” Scheffler says pointing to the historic prize. “2020, no championship owing to global pandemic.”

That is a pretty wild entry. It couldn’t just say “No tournament”? The R&A really made its engraver work hard on that one. Have a look and listen:

From the “inside the open” recap video – Scottie Scheffler says the first thing he noticed on the claret jug was that for 2020 it says “No championship owing to global pandemic”

I can’t believe that shit is on the claret jug pic.twitter.com/iPIJCSzw9j

— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) July 21, 2025

Man, 2020 seems like forever ago, huh? When the (golf) world shut down at that year’s Players Championship, Scheffler was still nearly two years away from his first PGA Tour title.

Anyway, we’re sure Scottie eventually noticed a lot of other things on that bad boy. Like Gary Player—back when it was the player’s responsibility to get the claret jug engraved—having his name put on ther in a bigger font. And we’re sure he enjoyed a celebratory drink (or two) out of it as well. Once he got done with all those interviews, that is.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Andrew Redington

The post The Open 2025: You’ll literally never guess the first thing Scottie Scheffler noticed on the claret jug appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This was the stunner: That’s the exact number of days Tiger Woods required to win the first four of his 15 majors, from his first Masters title in 1997 to, yes, taking the Open Championship at St. Andrews in 2000 at age 24.

That was, of course, the Summer of Tiger, with Woods capturing the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the Open on the Old Course, and the PGA Championship at Valhalla to set himself up for holding all four major titles at once following April at the Masters. With 2025’s last men’s major played, Scheffler will have to wait for the Masters next spring to try for No. 5, but he has two major titles this season after winning the PGA at Quail Hollow in May, and will get his shot at the career slam in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills next June (final-round Sunday will coincidentally be Scheffler’s 30th birthday).

Of course, the comparisons, debate and analysis of Scheffler’s last four seasons to some of Woods’ greatest runs are inevitable. And upon closer examination, it’s a legitimate exercise because the ways in which they stomped on their peers are very similar in some respects—and quite a bit different in others.

Unfortunately, like social media and smart phones, the PGA Tour’s strokes-gained statistics weren’t yet in the market in the early 2000s during some of Woods’ finest years, with SG not becoming the norm until 2011. The tour has since gone back to create strokes gained before that, but the first season for that is 2004. By then, Woods had won 39 tour events and eight majors.

Still, Woods had five tremendous campaigns after SG arrived, and from 2004-2009—and not counting 2008 when he won “only” four times—he captured 27 more tournaments and another six majors.

When the world was simpler, the math was easy by comparing the top players’ stroke average to the rest of the field. In that, Scheffler may never approach Woods. In 2000, Tiger achieved his highest differential ever at 3.84 strokes gained overall per round, and he had three other years of six wins or more in which the number was greater than 3 (2006, 2007 and 2009). This year and last, Scheffler has topped the tour at 2.64 and 2.56. So, incredibly, Woods’ 2000 beats Scheffler’s best by 1.2 shots.

It gets far more competitive and interesting when it comes to examining the various areas of each player’s game in the strokes-gained era and where they beat the rest of the field. When looking at the top five SG categories—off-the-tee, tee-to-green, approach, around-the-green and putting, Woods finished No. 1 in six of those categories and top five in 14 of the 20 areas (or 70 percent) over the four years we compared. Scheffler has been the best player in half—five of the 10.

Heading into this week’s Open, there was one area that stood out in which they both excelled, and, not surprisingly, it’s ball-striking. In fact, Scheffler’s numbers are mostly comparable in that area, though Woods holds the top stat in SG/tee-to-green when he gained 2.98 strokes over the field in 2006, when Adam Scott finished .75 strokes behind him.

Tiger Woods’ strokes gained total numbers for his best years outpace Scheffler, but the two golfers are surprisingly comparable when looking at strokes gained/ball-striking. David Cannon

Scheffler has been No. 1 in tee-to-green the last two years, with a best mark of 2.40 gained in ’24, and this season he was 2.27 gained before Portrush. In both cases, he distanced himself farther from No. 2 than Woods did, finishing 0.97 ahead of Xander Schauffele last year and being 0.96 better than Collin Morikawa this season. (The crazy part of those numbers is in both Woods’ and Scheffler’s cases, if the next closest golfer to them in ball-striking doubled his strokes gained number, it still wouldn’t be enough to catch Woods or Scheffler.)

Maybe more telling is where they stood relative to other quality players at the time. In 2007 and 2009, Woods was 1.27 strokes better than the golfer who ranked 10th in tee-to-green. Scheffler’s margin over No. 10 last two years are razor close to that—1.27 and 1.24.

While Woods was the longest of hitters early in his career, he had lost some of that advantage by the mid-2000s, and Scheffler is better in the category. Scheffler is second this year (0.70) and was first last year (0.81), while Woods’ best off the tee was third, and by 2009, struggling with injuries, he was 44th.

Woods’ worst area was his SG/around the green. For three years he never finished better than 74th and was an awful 128th in 2005, when he won six tournaments, including two majors. (He was top five in every other category that year.) Scheffler gets the edge in short game, ranking 17th and 25th in the last two years.

The expertise that has created the biggest span between the two: putting. Woods is considered one of the greatest clutch putters of all time, and in our four years he twice finished second in strokes gained and his most “off” season was being 21st.

In 2022-23, in easily his worst statistic ever, Scheffler lost one-third of a stroke to the field in putting. That’s when he sought out putting coach Phil Kenyon, and he has since climbed from 77th last year to 20th this season.

That ranking was before this Open, and with Scheffler having a marvellous week on the greens to rank second in the field, he’s now the five-tooler who seems to be winning at will. And he’s gaining on Tiger. Fast.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Supplied

The post Is it fair to compare Scottie Scheffler to Tiger Woods? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scheffler bullied his way to another major championship victory Sunday at Royal Portrush, settling matters early on the way to a four-stroke victory. On a gorgeous afternoon on the north coast of Northern Ireland, Scheffler birdied three of the first five holes to solidify a four-stroke overnight lead and closed with a more-than-sufficient three-under 68.

With a 17-under 267 aggregate total, Scheffler collected his fourth major title and second of the year following a six-stroke victory at the PGA Championship in May. The 29-year-old Dallas native now owns three legs of the career Grand Slam, joining Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as players who have won the Masters, PGA and Open Championship before age 30.

Just the seventh Open champion with four rounds in the 60s, Scheffler matched Seve Ballesteros as the only other man since 1945 to capture his first four major titles by three or more shots. The World No. 1 triumphed for the 10th straight time when holding the outright 54-hole lead and added his name to Woods’ as the only reigning World No. 1s to become Champion Golfer of the Year.

“It’s a very special feeling,” Scheffler said after becoming the fourth man to win at least three different majors by four or more strokes. (The others: Nicklaus, Woods and Ben Hogan.) “It takes a lot of work to get to this point. This was a tough week. It was challenging. The golf course was playing really tough, and I had to focus really hard over the course of the weekend.”

He is the 12th straight first-time winner of the Golf Champion Trophy, the formal name of the claret jug, and the gold medal that goes along with it. His share of the $19 million purse was $3.1 million.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Scheffler, who won his 17th PGA Tour title and fourth this season.

A scratchy three-hole stretch required consecutive par-saving putts of 16 and 15 feet, respectively, at the sixth and seventh holes. He celebrated each with impassioned fist pumps before suffering a double bogey at the par-4 eighth when he found a fairway bunker off the tee and needed two shots to escape it. That hiccup, only his fourth hole over par for the week, dropped his lead to the four strokes he owned at the start of the day.

Scheffler had built a generous buffer starting at the opening hole when he slung his approach from 143 yards to within 16 inches of the cup for an opening birdie. When China’s Haotong Li, his nearest pursuer when the round began, bogeyed the par-5 second, Scheffler was five ahead. The gap grew to seven when Scheffler holed a seven-footer for birdie at the par-4 fourth hole after Li failed to save par from 17 feet.

After the double at the eighth, Scheffler bounced back with birdie from five feet at the ninth. No one got closer than four shots the remainder of the round as Scheffler became the 31st player with at least four major titles.

When the last putt dropped, a tap in for par, he let out a celebratory roar and tossed his white cap in the air as his wife Meredith, holding their son Bennett, approached him on the green.

“Golf is a funny game. You’ve got to stay focused for the entire tournament, and I did a good job of that,” the normally stoic Scheffler said. “And then when I see my family afterward, it’s a pretty special feeling that’s hard to describe. It’s something I’m very grateful for and something I’ll hold onto for a long time.”

Harris English birdied two of his last three holes for 66 to come in second with a 271 total for his second runner-up finish of the year, both coming to Scheffler. On his 26th birthday, Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup closed with a 67 and was another stroke back in third in his Open debut.

“Even though winning today was probably not attainable unless I shot nine under, I felt like I needed a really good round and wanted to play well in the Open Championship and give myself a run,” English said. “Yeah, losing to Scottie twice in two majors, the only guy to beat me at the PGA and this week, I’m playing some good golf. Just need to clean it up a little bit.”

Wyndham Clark added a 65 to consecutive 66s and ended up T-4 at 273 with Li, who closed with a 70, and Matt Fitzpatrick of England, who shot 69. Bryson DeChambeau equalled Clark’s 16-under rally over the final three days capped by a closing 64, tying Scheffler for low round of the championship. At 275 and T-10, DeChambeau was high finisher among LIV golfers.

Masters champion and hometown hero Rory McIlroy didn’t get much going after beginning the day six back. His final-round 69 and 274 total left him in a tie for seventh with defending champion Xander Schauffele and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.

“I think a lot more positive than they were six years ago,” McIlroy said, referring to his experience compared to missing the cut at Royal Portrush in 2019. “I mean, look, I’m really pleased with my week. I wish I had been closer to Scottie going into today and been able to make a real push. But he’s been on a different level all week and he’s been on a different level for the last two years to the rest of us.

“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, the one that Scottie’s been on here for the last 24 to 36 months. Incredibly impressive.”

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Oisin Keniry/R&A

The post The Open 2025: Scottie Scheffler wins in a walk at Royal Portrush appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There are 18 holes left at Royal Portrush and a half dozen players who have a realistic chance, yet on Sunday at the 2025 Open only two will truly matter, as Rory McIlroy attempts to chase down Scottie Scheffler to become Champion Golfer of the Year.

This takes nothing away from those still in contention. Matt Fitzpatrick has rediscovered his form, Haotong Li continues to show resilience, Chris Gotterup is proving his Scottish Open triumph was the genuine article rather than a one-week wonder. Harris English is building momentum for a potential U.S. Ryder Cup berth, Xander Schauffele is mounting an impressive title defence, and Tyrrell Hatton has not pantomimed taking a bazooka to the course (yet). Any of these players possesses the skill and fortitude to claim victory. It’s just with 18 holes remaining, the galleries have already cast them as the supporting cast in what has become a two-man drama that everyone wants to witness.

Scheffler has earned that right through 54 holes of links excellence. Saturday was a tour de force of Scheffler’s specialty: When the going is good—which for Scheffler has been the past four years—his game produces rounds so consistent and complete they can appear methodical, not realizing that’s perhaps the highest compliment a golfer can receive. What began as a one-shot lead finished at four. The highlight was a perfectly struck approach at the par-5 seventh that set up an eagle, adding two birdies and no bogeys against 15 pars.

Scheffler showcased golf that was steady because that’s exactly what the situation and course demanded. He is not a gunslinger who creates drama through spectacular recoveries and escapes. He is a master surgeon, precise and efficient, completing the operation with such skill that the difficulty becomes invisible to observers. It lacks the theatre of miraculous saves, but that’s entirely the point. Boring golf. Championship golf.

If you wanted excitement, it could be found an hour ahead of Scheffler on the tee sheet, where McIlroy was not merely entertaining but electrifying a nation.

While the crowds have been enormous for the native son, there was also—and there’s no delicate way to express this—a thread of nervous energy rippling through them Thursday and Friday. They remembered the crushing weight of expectation that buckled McIlroy in 2019 and were terrified of becoming complicit in repeating that heartbreak. Saturday carried an entirely different energy. The dream of a McIlroy triumph flickered on, but starting seven shots behind the World No. 1—with a dozen competitors standing between him and Scheffler—this crowd understood the assignment. McIlroy needed every ounce of their belief to transform collective yearning into reality.

McIlroy delivered his end. He buried a snaking 35-footer at the first for birdie, added another at the par-5 second, then hunted down his approach at the brutal fourth hole for a third red number in four holes. But the scorecard captured only a fraction of what was unfolding.

McIlroy has long been golf’s most beloved figure, and that affection always intensifies during the Open Championship. What has manifested this week transcends typical adoration. Spectators are literally climbing over one another for even a glimpse—not just to witness him, but to communicate something deeper: We are here. We see you. We feel this with you.

It has been a peculiar stretch for McIlroy since his Masters victory, his anticipated victory lap morphing into something more complex and uncertain. But home doesn’t scrutinise recent form or care about outside judgment. Home is a sanctuary, asking nothing except that showing up as yourself.

Which is why, after his blistering start began to cool and the dream seemed to slip away, when McIlroy’s 56-foot eagle attempt at the 12th began its slow journey across the green—trickling, trickling, trickling—until it vanished into the cup and the entire property seemed to convulse with euphoria … well, regardless of Sunday’s outcome, some moments transcend scorecards and sport itself, reminding us why we invest our hearts so completely in this maddening game and those who play it.

So here is what is on the line Sunday: For Scheffler, victory means capturing a third leg of the career Grand Slam, claiming the links title that remains conspicuously absent from a résumé that all transcendent golfers possess. It would cement four years of dominance unmatched since Tiger Woods in his prime. It would elevate serious discussions about his ultimate ceiling—whether he represents merely generational excellence or something approaching all-time greatness. It would thrust his philosophy of separating results from personal worth into the mainstream spotlight it has long merited.

Ramsey Cardy

For McIlroy, a sixth major championship and second claret jug are statistics, secondary to something bigger. The weight of an entire nation’s sporting soul pressing down on his shoulders is a load few athletes will ever comprehend, let alone bear with grace. The cost of carrying such collective hope has already extracted its toll. But the reward … well, it’s not about immortality. It’s becoming the answer to a prayer that an entire people have whispered since Portrush returned to the Open rota.

Sunday will not be determined by destiny. For all the romanticism that golf commands on this side of the world, championship golf bows to no higher power than skill and nerve. Despite the signs proclaiming “FORGED BY NATURE,” Sunday will not yield to rain or wind, whether the elements rage or remain docile. The galleries will attempt to channel their fervor through the bright yellow leaderboards flanking the 18th green, willing their chosen name to the summit, only to discover their passion holds no jurisdiction there.

What unfolds over the final 18 holes at Royal Portrush rests solely with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, because the things that matter most in this life are never bestowed—they are earned through the unshakeable belief in oneself when everything hangs in the balance.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Andrew Redington

The post The Open 2025: There are two stories that matter on Sunday at Royal Portrush—the best vs. the favourite appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.