Scottie Scheffler insists completing the career Grand Slam "has never been a motivating factor for me" as he looks to join the exclusive club by winning the US Open.

The World No.1 catapulted himself into the Grand Slam picture by winning the PGA Championship and The Open last year to add to his two Masters titles and move just one win away from joining golf's immortals.

Scheffler is looking to join Rory McIlroy and become the seventh man to win the career Grand Slam but unlike McIlroy he'd like to get the job done at the first attempt at Shinnecock Hills this week.

But he insists that chasing history is not what drives him on, as he tries to ease the pressure on himself.

"For me, would it be a dream to win the US Open? Of course," said Scheffler. "But at the end of the day, the Grand Slam has never been a motivating factor for me. I always just wanted to be the best version of myself, and that got me this far."

McIlroy mentioned after he won the Grand Slam about having that feeling of what to do next after climbing his Everest - and that's something Scheffler is acutely aware of, hence why he's trying to not make it his main goal in golf.

"If I win this tournament, that would be amazing, but I think then I show up the next week, and it's like, okay, now Scottie's won the Grand Slam, he's won all these golf tournaments. Now where do we go from here?

"I think as a player and as a professional athlete, you're never going to live up to the expectations of people. I think sometimes that's a little bit of the fallacy in our sport is like, if I win the US Open, then I'm going to be satisfied.

"I've won all the tournaments, and my career is essentially over, and I've accomplished everything I could want to accomplish. But I think the goal posts are always just moved further and further."

No fear of failure key for Scheffler success

Scheffler has always insisted he's not defined by his golfing success, and he again offered an insight into his perspective on his sport - which may explain why he manages to keep such an even keel in the heat of battle.

"Golf is such a funny game. A good example this week, if I finish second this week, it's almost like, hey, you failed in your first chance to win the career Grand Slam," said Scheffler. "It's kind of, like, is finishing second a failure?

"It can feel that way, but I think sometimes when you look at more of kind of a wider view of the sport and where your game's at, second is not always that bad, but man, does it frickin' hurt at the same time.

"So you can feel like a failure in this sport oftentimes just because you're not winning, and I think that's just part of it. That's why I said I try not to focus too much on my successes or my failures, one, because you get beat up an awful lot in this game. It's a tough sport.

"But, two, if I was feeling so good about all my successes, I probably wouldn't be too much fun to be around either."

Scheffler has already come close at the US Open, finishing in the top seven in four of the last five years so he can rightly fancy his chances at Shinnecock - as he expected the Open Championship would've been the hardest Major for him to win.

"I always felt like The Open would be one of the hardest ones for me to win because I didn't have a lot of experience playing over there in the UK," Scheffler explained.

"Growing up, I played a lot of golf here in the States. I didn't really play much internationally at all. For me, not having the experience on links golf, I would have said that would probably be the most difficult for me to win.

"I always had self-belief. I always believed that I could win golf tournaments out here. I always had that belief in myself that I could accomplish some nice things in the game of golf."

The third Major of the year is upon us and there's plenty to talk about ahead of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

We've got an iconic venue on Long Island but one that's seen controversy the last two times it's hosted America's national open, will the USGA learn from those lessons?

There's history on the line as Scottie Scheffler looks to join the Grand Slam club, but is his game in good enough shape?

Australian iron man Adam Scott is serving up another slice of history while at the other end of the spectrum one of the best college golfers of all time is preparing to start his pro career.

With Rory McIlroy looking to end a long drought in a tournament that arguably suits his game best, there's no shortage of storylines to keep us gripped this week.

Can Scottie Scheffler win the Grand Slam?

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler headlines at Shinnecock Hills as he chases the US Open title that will see him join Rory McIlroy and become the seventh man to win the career Grand Slam.

Although McIlroy joined last year and Jordan Spieth has a chance at the PGA Championship, don't underestimate the size of the task ahead - and why Scheffler will feel that extra weight of history.

Scheffler has already scouted Shinnecock Hills so knows his game will need to be on point - especially his short game and putting which will be key this week thanks to the devlish greens he'll face.

Scheffler's putting is the one chink in his armour in the big events - he ranked 72nd at the PGA Championship at Aronimink in putting and 51st around the greens, if he repeats that he'll have no chance at Shinnecock.

And for Scheffler he's on something of a drought, having 'only' won once this year, back in January, with his current 11 tournament winless run his longest for three years.

He's finished second three times with three other top fives so it's hardly a slump, and it'd surprise nobody if he lifted the trophy on Sunday, but he's clearly not quite at his brilliant best.

Can Rory McIlroy win perfect Major again?

The US Open was Rory McIlroy's first Major way back in 2011 when his game looked absolutely perfect for the test. It still does, and it's incredible to think he's not managed to pocket another one.

McIlroy's driving prowess should make the US Open right up his street, but in the immediate aftermath of his victory at Congressional he perhaps thought it would all come too easy for him.

The Northern Irishman earned just one top 10 and missed four cuts in the next seven US Opens, before the penny dropped about having to be more patient in what is often the toughest of the four Majors.

He then had a run of six straight top 10s including two near misses, in 2023 - chasing home Wyndham Clark in LA and his infamous 2024 meltdown at Pinehurst to allow Bryson DeChambeau to claims victory.

McIlroy's since won back-to-back Masters and is focusing more and more on the Majors, having already scouted out Shinnecock. It could be time for McIlroy to add another US Open to his trophy cabinet.

Will Shinnecock be hero or villain?

The Long Island venue is clearly one of the finest courses in the United States, but it's known more for the controversial last two US Opens at Shinnecock Hills - when the USGA was accused of losing the course.

The greens became borderline unplayable in both events, with Phil Mickelson infamously hitting a moving ball in 2018 while grounds crew had to water the greens during the final round in 2004.

The USGA’s chief championships officer John Bodenhamer has vowed to take a more hands-off approach this year, to "let Shinnecock be Shinnecock" and allow Mother Nature to provide the difficulty.

The fairways are wider than before but the greens remain as tough as you like, so both approach play and getting up-and-down will still be a problem - par will be a good score even without the USGA picking out the worst pin placements.

With strong winds expected organisers won't even have to get too tricky with the flags, and if Shinnecock is allowed to shine on its own this time it'll end up being the hero of the US Open instead of the villain.

Iron man Adam Scott joins rare century club

There's a big milestone being achieved at Shinnecock as Adam Scott makes his 100th consecutve Major appearance - joining Jack Nicklaus as the only men ever to reach three figures.

He's still got some way to go to catch the great man as Nicklaus made 146 consecutive Majors, but becoming just the second centurion is still a huge achievement for the Australian.

Being fit enough to play in 100 straight Majors is one thing, being good enough to get in to 100 straight Majors is something else, but Scott has been an ever present since making his second Open appearance in 2001.

Tom Watson managed 87 straight Majors and Sergio Garcia 86, which gives you an idea of the how tough it is to pile up 100 consecutive appearances in golf's biggest tournaments.

College superstar set to turn pro

One of the highest-rated college stars on record, Jackson Koivun will turn pro after the US Open, so all eyes will be on him at Shinnecock Hills in his last event as an amateur.

The 21-year-old led Auburn to two NCAA Championships in three years, and set all kinds of records in a college career to rival any of the greats

Data Golf had him as the highest rated amateur since it began tracking, and Koivun became the first man to win all three of college golf's top awards (Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus) on multiple occasions.

Now, one of college golf's greatest ever players will tee it up at the US Open before turning pro and hitting the PGA Tour at the Jon Deere Classic. He has a card through 2027 thanks to gaining enough points on the PGA Tour University’s Accelerated program.

He's had to give up a spot in The Open at Royal Brikdale to go pro, but you get the sense he won't have too many problems getting into the Majors in the future. The hype could well be real with this kid.

The usually mild mannered Scottie Scheffler erupted at The Memorial Tournament as swirling wind conditions at Muirfield Village got the better of him.

Scheffler's long-term caddie Ted Scott bore the brunt of Scheffler's frustration after what the World No.1 felt was a perfectly struck tee shot on the par-three 16th that ended up finding the water.

The shot cost Scheffler a double bogey and earned Scott some earache as the double defending Memorial champion vented his frustration at the pair not being able to work out the changing wind direction.

Scheffler finished a frustrating day with a one-over round of 73, six shots behind leaders Wyndham Clark, JJ Spaun, Tommy Fleetwood and Ryan Gerard.

"I don’t think you understand how frustrating that is," Scheffler barked at Scott as the two made their way to the drop zone.

The exchange was caught on the broadcast microphones and was quite extraordinary in how Scheffler kept going and going.

“I never thought that I was in the water,” Scheffler shouted at Scott who, as every experienced caddie would, kept his head down and walked off ahead. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”

Scheffler continued: “I feel like that was a good shot. Now I’m in the water. Absolutely flushed a 7-iron and we get the wind wrong, and I end up in the water.

"I don’t think you understand how frustrating that is. I thought it was a good shot. It really was. … Golly."

“I liked that shot,” Scheffler continued after the pair reached the drop zone. “I don’t understand what I’m meant to do. I don’t understand. I really don’t. I mean, it was five yards short of the green, flushed 7-iron, because it’s into off the right.

"Like there’s no way it could curve that much. It’s so frustrating. I’m hitting good shots and dropping. We cannot get the wind wrong.”

Scheffler explains Memorial outburst

The Golf Channel's Curt Byrum said on the broadcast that “sometimes being a good Tour caddie is being able to just take the abuse the player is going to give you, take the shrapnel that’s coming your way".

Scheffler later told the press his frustration was due to constantly hitting good shots throughout his round but not getting the results due to the wind.

“That’s just another really good iron shot, and the wind switched from down off the right to pretty significantly in off the right,” he said of his tee shot on 16.

“So just don’t really know what I’m supposed to do there outside of trying to hit a good shot, and then it’s frustrating when it doesn’t work out, especially when it doesn’t work out in that direction.

“I would rather get gusted in off the left, not in off the right there. All you can do is just try to hit good shots. It can be very frustrating sometimes when you feel like you’re hitting good shots and then you’re going to the drop zone.”

Scheffler's opening round makes it highly unlikely he'll earn a rare three-peat, which will make it 11 tournaments in a row without a victory - not a dreadful run by normal standards but it's already his longest winless run since 2023.

Scottie Scheffler can join an exclusive club this week as a third consecutive victory at The Memorial Tournament would make him just the seventh man to achieve a modern-day PGA Tour three-peat.

Even taking into account the entire history of a sport as old as golf, only 19 men have won the same tournament three times in a row - with 27 instances of a three-peat.

The likes of Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Arnold Palmer achieved three-peats before the official formation of the PGA Tour in 1968.

Since then it's been achieved just 11 times by six different golfers - with Jack Nicklaus the first to do it and Tiger Woods accounting for six of those, including two tournaments he won four times in a row.

The last time we had a three-peat on the PGA Tour was Steve Stricker's three wins at the John Deere Classic between 2009-11.

Who has won same PGA Tour event three times running?

Going back through history, Young Tom Morris won four Open Championships on the spin, while Peter Thomson later won three in a row in the 1950s.

Walter Hagen won four straight PGA Championships after claiming three straight Matropolitan Opens, while Gene Sarazen won four Miami Open titles and three Miami Beach Opens in the same four-year span.

Arnold Palmer went back-to-back-to-back at both the Texas Open and Phoenix Open as did Billy Casper at the Portland Open in the early 1960s.

Jack Nicklaus claimed the first three-peat of the modern PGA Tour era at the Disney World Golf Classic - which given his dominance was surprisingly his only three-peat, showing how tough it has been.

Tough for anyone not named Tiger Woods though, as he won four times in a row at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Farmers Insurance Open, while adding four more three-peats.

Three of those came at WGC events - doing it twice at the event held at Firestone - while he also achieved it at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament.

How have recent three-peat bids gone?

Since Steve Stricker claimed his John Deere hat-trick in 2011 there's been 20 attempts to join the list of three-peat winners by 18 different players coming into a PGA Tour event as back-to-back champions.

Not many have come particularly close - only four attempts ended in a missed cut but only two tries saw players seriously challenge with one runner-up and one T3 finish the best of the bunch.

There were 12 top-25 finishes with seven top 10s made in pursuit of that elusive hat-trick - showing just how tough it is to achieve even in an event and on a course that they've tasted such success on.

Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Viktor Hovland have all tried and failed as back-to-back champions looking to add that third win on the spin.

Brooks Koepka has had two high-profile efforts in the Majors during his extraordinary period of dominance in golf's big four, with only Gary Woodland stopping him from claiming three straight US Opens in 2019 at Pebble Beach.

After a solo second there, Koepka incredibly had the chance of a hat-trick of PGA Championships a year later but finished T29 behind Collin Morikawa at TPC Harding Park.

Scottie Scheffler has tried, and failed, twice before his third attempt at The Memorial - coming T3 at the WM Phoenix Open in 2024 before last year attempting to do it at the most unlikely of venues at TPC Sawgrass.

Scheffler became the first man ever to win back-to-back Players Championship titles in 2023 and 2024 but came up short with a T20 finish in 2025 - still a valiant effort given the size of the task.

Full list of players to win same tournament 3+ years in a row

The top two players in the world have been on scouting trips to Shinnecock Hills with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy giving their opinions on what it will take to win the US Open.

World No.1 Scheffler will head to Shinnecock Hills chasing history, as victory at the US Open will see him joing McIlroy to become the seventh man to win the career Grand Slam.

Back-to-back Masters champion McIlroy also played the US Open venue on the same day as Scheffler - on Monday - before heading to Muirfield Village for The Memorial Tournament.

And both men came away with the same impression - that Shinnecock Hills may have some generous fairways, but thanks to how tough the greens are, if you miss a fairway "you have no chance."

McIlroy warns about Shinnecock green speeds

McIlroy made several prep trips to Augusta National before winning his second Green Jacket in a row, and he's also been to Long Island to take a look at what test Shinnecock will provide.

"If it's set up the right way, I think it's one of the best championship tests in the country," was McIlroy's overall verdict. "I mean, it's an amazing golf course.

"The fairways are very generous. They're more generous than they were in 2018. But the first cut of rough is five inches long. So it's like the first cut is maybe three paces wide and then it gets into the fescue.

"So if you miss the fairway even by a yard... but you shouldn't. The fairways are very, very generous. So if you miss the fairway, I feel like you deserve a bad lie."

The USGA was accused of losing control of the course in both the 2004 and 2018 US Opens at Shinnecock with greens becoming unplayable - and McIlroy warned again about the putting surfaces not being allowed to get too quick.

"We played on Monday. The greens are rolling around 11, 11.2, something like that. And I really don't think they need to get much faster," said McIlroy.

"I think if they can keep them at that green speed, they can get them firm, and they can use the hole locations that they want to use without having some of the struggles that they have had the last couple of US Opens.

"So to me, it's all about them just maintaining the green speeds really where they are and not getting them too out of hand, and I think it will be a great week."

Scheffler - USGA can make scores as high as they want

Scheffler made his first trip to Shinnecock Hills and agreed with McIlroy's assessment of the wide fairways - and also that missing them would be fatal.

"That was my first time on property. It was kind of what I expected. I had heard some rumors about how difficult the greens were," said Scheffler.

"I was a little surprised at the width of the fairways, but the green complexes there are extremely difficult, and I think that's where the greatest challenge comes from.

"The rough, also, was a really good penalty, I think, for the width. Once you start missing fairways out there, you have no chance."

Scheffler says the USGA could use the difficulty of the greens to make the scores as high or low as it would want them.

"The fairways are generous enough to where it provides you some opportunity and that way it's just that the green complexes are extraordinarily difficult," he added.

"And so they can put the pins wherever they want and make the scores as high as they could possibly want them to be."

After making a surge and joining the leaders on three-under after day one, many had expected Scottie Scheffler to push ahead on day two at the PGA Championship.

That wasn't the case at all, though. The World No. 1 actually went backwards slightly, recording a score of +1 on Friday to drop to a tie for seventh as things stand.

Scheffler shot bogey on the 10th (his first hole of the day), and would go on to hit another three bogeys on 12, 13, and the sixth on his way back to the clubhouse.

Much has been made of the tricky course setup at Aronimink already, and Scheffler has added his voice to that particular chorus.

In fact, the 29-year-old insists he has never seen pin positions as intentionally difficult as this in his whole career.

Speaking to the media after his round on Friday, Scheffler highlighted a number of holes around the course where the pin positions were particularly challenging, and how he tried to deal with them.

"The par I made on 14 was extremely good. That was one of the craziest pins that I've seen," he said.

"Your ball wasn't going to roll off 50 yards away, but they put the pin on this high point. I hadn't seen anything like it."

He also wasn't keen on the setup for hole 10, adding: "I'm sitting there, the wind's blowing 20-25 miles an hour right-to-left, and I got a green that goes down right-to-left into a valley, up left-to-right, back right-to-left.

"Then the pin is quite literally, if I hit that chip shot and the pin's here and it goes to there, it goes all the way over the back of the green, and now I have a very, very difficult up-and-down for bogey.

"So you just have to play smart and patient and understand that, I hit good shots on the 10th hole, but there's sometimes, especially around a golf course like this, where you're going to hit some good shots that aren't quite good enough and you get punished pretty severely.

Scheffler claimed these were the "hardest set of pin locations" he's ever seen on the Tour. He even asked Justin Rose's caddie and his own if they had seen anything similar, and they both admitted the only course that comes close is next month's US Open veue Shinnecock Hills.

Scheffler did, rather rationally, admit that sometimes on the golf course, things are simply out of your control. However, he did go on to describe the pin positions at Aronimink as "absurd," too.

He's not the only one who's been criticizing the decisions, though. Justin Thomas, who saw his playing group put on the clock for purported slow play, said: "How can time par on this course be the same, when it's blowing 25 and the pins are tough?"

Meanwhile, Chris Gotterup recorded the lowest score of the week so far, but even he had some complaints.

"I don’t think it’s unfair, but I do think for pace of play and certain aspects, 14 today is probably aggressive," he said.

"You’re hitting a four iron to a 10-foot circle, and if it doesn’t go there, it’s off the green, and if you hit it 40 feet left, you have a very hard two-putt."

Still, all three golfers are comfortably within the projected cut at the PGA Championship. Now, we have to wait and see if adjustments are made tomorrow in light of the critique of the pin positions.

Claiming the coveted PGA Championship title is one of the four steps any golfer needs to take if they want to become a Grand Slam winner.

The second Major of the golfing season is unique in that it's the only Major that only allows professionals to compete, giving it an extra air of prestige.

The event has been running since way back in 1916, when a match play format was used, before converting to strokeplay in 1958 and becoming the tournament we know and love today.

Of course, with great prestige comes great payouts, and the PGA Championship purse is naturally among the biggest in the golfing world.

Winning the Wanamaker Trophy is one thing, but landing a share of the huge purse is a very nice bonus indeed.

While Jack Nicklaus holds the records for the most wins at the PGA Championship (during the strokeplay era), he doesn't come close to featuring on the all-time list of top earners from the event.

Interestingly, when we look at the top 10 earners in PGA Championship history, there are two golfers who haven't actually won the tournament.

Justin Rose takes tenth place, with earnings of $3,540,011 across a whopping 23 events. The British star's best finish at the PGA Championship was a tie for third back in 2012, which earned him $384,500.

Bryson DeChambeau is also on the list in seventh with earnings of $4,636,217. He's racked up that impressive amount from just eight involvements in the PGA Championship, with back-to-back second place finishes in 2024 and 2025 earning him $2,837,332 alone.

It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise, at least when you really think about it, that Brooks Koepka is at the top of the PGA Championship money list. He's won the tournament more than anyone else in the past couple of decades with three triumphs coming in 2018, 2019, and 2023.

Koepka is clear out in front, too, with earnings of $9,456,726 from 13 events putting him well ahead of Tiger Woods, who comes in second place with winnings of $7,354,862 from 23 events.

Woods did win the tournament four times (in 1999, 2000, 2006, and 2007), but the money on offer back then is nothing compared to where the game of golf is now.

With 32 involvements, Phil Mickelson is the golfer in the top 10 who has featured in the PGA Championship the most, and his earnings of $6,510,066 put him third in the all-time list.

That's not much of a shock considering Lefty also made the cut in 27 out of those 32 events with two victories.

He's followed by another two-time winner, Rory McIlroy. His wins in 2012 and 2014 earned him a combined $3,245,000 towards his total of $6,349,228 over the years.

Rounding out the top five is 2025 PGA Championship winner Scottie Scheffler. That win secured Scheffler $3.42m last year, and he's already earned $6,152,768 from just six events.

The rest of the top 10 includes Justin Thomas ($5,672,581) thanks to his two victories at the PGA Championship in 2017 and 2022.

2015 champion Jason Day ($4,369,608) is in eighth place and Xander Schauffele, who won in 2024, comes in ninth with earnings of $4,363,822 across nine involvements in the PGA Championship.

Another triumph this year for McIlroy or Scheffler would send them to the top of the pile ahead of Koepka, but that man will be desperate to add a fourth title to his name and extend his lead at the top of the money list.

It's a big question ahead of every Major, so players and pundits alike have been discussing what will the winning score be at the PGA Championship?

Aronimink near Philadelphia will stage the second men's Major of the year and the first at the Donald Ross layout in 64 years.

Rory McIlroy and others have said that the course could be easily overpowered by the big hitters but the testing, sloping greens will be the big defense.

But how will that play out in terms of a winning score?

"The greens are the main focus this week, and I think getting yourself in the right sections of the greens, making sure you leave yourself below the hole for the most part. That's the key this week," said McIlroy.

Scottie Scheffler says there's a huge difference in a wet Aronimink and a dry and firm one - with the PGA Championship weather forecast suggesting it could be a bit damp to start with but dry out heading into the weekend.

The PGA of America do have a manner of control in terms of pin placements and whether they water the greens or not - but most believe the field will be good enough to post a relatively low score at the par-70 layout.

Keegan Bradley won on -20 at the 2018 BMW Championship held at Aronimink, but we're expecting conditions to be tougher this week.

Still, around the -16 mark has been touted by those on the ground in Pennsylvania as a possible winning score, while Ben Griffin predicted it will be tougher with -12 his pick.

Winning scores in recent years have fluctuated, with Keegan Bradley pointing out that the PGA of America has no agenda in terms of what score it wants to win the Wanamaker Trophy.

Weather can play a part given the new date in May for the PGA Championship - with Xander Schauffele winning a birdiefest at a soggy Valhalla a couple of years ago.

Southern Hills in 2022 was the toughest of the last decade in relation to par as Justin Thomas won a play-off after finishing on five under, while Phil Mickelson took the most strokes to win of the last 10 champions with 282 needed to win at Kiawah Island on six under.

Five of the last 10 have been single figures under par - and while Scheffler was -11 last year he was five shots clear of the field.

And while around that 10 under mark may be the aim, the PGA of America is seemingly more bothered about making the event a spectacle rather than worrying about the winning score.

What do you think the winning score will be in the 2026 PGA Championship? Have you say by joining the conversation below...

PGA Championship winning scores

Since its inception in 2019, the 3M Open has attracted some top players, including Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa.

However, its place in the schedule immediately after The Open means it doesn’t always attract the game’s highest-profile stars.

They don’t come much bigger than the man at the top of the world rankings, though, and in 2026, the TPC Twin Cities event will have that honor with Scottie Scheffler confirming his maiden appearance.

That represents a change of approach for Scheffler, who normally takes some time away from competitive action following The Open to prepare for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Speaking to the event’s official website, Scheffler said: "I'm looking forward to playing the 3M Open for the first time.

"I've heard great things about the event and I'm excited to get to Minnesota and compete at TPC Twin Cities."

Scheffler’s participation in the tournament, which runs from July 23rd to July 26th, was welcomed by vice president of partnerships at 3M, Kady Stoll, who said: “Scottie's commitment to the 3M Open is a milestone for this tournament and our partnership with the PGA Tour."

"His participation reflects the experience we want to deliver for fans, players and the communities we support."

It’s not just the 3M Open Scheffler has committed to playing in recent days. He will also compete in the Genesis Scottish Open the week before The Open.

Unlike the 3M Open, he is far more familiar with the Renaissance Club tournament, with 2026 marking his fifth appearance.

Scheffler will use the links-style layout to prepare for the defence of his Open title the following week, which will be held at Royal Birkdale.

Scheffler, whose best finish at the Genesis Scottish Open was a T3 in 2023, told the DP World Tour website: “I always enjoy coming to the Genesis Scottish Open and taking on the challenge of links-style golf as part of an exciting couple of weeks in the UK.

“The tournament always has a strong field, and the Scottish fans help to make it a fun week.”

It's safe to say that Quail Hollow has been a happy hunting ground for Rory McIlroy in the past, earning four victories at the course throughout his career.

For 2026, the Truist Championship returns to the lay-out after a brief stint at Philadelphia Cricket Club, and McIlroy is to make his competitive return to action after taking a break following his Masters win in April.

Having not featured at either the RBC Heritage or Cadillac Championship Signature Events, or indeed the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, McIlroy will be the star name in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Taking place a mere few hours away from Augusta National, it'll be the first tournament the 36-year-old has played since he became the fourth player in history to defend The Masters.

Earning a one shot win to secure his sixth Major, McIlroy's nearest challenger that week, Scottie Scheffler, won't be present, as the World No.1 takes a week off following three events in four weeks.

Last year, Quail Hollow staged the PGA Championship instead of the Truist Championship, and, at that Major, Scheffler dominated proceedings, forging out a five shot win over Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau and Davis Riley.

This year, Quail Hollow returns in a Signature Event role, and will play as the starter for the main course of the PGA Championship, which takes place the week after at Aronimink Golf Club.

Much has been made of the 2026 PGA Tour schedule and, since The Masters, three Signature Events are taking place in a four week stretch, with notable names prioritizing their scheduled starts.

The PGA Tour returned to Trump National Doral for the first time in a decade but, despite this, notable names, including McIlroy, opted to skip the $20 million Cadillac Championship.

Major season is upon us and, consequently, with such a tight schedule, some will want to play the week before a Major, while some won't.

Scheffler falls into the won't camp, as he skips the Truist Championship. For the majority, though, they will be present in Charlotte, where a 72-man field will get some competitive reps in at the no-cut event.

Truist Championship Full Field

• Ludvig Aberg
• Harris English
• Nicolai Hojgaard
• Rory McIlroy
• Jordan Spieth
• Daniel Berger
• Tony Finau
• Max Homa
• Maverick McNealy
• Sam Stevens
• Akshay Bhatia
• Alex Fitzpatrick
• Viktor Hovland
• Collin Morikawa
• Sepp Straka
• Chandler Blanchet
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Mackenzie Hughes
• Alex Noren
• Nick Taylor
• Keegan Bradley
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Sungjae Im
• Andrew Novak
• Sahith Theegala
• Jacob Bridgeman
• Rickie Fowler
• Michael Kim
• Taylor Pendrith
• Justin Thomas
• Sam Burns
• Ryan Fox
• Si Woo Kim
• JT Poston
• Jhonattan Vegas
• Brian Campbell
• Ryan Gerard
• Kurt Kitayama
• Aldrich Potgieter
• Matt Wallace
• Patrick Cantlay
• Lucas Glover
• Jake Knapp
• Patrick Rodgers
• Gary Woodland
• Ricky Castillo
• Chris Gotterup
• Min Woo Lee
• Justin Rose
• Sudarshan Yellamaraju
• Bud Cauley
• Ben Griffin
• David Lipsky
• Xander Schauffele
• Cameron Young
• Corey Conners
• Harry Hall
• Robert MacIntyre
• Adam Scott
• Pierceson Coody
• Brian Harman
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Alex Smalley
• Jason Day
• Ryo Hisatsune
• Denny McCarthy
• Austin Smotherman
• Nico Echavarria
• Tom Hoge
• Matt McCarty
• JJ Spaun

Being the caddie of the world’s number one golfer isn’t just a great way to enhance your professional reputation, it’s also guaranteed to boost your bank balance.

Ted Scott is the man entrusted with carrying Scottie Scheffler’s bag, whose unbroken spell at the top of the world rankings is approaching three years.

The first full calendar year of Scheffler’s current dominance came in 2024, when the American’s total earnings amounted to $55,228,357, helped by eight victories.

Winners typically hand out 10% of the prize money to their caddie, while players finishing in the top 10 of events are thought to give their caddies around 7-8% of their prize money, with 5% for other positions after making the cut.

As a result, it is estimated that Scott earned over $5.3m that year, on top of the undisclosed salary he picks up for being Scheffler’s caddie

In 2025, Scheffler continued to dominate, winning another six times. Because of that, it is thought Scott banked around $2.5m.

Scheffler hasn’t been quite as all-conquering so far in 2026, but by anyone else’s standards, he’d still be having a brilliant season, with one win - at The American Express - and three top fives leading up to the PGA Tour's latest Signature Event, the $20m RBC Heritage.

Still, there are signs that, like 2025, when it took him until May to pick up his first win, he’s finding his best form now we’re in the thick of the season.

Scheffler seemed back to his best in the final round of The Masters, where he gave winner Rory McIlroy an almighty run for his money in the final round before falling just one short of a playoff.

That handed him prize money of $2.43m. If we assume Scott was given a 7% share, he will have earned $170,100 from his assistance to Scheffler at Augusta National. If Scheffler’s agreement with Scott is for 8% for a top-10 finish, that figure increases to $194,000.

Scheffler again fell just short at the RBC Heritage, this time having reached a playoff as Matt Fitzpatrick took the title, but that still handed him prize money of $2.16m, meaning Scott is likely to have earned between $151,200 and $172,800 for his week at Harbour Town.

That means that, in just the last two weeks alone, Scott’s bonus money has likely amounted to between $321,300 and $366,800.

Following the RBC Heritage, that would place him somewhere between 113th and 120th on the 2026 PGA Tour money list – and all without needing to swing a club!

As for 2026 overall so far, with his latest runner-up, Scheffler now has earnings of $8,406,430.

Assuming a $7% caddie bonus for his top-10 finishes, that would take Scott’s earnings from just eight events to $597,178. If Scheffler pays Scott an 8% bonus when he finishes in the top 10, the figure for 2926 so far comes to $657, 294.

April is not only Masters month for the world of golf, it's also a time to reflect on the past financial year and see which golfers have earned the most money.

With massive prize funds given out each week across the PGA Tour, the LIV Golf League and the DP World Tour, the best players in the world are racking up huge bank balances throughout the season.

Rory McIlroy has just added another $4.5m to his career earnings thanks to his incredible triumph at Augusta National. That'll give him a nice head start for next year's totals, but it doesn't help him surpass one other golfer for the 2025-26 tax year.

The data comes from Sportico, breaking down the earnings of the top-10 highest paid golfers in the world, with details as to how much they earned on the course and off it through sponsorship deals and the like.

McIlroy was in the top two, and led the way in off-course income, but it's actually Jon Rahm who earned the most in total for the last year.

Rahm benefits massively from his contract with LIV, of course. It is though the Spaniard was offered $300m to join the breakaway tour, with half paid upfront and the other $150m paid equally across the years of his contract.

Last year, Rahm is said to have earned a total of $102m, and is the only golfer to break the $100m barrier. Of that figure, $92m came from on-course earnings, with another $10m in sponsorship payments.

The 31-year-old didn't actually win an event throughout the LIV Golf season in 2025, but he still claimed enough points to come out on top in the individual leaderboard. That earned him a massive $18m, which is exactly how much he beat McIlroy by in the money charts.

McIlroy is arguably the most marketable golfer in the world, especially after his remarkable double Masters win. It speaks volumes that McIlroy's net worth was thought to be around $294m in 2023, and will be much higher now.

But, for 2025-26, he is reported to have earned $84m from golf. $29m of that comes from event payouts, while a whopping $55m comes from off-course deals. That actually makes McIlroy the leader in commercial income, narrowly beating Tiger Woods.

Still, McIlroy's closest competitor is Scottie Scheffler, who recorded $81m in earnings last year. Not surprisingly, given his dominance on the Tour, $51m of that came from winnings on the course, while he's thought to have earned a huge $30m from sponsorship deals with the likes of Turtlebox, Nike, TaylorMade, and Huntington Bank.

Looking elsewhere, there's quite a gap between that top three and the rest of the top-10 highest paid golfers. Bryson DeChambeau is next in line, but his earnings stood at around $65m, with $45m of that coming from his lucrative deal with LIV.

Woods, as we mentioned, is the second highest-earner when it comes to commercial deals. $54m of his total came from that side of the game, while only $200,000 was earned from his performances on the course.

Rounding out the rest of the top-10, Tommy Fleetwood enjoyed a successful year thanks to his Tour Championship win in August. That netted the Englishman a mega $10m payout which contributed to his $42m earnings.

Joaquin Niemann is the third and final LIV golfer in the top 10. The Chilean won five events last year, so it's not surprising that he's up there, with earnings of $41m in total.

Beyond that, we have Hideki Matsuyama sitting at $31m. That's largely thanks to his endorsement portfolio, which contributed $25m. Xander Schauffele ($30m) and Collin Morikawa ($28m) complete the list.

Highest-Paid Golfers 2025-26

The 2026 Masters looks like one of the most wide-open in years with some of the big tournament favorites all having question marks around them.

And there's a recent trend around Masters champions that would rule out a host of the big guns at Augusta National this week if it holds true.

As the recent stats say you can't win The Masters if you've had more than a week off before heading down Magnolia Lane to tackle Augusta National.

If that run continues then the likes of defending champion Rory McIlroy, two-time winner Scottie Scheffler, former champions Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed and the in-form Bryson DeChambeau all have no chance this week.

Two weeks off too long to win The Masters?

It's a strong trend too, with only two of the last 20 Masters winners having more than a week off before claiming the Green Jacket, and none of the last 11 champions - according to stats maestro Justin Ray.

The LIV Golf contingent have had no option as the last event on their team golf tour took place in South Africa three weeks ago, meaning Rahm and DeChambeau, along with Tyrrell Hatton, have had two full weeks off.

After trekking around the globe playing in the Middle East, Australia and Asia that doesn't seem like too bad a plan at all - and both Rahm and DeChambeau have been in brilliant form - but this trend says that it is too long a break to take.

All the LIV Golf players, along with former LIV man Reed, also haven't even teed it up in the USA this year yet, which could be seen as a bit of a negative for their chances.

PGA Tour players usually fit in one of either the Houston Open or Texas Open following The Players Championship to have one last tune-up for Augusta and ensure they have no more than a week off.

That's not the case for a large number of well-fancied players though, with Matt Fitzpatrick taking the full two weeks off after winning the Valspar - as has Xander Schauffle after finishing fourth at the same event.

Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay are another three to have had two weeks off, along with FedEx Cup leader Jacob Bridgeman who is fancied to do well on his Masters debut.

He won't win it though if this stat holds, with Bubba Watson the last man to take a fortnight off before winning The Masters in 2014.

McIlroy, Scheffler & Rose have had lengthy lay-offs

While that's bad enough, this year there are some big names that have taken even longer off before heading to The Masters, for various reasons.

And as the AP's Doug Ferguson points out you have to go back to Adam Scott in 2013 to find a Masters champion crowned after a three-week break from golf.

This then brings in World No.1 Scheffler, who has just welcomed his second child to the family, and current Green Jacket holder McIlroy who has to end that long run if he's to become just the fourth back-to-back Masters champion.

But it doesn't end there, as Players Championship winner Cameron Young hasn't teed it up since winning at TPC Sawgrass while Collin Morikawa hasn't been seen since withdrawing from the PGA Tour's flagship event with a back injury.

We can add Masters runner-up Justin Rose to that mix as well as he's not played since Sawgrass, while former champion Patrick Reed, who always seems to go well here, hasn't played for a month.

Reed last played at the Joburg Open on the DP World Tour after leaving LIV as he's not yet allowed to return to PGA Tour action. He'll definitely be on the rusty side but his course form could help him.

That's still a lot of big names that are battling against the recent rust factor, among other things, and the sheer amount of them means we likely could see an end to this run, but it does bring a few doubts for the usual suspects and could make this one of the most open Masters tournaments in years.

Congratulations must go to the Scheffler family after it was announced Meredith and Scottie have welcomed their second child into the world shortly before The Masters begins.

First announced by the Associated Press' Doug Ferguson on Sunday, the Schefflers welcomed their second son nine days ago, on Friday, March 27. Bennett's younger brother has been named Remy.

And as soon as both mom and baby were ready, the family headed over to Augusta National Golf Club as dad prepares to try and win a third Green Jacket. As you do.

Per the PGA Tour, all four members of the Scheffler group were on site at Augusta on Sunday as Scottie took part in a vital practice round before presenting some of the trophies after the Drive, Chip & Putt finals.

Meredith and Bennett watched the World No.1 warm up while his parents, Scott and Diane, tended to the newborn who was in a stroller.

The practice will be extremely important for Scheffler given he has not played competitively since The Players during mid-March.

The four-time Major winner was due to compete in his adopted home state last week but withdrew from the Texas Children’s Houston Open in anticipation of Remy’s birth.

Scheffler was on a run of 18 consecutive top-10s prior to a T12th at the Genesis Invitational in February. In his two starts since then, the 29-year-old has failed to crack the top-20 (Arnold Palmer Invitational - T24th, The Players - T22nd).

He triumphed in his opening start of the season, at the American Express, before ending T3rd at the WM Phoenix Open and T4th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Scheffler will aim to resume normal service at Augusta National this coming week while also maintaining his streak of winning The Masters in even years since 2022. His first two Green Jackets arrived in 2022 and 2024.

Betting favorite Scottie Scheffler has withdrawn from the 2026 Texas Children's Houston Open due to "family reasons", it has been announced.

Scheffler had been due to compete at this week's PGA Tour event in his adopted home state - held at Memorial Park Golf Course where he has three runner-up finishes over the past four years.

However, Golf Channel's Brentley Romine was the first to report the World No.1 and his wife Meredith are expecting their second child very soon and therefore Scheffler chose to exit the tournament before play begins in a couple of days' time.

As a result of the four-time Major winner's withdrawal, nine-time PGA Tour champion Matt Kuchar will now tee it up in the 135-man event instead. Chris Gotterup is now the highest-ranked player in the field as World No.10.

With a baby brother or sister due for Bennett Scheffler - who was born on May 8, 2024 - the soon-to-be father of two is now not expected to play again until The Masters in a little over a fortnight.

There, Scheffler will pursue a third Green Jacket off the back of a mildly turbulent preparation period.

His most recent start was at The Players where he failed to overcome a relatively disappointing first round and ended up finishing T22nd at TPC Sawgrass.

Before that, Scheffler saw his 18 consecutive top-10 finishes come to a halt via a T12th at the Genesis Invitational before a T24th result at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

As a result, Scheffler's last top-10 was at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in mid-February (T4th). The 29-year-old was T3rd at the WM Phoenix Open and claimed a runaway victory in his opening appearance of the year at the American Express.

Meanwhile, Scheffler was not the only early exit from the Houston Open thanks to six further withdrawals since Sunday.

Austin Smotherman, Cam Davis, Ryo Hisatsune, Michael Kim, Matt McCarty and Bud Cauley have all chosen to give this week a miss, with the group replaced by Doug Ghim, Danny Willett, Jimmy Stanger, Paul Waring and Jesper Svensson.

Plus, due to the inclusion of Brooks Koepka, Andrew Putnam and Kris Ventura were the pros added to the field, taking the total number of players up to 135.

Scottie Scheffler's return to the TaylorMade Qi4D driver lasted just a week as the World No.1 is now back into his beloved Qi10 at The Players Championship.

TaylorMade's new driver has seamlessly gone into the bags of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Nelly Korda and Charley Hull among others, but Scheffler is finding it tough to switch out his usual gamer in the early part of the year.

The four-time Major champion ranked 19th in Strokes Gained: Off the tee at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with the Qi4D, gaining 1.28 strokes per round with it while hitting 53.57% of fairways.

He was full of praise for the new model after his opening round at TPC Sawgrass despite going back to his Qi10, where he explained that he was struggling to trust the new driver and admitted his old faithful has "done pretty good the last few years."

He actually lost strokes on Thursday with the Qi10, missing multiple drives to the right for a loss of -0.011 strokes off the tee to rank 68th - well below his average of +0.743 for the season so far.

"I've seen some improvements in the new driver; like my spin is much more consistent. It's actually a touch faster than my driver," Scheffler said after his opening 72.

"But the way I play, I always hit so many different types of shots and the one last week felt like it was going a little left on me, and when I want to hit my peeler a lot of times I would hit it out of the middle of the face it would start drawing on me.

"So I think that's a little bit today why the ball started going right. You look at a hole like 14, 7, 16, you can't really miss left.

"I don't think I had enough trust in what the driver head was doing compared to where I was last week. I think it can be tough sometimes to kind of block that stuff out.

"But I have seen some improvements in the new driver, it's just I haven't been able to trust it in all the different shots that I hit, especially off the tee.

"Yeah, it's done pretty good the last few years. I don't know what you think my results have been with the ball-striking, but it's a driver I've used since 2024 and 2025. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, it's a pretty good driver."

The two-time Players Champion was well below his best on Thursday but is only five back of the lead after 18 holes.

Since turning professional in 2018, Scottie Scheffler has scooped up a plethora of financial records and recently joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only players to have surpassed $100 million in Official Money on the PGA Tour.

Multiple victories in select tournaments and the ever-inflating prize money pools in modern pro golf will go a long way to helping in that regard, but the sheer number of wins and extraordinary level of consistency when he doesn't is also no hindrance.

To date, Scheffler has 25 professional victories and two of those have arrived at The Players Championship. He is accompanied by McIlroy, Woods, Davis Love III, Hal Sutton, Steve Elkington and Fred Couples as the only golfers on a pair of triumphs at TPC Sawgrass.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jack Nicklaus is the only man so far to have won three or more Players Championships. Yet, the Golden Bear earned a grand total of $229,670 from his 18 starts - $170,000 of which were garnered from his wins in 1974, 1976 and 1978.

Meanwhile, Scheffler's total prize money at The Players is in a completely different animal entirely and helps him top the list of all-time earners by over $1 million.

The four-time Major winner has collected almost $9.3 million in just five starts - largely thanks to victories in 2023 and 2024.

Having said that, Scheffler missed the cut in his first appearance at TPC Sawgrass, so - technically - has nearly $9.3 million from only four completed tournaments.

A T55th in his second go around the PGA Tour's home course didn't pan out the way he would have wanted either, although a made cut and a check for just under $50,000 helped kickstart Scheffler's stratospheric rate of income from this event.

In 2023, the first year a $4.5 million first prize was introduced, the New Jersey-born pro truly found his feet and dominated The Players to win by five strokes on 17-under. The contest was much closer in 2024 as a one-stroke success was achieved via a 20-under score.

Having boosted his coffers by a cool $9 million in the space of two events, Scheffler was forced to settle for T20th in 2025 and picked up a perfectly agreeable consolation prize of just under $250,000.

That took his total earnings to $9,286,450 and in excess of seven figures more than his closest challenger which, after a second Players win of his own last year, is now McIlroy.

LIV Golf's Sergio Garcia is third on the all-time list with a shade under $6 million from 22 starts while Woods is fourth on $4.72 million and Jim Furyk is fifth thanks to a little more than $4 million.

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-TIME MONEY LEADERS

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER CAREER EARNINGS AT THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Scottie Scheffler looks to be back in the TaylorMade Qi4D driver ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, having been pictured using it during the Pro-Am at Bay Hill.

The World No.1 moved into TaylorMade's brand new model in December at the Hero World Challenge but was back in his beloved Qi10 Dot for the American Express in his first start of 2026.

He won his 20th PGA Tour title in Palm Springs with his old faithful and has kept it in the bag, until this week.

The World No.1's Qi4D is fitted with his usual Fujikura Ventus Black Velocore 7 X shaft and also has his own custom blue carbon face, just like the one fitted in the Qi10.

It also doesn't have the white strip at the top like usual TaylorMade driver faces, and the blue helps with his confidence of seeing the face and loft at address.

Scheffler rarely changes his driver, having used the Qi10 since early 2024 all through the 2025 season. It was in the bag for three of his four Major wins as well as multiple PGA Tour victories and the Olympics.

He is a fairly late adopter of the new Qi4D driver, with TaylorMade staffers including Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Charley Hull, Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson all moving straight into it this year.

"Yeah, for me so far this driver's been a really good fit for my eye and that's always the first test for me," he said of the Qi4D in December.

"So far the performance has been good, my spin numbers have been really consistent, ball flight's been consistent and looking forward to getting it in competition.

"So last year I had a little bit of trouble getting into the Qi35 and I feel like we learned a lot throughout that process of what I like to see in a driver, the way it needs to perform for me specifically.

"Going into this year I feel like Adrian [Rietveld, his fitter] and the whole team at TaylorMade had a really good kind of idea of what my eyes needed to see in order for the driver to be able to work.

"We went through a lot of different kind of options for what the face needed to be specifically for me and felt like we're in a good spot, and then the testing was a lot simpler this time around for sure."

Scheffler ranks 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off the tee this season so far and has been averaging 310.8 yards.

Most people know by now that Scottie Scheffler is very good at golf. And with that comes the ability to earn an awful lot of money.

The World No.1's Official Money total on the PGA Tour recently surpassed $100 million, with only Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods for company in the exclusive nine-figure earnings club.

And, as far as Scheffler's overall career earnings go, we make that number more than $200 million (and climbing steadily early on in 2026), largely thanks to 25 professional wins.

Two of those victories have arrived at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which has helped inflate Scheffler's extraordinary bank balance to the level it now finds itself.

The first of Scheffler's API successes was in 2022 when the then-25-year-old saw off Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Billy Horschel by a stroke after posting five-under for the week.

It was only Scheffler's second-ever PGA Tour victory, but it arrived just weeks after his first at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. For his reward at Bay Hill, the adopted Texan earned $2.16 million.

Then, in 2024, the former University of Texas at Austin golfer absolutely ran away with the title, posting 15-under and winning by five from Wyndham Clark.

With the API having been designated as what is now known as a Signature Event by that point, Scheffler was able to scoop the $4 million first prize.

His record in the other three appearances at this event isn't bad, either, by the way. The four-time Major winner finished a career-worst T15th on his debut in 2020 before Covid ensured he wouldn't have the chance to improve on that in 2021.

Sandwiching his wins in 2022 and 2024 was a respectable T4th in 2023, where an $800,000 windfall arrived at the end of his first title defence. In 2025, during the second title defence, Scheffler managed T11th and collected just over $450,000.

In total, the most dominant figure in men's golf right now has earned more than $7.5 million in just five starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Remarkably, that has allowed him to move within touching distance of Woods in terms of most money won at this event.

In case you weren't aware, Woods has claimed this championship a record eight times from 18 starts and banked almost $7.66 million along the way.

Woods tops the all-time API money list by nearly $86,000, meaning that if Scheffler can finish solo 40th or better this week, he will overtake the 82-time PGA Tour winner's cash total in 12 fewer starts.

Clearly, there are a couple of key caveats involved in that statement - such as inflation and larger prize pools - but the wider point remains that Scheffler is making a considerable amount of money from this event and appears unlikely to stop any time soon.

Below are the top-three earners of all time at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as well as a full breakdown of Scheffler's results and payouts since his debut in 2020.

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL CAREER MONEY LIST

• 1: Tiger Woods - $7,657,559 (18 starts, 8 wins)
• 2: Scottie Scheffler - $7,571,675 (5 starts, 2 wins)
• 3: Rory McIlroy - $5,580,328 (11 starts, 1 win)

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER'S ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL RESULTS AND PAYOUTS

Slow starts have become a theme recently for Scottie Scheffler of late, but he's made his worst one ever on the PGA Tour during the rain affected first round of the Genesis Invitational.

It's a rare sight to see the World No.1 at the bottom of a leaderboard, but he was propping up the field when play was stopped on the first day at a sodden Riviera Country Club.

The caveat of course is that due to weather delays Scheffler had only completed 10 holes before Thursday's play came to a close - but it was the worst 10-hole start he'd ever made on the PGA Tour.

Scheffler made three bogeys and a double bogey in an error-strewn start at Riviera to sit on five over for 10 holes, which stats guru Justin Ray reliably informed us all was his worst ever return.

His next worst was a four-over start after 10 holes of the 2014 Byron Nelson - when Scheffler was a mere 17-year-old amateur just starting out on what would build into an amazing career.

And it's the four-time Major champion's dominant displays of brilliant consistency that make any big mishaps like Thursday at Riviera headline news in golfing circles.

Even if Scheffler can rescue the situation on Friday, it still marks three first rounds in a row for him, after also starting slowly at the WM Phoenix Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

We also have to emphasize these are bad starts for Scheffler, given his insane level of production - as on the face of things shooting 73 at TPC Scottsdale and 72 at Pebble Beach aren't exactly disasters.

Phoenix was a bad round statistically for Scheffler. It snapped a run of 33 straight rounds under par and he showed rare signs of frustration after some basic errors.

He came roaring back both times though to finish T3 and T4 and make it an amazing 18 consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour - the most since Billy Casper's 17 in 1964-65.

So he'll likely not stay at the foot of the leaderboard much longer, but he already has a lot of ground to make up on clubhouse leader Rory McIlroy, who made his best ever start to the tournament.

The Northern Irishman is making his 10th start at Riviera and carded a five-under round of 66 as he navigated the tough conditions with just one bogey.

Jacob Bridgeman was the only man who could match McIlroy's 66, but England's Aaron Rai could top him as he sat on six under after 16 holes.

Scottie Scheffler has been the best player on the planet by some distance over the last few years and, in his last 17 PGA Tour starts, he hasn't finished outside the top 10.

However, this impressive record is in jeopardy at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with the 20-time PGA Tour winner finding himself not just well back of leader, Akshay Bhatia, going into the final round, but also the top 10 positions.

Sitting 11-under-par, and alongside nine other players going into Sunday, Scheffler is three shots back from those inside the top 10, as well as eight back of fellow countryman, Bhatia.

Scheffler hasn't finished outside the top 10 since The Players Championship in March of last year, where he ended his tournament T20th following rounds of 69, 70, 72 and 73.

Since then, and in his last 17 starts, Scheffler has claimed seven wins, including two Majors, and hasn't registered a result worse than T8th, which came at the Genesis Scottish Open.

The 17 straight top 10 finishes is the most on the PGA Tour since Billy Casper in 1965 and, if Scheffler were to make his way into the top 10 at Pebble Beach, it would give him the second longest streak of consecutive top 10s in PGA Tour event history, with the top accolade belonging to Byron Nelson.

On Sunday, though, Scheffler will need to find a low score in what will, likely, be tough conditions on the Monterey Peninsula, with tee times moved up to avoid inclement weather.

Last week, Scheffler's record was in doubt at the WM Phoenix Open, especially after the 29-year-old opened his tournament with a two-over-par 73 that left him well down the leaderboard.

In typical Scheffler-fashion, though, he shot second, third and fourth rounds of 65, 67 and 64 to finish one back of leaders Chris Gotterup and Hideki Matsuyama, with the former winning in a playoff.

If Scheffler were to finish outside the top 10, it would also be another impressive record that has ended in 2026, with Xander Schauffele's cut streak of 72 falling by the wayside at the Farmers Insurance Open.

At Torrey Pines, Schauffele, who was making his first start of 2026, carded rounds of 73 and 69 to miss the cut by a single stroke and fail to make it into a weekend for the first time in 1,391 days.

For Scheffler, who finished T9th at the AT&T Pebble Beach last year, he will hope for another strong Sunday showing to keep his record intact ahead of a busy period of golf.

Over the last four years, Scottie Scheffler has become the dominant force of the men’s game, having won his maiden PGA Tour title at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open, and heading to the TPC Scottsdale event in 2026 with an incredible 20 wins on the circuit.

That dominance is also reflected in the length of time he has been at the top of the world rankings, with Scheffler’s fourth stint at the summit standing at 142 weeks and the American having spent a total of 177 weeks looking down on everyone else.

Inevitably, a player demonstrating such superiority very rarely has a failure. Indeed, you have to go back almost 11 months to find the last time Scheffler didn’t finish in the top 10 at a tournament, when he “slumped” to a T20 at The Players Championship while defending his title.

Scheffler no doubt arrived in Arizona confident of not only continuing that run of top-10s but winning the title for the third time, particularly after getting his season off to a dominant start with victory at The American Express two weeks earlier.

However, after the opening round, not only did he risk missing out on the top 10, but he also had work to do to make the cut.

Scheffler made some uncharacteristic errors in the first round of the tournament, including five bogeys and a double to finish on a two-over 73.

Fans also aren’t accustomed to seeing Scheffler lose his cool on the course, but that happened at the 18th, when he duffed a chip onto the green, appearing close to snapping a wedge across his legs as the ball rolled back down towards his feet.

The upshot of Scheffler’s frustrating round meant that, as well as avoiding the media, he was likely needing to go at least two under on Friday to continue a long run of made cuts. But how long?

Well, the last time Scheffler failed to make it beyond the halfway stage of a tournament was in August 2022 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, when rounds of 71 and 68 meant he finished under par but missed the cut by one.

Since then, Scheffler has made it beyond 36 holes on 65 consecutive occasions, with Corey Conners his nearest rival on the list with 20.

While that is a yawning gap, remarkably, until last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, where Scheffler didn’t play, he wasn’t even the player with the most ongoing consecutive cuts made.

Going into the Torrey Pines event, Xander Schauffele held that honor, leading Scheffler by seven on 72, the fifth-longest running in PGA Tour history, before he failed to make it beyond 36 holes.

All eyes will be on Scheffler on Friday to see if he can continue his own remarkable run by making it to the weekend.

However, even if he does, he still has some way to go to beat the PGA Tour record of consecutive cuts made, which is held by Tiger Woods and was set at an astonishing 142, coming to an end at the 2005 Byron Nelson Classic.

So Scottie Scheffler is human after all! That was the general feeling at TPC Scottsdale after the World No.1 produced a rare stinker of a round at the WM Phoenix Open.

The huge favorite heading into an event where he won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, Scheffler laid an uncharacteristic egg with some bad errors we're just not accustomed to seeing from the model of sustained excellence.

The fact only he signed for a two-over round of 73, yet makes headlines as if it was 83, speaks volumes for just how stratospheric a level he usually operates at, but it was more about the body language and visible frustration over his mistakes which caught the eye.

Shaking his wedge in rage after a duffed chip and skipping the media after a round containing five bogeys and a double are both sights we just don't associate with usually the coolest cucumber on the PGA Tour.

Just a week after inheriting the longest active streak of made cuts following Xander Schauffele's early exit at Torrey Pines, Scheffler now faces a tough task to make the weekend in Scottsdale for the 64th straight event.

The viral clip on social media sees Scheffler almost duffing a chip onto the 18th green, than almost snapping a wedge across his legs as the ball rolls back down towards his feet.

Cue the 'one of us' lines emerging - as even the best golfer on the planet shows the type of maddening frustration that only this sport can elicit. Sooner or later, golf will get you.

But it's taken some time to get to Scheffler, who has been a golfing robot of late with Thursday's 73 ending a run of 33 rounds of par or better dating back to last June's Travelers Championship.

Scheffler's also been a Strokes Gained machine pumping out numbers only Tiger Woods could live with, but this effort was his worst for over two years - since the 2023 Tour Championship.

The 29-year-old also lost ground on the field with his iron play, which is almost unheard of, while around the greens he lost over two shots to the pack as his usually gifted hands let him down.

Such sloppy play obviously rattled Scheffler as he went bogey-bogey-doubley bogey around the turn in his round - with that run of three holes equalling the total dropped shots he had during his American Express victory a couple of weeks ago.

That win in his 2026 debut maintained his astonishing run of form and gave him a seventh win in 14 events, a 50% strike rate that just shouldn't be possible in the modern game.

The run includes two Major victories and a lowest finish of T8, and that consistency meant that nobody saw this round coming - not so much the score but in Scheffler's irritated demeanour.

Declining to speak with the media Scheffler instead headed straight to the practice ground as his target now shifts to making the weekend and trying to preserve his incredible run of 16 straight top-10 finishes.

If there's one player you couldn't rule out making a roaring comeback though it's Scheffler. He'll be must-watch viewing on Friday.

Blades Brown just experienced a Sunday that is almost unfathomable for most 18-year-olds, getting the chance to go toe-to-toe with the World No.1 in a PGA Tour final group.

The young prospect found himself in the final trio at The American Express alongside Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim before dropping down to T18th after a closing 74.

Still, the teenager ended the week at 19-under-par for 72 holes to take home $118,000 along with some remarkable learnings after seeing Scheffler up close, who won his 20th PGA Tour title in an assured final day.

"Yeah, I have so much to take away from this week," Brown said after his round, where he revealed which part of Scheffler's game really stood out.

"Getting to play with Scottie Scheffler in the final group at 18 years old is - I had to pinch myself couple of times just to make sure I was, you know, this was real. Not the Sunday that I would have liked, but I overall had so much fun playing the American Express this week.

"I was feeling really good throughout the entire round. I would say one of the coolest things that I learned today was how underrated Scottie Scheffler's short game is.

"To see it in person and just to look at kind of the trajectory and the spin, and just the control that he has with his wedges and short game. Obviously his putting is insane too. It was really cool to watch. So I'm definitely going to go work on that."

The boy from Nashville had just completed his eighth consecutive day of playing competitive golf after competing in the Korn Ferry Tour's Bahamas Great Abaco Classic from Sunday to Wednesday before flying to California for the AmEx.

"Eight rounds I know sounds like a lot, but I was having a lot of fun. You're telling me I get to play in a PGA Tour event and to play with Scottie Scheffler and see him win it, that was insane," he said.

"I got some things I got to sharpen up, and hopefully we see if we can do what Scottie's doing."

Brown then joked he could write a book on what he has learned from his weekend in contention.

"I mean, shoot, I could probably write a book about what I've learned these past couple of days," he said with a laugh following rounds of 67, 60, 68 and 74.

"Just knowing that I can compete out here. It was so cool watching Scottie win in person and getting to play with him.

"He's such an unbelievable guy. He talked to me numerous times throughout the round and was giving me a lot of encouragement, so it was awesome."

Brown will play primarily on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, where he will be hoping to finish inside the top-20 at the end of the season to earn full PGA Tour status for 2027.

Scottie Scheffler has had a much better start to the year than 2025, when he was sidelined with a hand injury following an accident in the kitchen when trying to make ravioli.

This time around, the World No.1 is fully fit and has had a healthy off-season to practice, and it showed with a flawless 63 (-9) to open the American Express.

He did so with his old trusty TaylorMade Qi10 driver, which has been in the bag since early 2024 including his two Major triumphs last year. It marks a change for the Texan, who put in TaylorMade's new Qi4D driver in his last start at the Hero World Challenge.

"Yeah, for me so far this driver's been a really good fit for my eye and that's always the first test for me," he said of the Qi4D last month.

"So far the performance has been good, my spin numbers have been really consistent, ball flight's been consistent and looking forward to getting it in competition.

"So last year I had a little bit of trouble getting into the Qi35 and I feel like we learned a lot throughout that process of what I like to see in a driver, the way it needs to perform for me specifically.

"Going into this year I feel like Adrian [Rietveld, his fitter] and the whole team at TaylorMade had a really good kind of idea of what my eyes needed to see in order for the driver to be able to work.

"We went through a lot of different kind of options for what the face needed to be specifically for me and felt like we're in a good spot, and then the testing was a lot simpler this time around for sure."

He found just 35.71% (5/14) fairways with his trusty Qi10 core dot model in his first round of 2026 to rank 148th in the field, although he did hit 17/18 greens and went on to make nine birdies and nine pars.

"Felt I could have hit a few more fairways on the back nine, give myself some more opportunities," he said after his 63.

"Even the fairways I was missing, I was missing on the correct side. The out of bounds can sneak up on you a little bit on this golf course.

"And it was nice, to, even though I wasn't hitting it my best on the back, but to keep it in play and give myself some opportunities."

Scheffler's Qi10 is a 'dot' head, which is tour-only and lower spinning than the standard driver, and comes in 8° of loft, set at 7.5°.

His clubface is a brighter blue than standard as he "likes the face to pop" according to his Rietveld. He also does not have the standard white banner strip at the top of the face either.

When he put the Qi4D in play last month, he kept the blue face in play - so it's clearly something he is very comfortable with. He ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off the tee on the PGA Tour last season and 1st in SG: Tee to green, as well as many other categories.

The Qi4D line has had an impressive take-up by pros on tour since it was first spotted late last year. Rory McIlroy immediately put it in the bag, as did Tommy Fleetwood, Nelly Korda, Charley Hull and Collin Morikawa.

Jayden Schaper also used it to win back-to-back tournaments on the DP World Tour.

The second PGA Tour event season following the Sony Open in Hawaii comes from La Quinta in California, where three courses – PGA West Stadium Course, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club – host the action.

There, the largest field of the PGA Tour season, 156, will compete, the only event to maintain that number following the decision to reduce the maximum in other full-field tournaments to 144.

Among the players confirmed for the tournament are the defending champion, other former winners of The American Express and Major winners, including the current World No.1, Scottie Scheffler.

Scheffler’s most recent world ranking event came in December’s Hero World Challenge, where he finished T4, while you need to go back to September’s Procore Championship for his last appearance in an official PGA Tour event, when he edged out Ben Griffin in what was a warm-up for the Ryder Cup.

The American is back in PGA Tour action earlier than in 2025. Back then, he had to wait until February’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am after injuring his hand the previous Christmas Day.

Despite taking some time to get up to speed, ultimately, he dominated men’s golf for the second successive season, with six wins including Majors the PGA Championship and The Open.

Thanks to his brilliance in recent years, Scheffler will head to California in the world number one spot for the 140th successive week - a run not seen since Tiger Woods’ 281-week record between 2005 and 2010.

This will be Scheffler’s sixth appearance at the event, although he is yet to win it. Is 2026 the year that changes?

While that remains to be seen, he seems certain to face stiff competition, not least from defending champion Sepp Straka, who beat Justin Thomas by two a year ago.

Other former winners of the tournament in the field include Nick Dunlap, who created headlines in 2024 when he became the first player to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur since Phil Mickelson in 1991. Si Woo Kim, who won five years ago, is also in the field.

Other big names who will be determined to ensure Scheffler doesn’t begin the year with a win include fellow Major winners Wyndham Clark, who won the US Open in 2023, and 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick.

Brian Harman is another Major winner in the field, with the 2023 Open champion looking for his first win since last April’s Valero Texas Open.

They’re far from the only big names set to compete at the event, with Scheffler’s fellow 2025 US Ryder Cup stars Griffin, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Harris English also involved.

Aside from Straka, there is also plenty of representation from the European team who won at Bethpage Black in the form of Ludvig Aberg, Rasmus Hojgaard, Robert Macintyre and Justin Rose.

Other notable names heading to La Quinta include Billy Horschel, Rickie Fowler and 2023 PGA Championship hero Michael Block, who has recently signed to Malbon as an ambassador.

Fans of one recent high-profile addition to the PGA Tour roster, former LIV Golfer Brooks Koepka, will need to wait another week to catch a glimpse of the five-time Major winner in action, with the American set to tee it up at the Farmers Insurance Open.

However, while there is no shortage of top talent among the 156 players at the tournament, there is no doubt that most attention will be on Scheffler as he continues his quest for greatness with another dominant PGA Tour season.

While plenty changed (or remained frustratingly stagnant) in the world of golf during 2025, there continued to be an extraordinary amount of money on offer to those fighting it out at the top of the professional game.

The PGA Tour shared out over half a billion dollars in prize money while the LIV Golf League put up more than $260 million across its much shorter season.

Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour offered a record amount of prize money last year at more than $132 million. And yet, according to data from Sportico, not only did no female golfers make the top-100 highest-paid athletes last year, no female from any sport earned enough to be included.

The top-100 highest-paid athletes in the world during 2025 earned an estimated $6 billion in income and competed in just eight different sports - golf being one of them.

World soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo led the way with an incredible $260 million while the 100th-ranked athlete - British NBA talent OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks - banked a healthy $37.9 million in 2025. In between were six golfers, three fewer than in 2024.

Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton and Collin Morikawa all scooped between $55m-$43m last year, but their income dipped considerably over the following 12 months and they were no longer on the list.

Of the remaining six, a couple of golfers have swapped in terms of the order while most have changed positions in terms of the top-100.

Leading the way for golf in 2025 was Jon Rahm. Per Sportico, the Spaniard earned an eye-watering $84.7 million before adding $16 million in endorsements to reach a grand total of $100.7 million.

According to the sports business title, many of the top LIV golfers received around half of their bonus payment for signing up front and another portion when they played their first event.

The remaining part of the signing bonus is reportedly paid out during the life of the contract, hence the significant boost in Rahm's earnings after the total prize money he claimed in 2025.

The Legion XIII captain - who failed to win a tournament during this time but still claimed LIV Golf's individual championship - earned around $4 million less than in 2024 but stayed in 10th position, just as he was last year.

Then came Rory McIlroy with a total income of $91.2 million, helped considerably by his win at The Masters, his victory at The Players Championship and his success on the DP World Tour as well.

Despite collecting just over $36 million in prize money, the five-time Major winner was one of two golfers in the top-100 list to secure more through endorsements with a total of $55 million leaving him 14th in terms of highest-paid athletes.

Just two spots behind McIlroy was Scottie Scheffler. The World No.1 earned $50.9 million in 2025 and banked $32 million through endorsements to enjoy a total income of $82.9 million.

Bryson DeChambeau was the fourth and final golfer to fall inside the top-25, proving just how lucrative the sport is in the modern era.

The Crushers GC captain scooped $42.7 million via salary and winnings while adding on a further $20 million and sitting 23rd in the top-100.

The final two pro golfers inside the top-100 highest-paid athletes for 2025 were Joaquin Niemann and unsurprisingly, Tiger Woods.

Niemann won five LIV Golf League titles to rack up an impressive $44.2 million in earnings but only banked $3 million in endorsements. That left him 63rd.

Meanwhile, Woods picked up less than $500,000 in earnings but - thanks to his status as arguably the greatest of all time - clinched $54 million in endorsements to put him 41st.

HIGHEST PAID GOLFERS 2025

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler will get his 2026 PGA Tour season under way at The American Express in California.

Scheffler has confirmed his attendance at La Quinta for the January 22-25 event that has a stellar line-up building for officially the second tournament on the PGA Tour schedule.

Played over three courses at the Californian resort, the American Express field will see Scheffler joined by the likes of Justin Rose, Patrick Cantlay, Robert MacIntyre, Tom Kim, Adam Scott, Sam Burns, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler.

Scheffler will again be the headline act though as he starts his 2026 campaign looking to somehow follow last year's double Major triumph at the PGA Championship and The Open.

Scheffler won a fourth consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year last year, pipping new Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy to the Jack Nicklaus award.

Winning the Claret Jug at Royral Portrush also gave Scheffler three of the four Major titles so he'll aim to join McIlroy in the Grand Slam club at this year's US Open.

As well as continuing at World No.1 and winning two Majors, Scheffler also claimed victories at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the Memorial Tournament, the BMW Championship and the Procore Championship.

Again showing his consistent dominance on the PGA Tour - Scheffler won the Byron Nelson Award for the lowest Scoring Average for the third year in a row with his brilliant 68.131.

And Scheffler’s six total wins in 2025 followed on from seven in 2024 to see him join Tiger Woods as the only players to win six or more titles in multiple seasons since 1983.

One title Scheffler doesn't have to his name though is The American Express, where his best finish so far has been third in 2020.

Scheffler missed last year's American Express, won by Sepp Straka, after injuring his hand over Christmas - so this one will very much be a target for him.

Scheffler has also committed to playing at the WM Phoenix Open in February - a tournament he won in 2022 and 2023.

Scottie Scheffler has been the dominant force in men's golf since the turn of the decade, racking up four Majors wins and 19 PGA Tour titles.

Holding the World No.1 position for over three years, he has undergone multiple equipment changes throughout his career, using clubs from various manufacturers.

Now a TaylorMade staffer, he has previously wielded Nike, Titleist, Callaway and Ping clubs, with a full breakdown of his equipment changes listed below...

2014: PGA Tour Debut - HP Byron Nelson Championship

As a 17-year-old, Scheffler made his debut on the PGA Tour at the 2014 Byron Nelson Championship, where he made the cut, had a hole-in-one during round three and finished in a share of 22nd on the leaderboard.

In terms of his bag set-up, he was using a Nike VRS Covert driver, which was known for its eye-catching red colorway and used by the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Scheffler also had a set of Nike VR Pro Forged irons in-play, as well as a Nike Method Converge B1 01 putter. The full Nike set-up helped show what the American was capable of, as it remained in the bag throughout his junior career.

2017: US Open Low Amateur Honors

Having used Nike clubs for the last few years, Scheffler was forced to change at the end of 2016, due to the fact that Nike ceased golf club manufacturing that season.

Eventually, Scheffler opted to use primarily TaylorMade equipment, a brand he joined in 2022. He also had Callaway Jaws MD wedges and kept a Nike fairway wood in-play, as well as the putter.

At the US Open in 2017, he earned low amateur honors, using a TaylorMade M1 driver and Tour Preferred irons. This set-up primarily remained at the Walker Cup, where Scheffler claimed one win and one loss in USA's 19-7 domination at Los Angeles Country Club.

2018/19: Turning Pro And Korn Ferry Tour Player Of The Year Title

Turning professional after graduating from the University of Texas in 2018, Scheffler appeared in a few PGA Tour events and then stamped his mark on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, claiming two wins and the circuit's Final Points List, Player of the Year honors and its Rookie of the Year title.

It was during 2019 where we started to see the traditional Scheffler set-up we see now, with the Srixon ZU85 utility iron appearing in the bag, a club he still uses to this day.

Being an equipment free agent, he had a Ping G400 LST driver and continued to use Nike fairway woods. TaylorMade irons were also in the bag, specifically the P730s, which were popular among the TaylorMade staffers at the time.

Swapping his wedges, primarily using the Callaway MD Jaws, Scheffler briefly had a TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter in-play, but reverted to a Scotty Cameron blade, specifically the Scotty Cameron Special Select Tour Type GSS.

2020: PGA Tour Rookie Of The Year And A 59

After his successful Korn Ferry Tour stint, Scheffler became a PGA Tour member and, although he didn't win during his maiden season, he recorded a number of excellent results, highlighted by a 59 at The Northern Trust.

Once again, the American used a mix bag of golf clubs, opting for a Ping G400 LST driver, but occasionally swapping it out for a TaylorMade Stealth, which he used at that year's US Open.

The Nike VR Pro 3-wood and Srixon ZU85 utility irons remained, as did the TaylorMade P730 irons from 5-PW.

Again, Callaway MD wedges were present, as was an Artisan 60° lob wedge.

A Scotty Cameron Circle T Newport was the putter of choice for Scheffler, who remained in a blade-style flatstick.

2021/22: Ryder Cup Debut And Rise To World No.1

Selected as a US Ryder Cup captain's pick by Steve Stricker, Scheffler went on to earn two wins and a tie at the event. He also changed his caddie to Ted Scott, which has proved to be a hugely successful appointment, as Scheffler ascended to the World No.1 spot in 2022.

It wasn't the only change made by Scheffler, who claimed victory after victory that year. He also changed the majority of his bag, opting for a more TaylorMade-based set-up.

He did have a Ping G425 LST driver momentarily, but then moved to the TaylorMade Stealth Plus, with the driver shaft also being swapped to the Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X.

As well as the driver, his Nike VR Pro 3-wood was retired, having been in the bag for nearly a decade. Like the driver, the TaylorMade Stealth Plus 3-wood was introduced.

Another TaylorMade influence came in the irons, as Scheffler started using the P7TW, a model that has remained in his bag ever-since.

Inspired by Tiger Woods, Scheffler kept the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts and the 5-PW set-up. He also introduced Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges which, like the irons, have remained ever-since.

Putter-wise, the American had a Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS Prototype in the bag. His performance on the greens was, statistically, the worst part of his game but, despite this, Scheffler continued to dominate.

March 2024: A New Putter In The Bag

Aside from updating his driver and fairway woods to the more recent TaylorMade models - Stealth 2 Plus and Qi10 - the most influential change came in the flatstick and it came after a fellow competitor made a suggestion while on broadcast.

Rory McIlroy, who turned pundit at the 2024 Genesis Invitational, offered some thoughts on what Scheffler could do to solve his putting problems, suggesting a change to a mallet-design putter.

At that year's Arnold Palmer Invitational, the World No.1 rocked up with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X and, as they say, the rest is history, with Scheffler going on to dominate the golf world and raise his putting stats.

Along with the change to the mallet, Scheffler also added half an inch in length to the putter, which led to a season that included a second Masters title, an Olympic gold medal and a first FedEx Cup win.

Stats-wise, he ranked 162nd in Strokes Gained: Putting for 2023. For 2024, that number was 77th and, for this season, it was 22nd, showcasing the impact a change to the mallet putter had on his short game.

2025: Minimal Changes Needed

After changing his putter, Scheffler didn't make any more equipment adjustments, keeping his set-up as consistent as possible.

He briefly trialed the TaylorMade Qi35 driver, but kept with the Qi10. Being the World No.1, it did have some differences to the standard models, such as a brighter blue clubface, heavier weighting in the sole and no hot melt.

Keeping it in the bag for the 2024 and 2025 season, Scheffler did change the Qi10 for the Qi4D, which hit the USGA's Conforming List in mid-November.

Like his Qi10, Scheffler kept the bright blue face on the Qi4D, with the 29-year-old first spotted using it at the Hero World Challenge.

He also put the Qi4D fairway wood in his bag, but the Srixon ZU85 utility iron, TaylorMade P7TW irons, Titleist Vokey SM8 and TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter have remained in his set-up for nearly two years.

One other aspect is the golf ball but, like the clubs in his bag, Scheffler has remained with the Titleist Pro V1 for a significant amount of time.

Interestingly, he only uses high-numbered golf balls (5, 6, 7 and 8), with the man himself claiming it's "because it's easier to identify."

I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's good money in professional golf these days - allow Scottie Scheffler's career to prove it.

Although he wasn't able to cash in yet, the New Jersey-born golfer experienced his first taste of the PGA Tour as early as 2014, finishing T22nd as an amateur at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. A month or so later, Scheffler missed the cut at the FedEx St Jude Classic.

He qualified for his first US Open in 2016 and teed it up a handful more times on the PGA Tour before eventually turning professional in 2018 and joining the Korn Ferry Tour via Q-School in 2019. Now he could start earning some money.

However, it wasn't plain sailing for Scheffler right away. In his first year as a pro, he secured a modest $31,642.50 thanks to a T43rd at the FedEx St Jude Classic and a T34th result in Web.com Tour Q-School.

Scheffler's fortunes quickly took a turn for the better, though, and he banked over $700,000 in 2019 via a couple of wins and two more runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour's feeder circuit. That helped Scheffler end the term third in the points list and achieve promotion to the PGA Tour for 2020.

The following season saw the man who would go on to become World No.1 surpass the seven-figure mark in terms of earnings for the first time. It would not be the last. Scheffler didn't actually win in the 2019-20 season, but seven top-10s helped him collect over $5.3 million, all told.

It was a similar story in 2021 as well with no wins but a couple of strong results - namely the runner-up finish at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play and a third-place at the Memorial Tournament. That led to earnings of just under $5 million.

Scheffler's earning power reached stratospheric levels in 2022 and they've never really looked back since. A first Masters triumph was one of four wins that season with four more runner-up finishes and another 11 top-10s.

Now one of the best players in the world, Scheffler almost reached the $30 million mark via the help of $9.5 million in bonus money as well.

2023 featured a level of consistency that has come to define Scheffler. Three more wins and a trio of runner-up finishes highlighted 17 top-10 results from 25 events, with almost $33.4 million the financial reward for his quality.

Having reached the summit of men's professional golf and apparently in no mood to come down any time soon, Scheffler's 2024 saw another Masters title become the crowning jewel in a year for the history books.

He won a remarkable nine times from just 21 starts and racked up a mammoth $76 million in total prize money.

Meanwhile, even though the most recent full season was delayed slightly by an accidental hand injury (you know the story by now), Scheffler still managed to earn over $27 million in prize money and $23 million in bonus cash which took his annual sum to over $50 million.

All of the aforementioned figures include official money, unofficial money and bonus money, it should be said. But, due to the lack of available information regarding endorsements and other sponsorship deals, those numbers have not been included.

In total, through just over seven years as a professional golfer, Scheffler has earned a little more than $201 million.

However, if even the two years of endorsements reported by Sportico are taken into account (2023 and 2024), Scheffler's earnings would have sky rocketed by around $47 million.

Below is a complete breakdown of the World No.1's earnings by year, split by on-course money and bonuses.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER CAREER EARNINGS: YEAR BY YEAR

Scottie Scheffler has been drawing Tiger Woods comparisons over the past two seasons, with the World No.1 dominating the men's game to levels not seen since Woods' injuries took their toll in the late 2000s.

Scheffler has won three Majors since the start of 2024 and ten other PGA Tour titles as well as Olympic Gold. The Texan has now spent over 165 weeks as World No.1 and is far and away the best player in the sport right now.

His statistics are quite remarkable, as you'll find him top of many, many tables on the PGA Tour including Strokes Gained total, tee-to-green and approach-the-green as well as scoring average, money won, proximity to the hole, bounce back, bogey avoidance and many others.

But how does he compare to the average PGA Tour pro? The circuit records average numbers for many categories, and it's remarkable how many Scheffler is far ahead of the average.

Having looked at many of them, we noticed he was below average for combined distance of putts made per round, which is likely due to many tap-ins from close wedge shots and chips, as well as 'Smash Factor', which measures how efficient you are at transferring energy from the club head into the ball, calculated by dividing ball speed by clubhead speed.

But apart from those two statistics, it is quite difficult to find any area Scheffler isn't better than PGA Tour average in. Let's take a category-by-category look...

Scoring

Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in scoring average with 68.131, which is almost three strokes better than the average of 71.079 and a total only ever beaten by Tiger Woods.

This gulf vs tour average equates to almost 12 strokes over the course of four rounds!

He does this by making 4.7 birdies per round, 0.9 more than the average PGA Tour player, and just 1.73 bogeys per round - 0.86 fewer than the average. Scheffler made bogey just 10.56% of the time on the PGA Tour this season compared to the average of 16.22%.

What make these numbers more impressive is the fact Scheffler's stats include his performances in the Majors, too, which tend to be on more demanding courses. The average PGA Tour pro likely does not play in all four Majors.

Driving

Scheffler is not necessarily known for his driving prowess, but he should be.

He is 5.5 yards longer than PGA Tour average, with a ball speed of more than 2.5mph faster than average and clubhead speed of more than 3.5mph ahead.

His carry distance is almost eight yards ahead of average and he finds more fairways, too.

He might not hit it as far as Rory McIlroy or Bryson DeChambeau, but off the tee he is undoubtedly one of the world's best.

Iron play

Scheffler is famous for his incredible iron play, having led the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach for the last three years.

His 71.39% greens in regulation total is far better than the average pro and he is well clear in every single category, including proximity, GIR both under and over 100 yards and from fairway bunkers.

He managed 19 hole-outs in the 2025 season, which is up from 12 last year and 11 ahead of the average PGA Tour pro.

Around the greens

The World No.1's short game is another of his strengths.

Scheffler leads the tour in scrambling, getting up-and-down 68.89% of the time, and gets it down in two from greenside bunkers with a success rate of more than 57%.

Putting

Putting has been somewhat of an achilles heel throughout his short career so far but he has seriously turned it around over the past couple of years, likely thanks to his work with putting guru Phil Kenyon and his switch to the TaylorMade Spider X mallet model. He also moved to the claw grip late last year.

The four-time Major champion can now be considered as a very good putter, ranking 16th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season.

Scheffler averages over a shot fewer per round on the greens than the average PGA Tour pro and three-putts just 2.08% of the time.

Money

All of these impressive stats are the reason why we see Scheffler win a lot of tournaments and challenge for the title almost every time he tees it up.

He has six victories in 2025 and has finished inside the top-10 on 17 occasions, a whopping 14 more times than the average PGA Tour pro.

That all adds up to a remarkable amount of money, especially with the finances in the men's game these days. His $27.66m total in official earnings this year is a huge $25.32m more than the average pro's earnings.

He has won over 40% of the maximum amount of money he could have earned this year, with an average of $1.38m per tournament compared to $100,000 for the average pro - meaning he earns 14 times the average pro in each event.

He also picks up 10 times the amount of FedEx Cup points vs the average pro, too.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have enjoyed a stellar year between them courtesy of three Major championship victories and seven tour wins.

McIlroy wrapped up an early success at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before famously completing the career Grand Slam at The Masters.

In addition, the World No.2 triumphed in an enthralling playoff at The Players Championship before later going on to help Team Europe win the Ryder Cup once more.

On the other hand, Scheffler took a few weeks to find his groove following a ravioli-induced hand injury. But, once he did, the World No.1 consistently blew PGA Tour fields away and further cemented his status as the outright best player in the world.

Four PGA Tour wins and two Majors were landed among a sequence of 15 starts where Scheffler finished no worse than T8th.

But while Scheffler undoubtedly earned more titles than McIlroy, the magnitude of the five-time Major winner's achievements - which ticked off two of his three remaining career aims - raised questions over who had actually enjoyed the best year.

Below, three Golf Monthly writers share their thoughts and try to pick a side...

I've gone back and forth several times before typing this, which shows just how close a call it is. It's almost unfathomable to choose anyone other than the person who's won two Majors, but I think McIlroy just edges it.

The Northern Irishman's victory at The Masters wasn't just a huge personal accomplishment; it was also historically significant. He became just the sixth golfer of all time to win the Career Grand Slam, which, as far as I'm concerned, means it carries additional weight.

I'd suggest a Career Grand Slam-winning Major almost equates to two of golf's big four in terms of gravitas. In addition to that, he played a starring role as Europe won the Ryder Cup on away soil for the first time since the Miracle at Medinah in 2012.

Ahead of the season, McIlroy listed winning the Grand Slam and notching an away Ryder Cup as two of his remaining three career goals, alongside earning an Olympic Medal. While personal goals shouldn't necessarily factor into an objective decision, it means a great deal when arguably the greatest European golfer ever completes two-thirds of his remaining career wish-list in one year.

In addition to everything else, he won a Signature Event at Pebble Beach, reigned supreme in a play-off at TPC Sawgrass and overcame Joakim Lagergren in extra holes at the Irish Open. Scheffler, who won two Major titles and four other PGA Tour events, enjoyed a season for the ages, but I think McIlroy just pips him to the post.

Scottie Scheffler has undoubtedly been the best golfer in the world, but has he had the best year? Many will point to Rory McIlroy edging that debate… and I would probably agree.

Scheffler edged out Xander Schauffele for the POTY title last year despite Schauffele winning more Majors than him, and this year he is the two-Major man and he again isn’t conclusively winning the POTY chat.

Rory McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam, won four meaningful individual titles and was part of an away Ryder Cup victory so I would have to say that he has had the better year.

Scheffler won more times and also captured two Majors, and his play has undoubtedly been better this year.

Without taking anything away from another vintage Scheffler display, the PGA Championship at a soft Quail Hollow was essentially a blown up PGA Tour event, so if he won The Open and a US Open then I would view his season very differently. Sadly I believe the PGA Championship is falling in stature - which again I mean in no slight to Scottie.

I am happy to call it a tie in an argument - but Rory McIlroy just edges it for me with the more historic and memorable season overall. The Ryder Cup seemingly does not carry the weight that it should. It is everything for three days but always appears to be remembered far less than individual honors.

McIlroy’s sixth Ryder Cup trophy and second away victory should go down as a monumental achievement, especially as he suffered disgusting abuse from the home crowd along the way.

And that was while Scheffler only took one point from five matches on home soil, which arrived against McIlroy in what the Northern Irishman described as a ‘pillow fight’ when both men were fatigued.

Let’s not forget McIlroy’s amazing performance at Bethpage, and also remember he won at Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, Augusta National and at home in Ireland.

He will likely win a seventh Race to Dubai trophy and has a chance to win in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Australia, still. He was not the BEST golfer this year, but I will say that Rory McIlroy did have the best year. Sorry Scottie.

I would say the beauty of a question like this is that it's genuinely debatable - there are two very strong arguments for either player.

On the one hand, Scheffler claimed two Majors and four other PGA Tour events while exhibiting his robotic consistency week after week. But, on the other, McIlroy enjoyed more than a few red-letter days which will ultimately define his career.

Once he clicked into gear after that famous ravioli-induced hand injury, Scheffler was never outside of the top-eight. Meanwhile, McIlroy blew so hot and cold at times - which is actually part of the reason so many fans support him. There is a fallibility to his world-class talent.

Ultimately, I think this could be a head vs heart scenario. If you're someone who prefers to take the cold hard facts, Scheffler won more times and was by far and away the dominant figure in men's pro golf.

He clinched two Majors compared to McIlroy's one and triumphed more times overall, winning far more money, too. If you lay their seasons down side by side without emotion attached, there is only one winner.

Even with the Ryder Cup disappointment and a likely Race To Dubai win for McIlroy, Scheffler will emerge from the year with a greater number of achievements.

However, McIlroy's wins and heroic moments were probably more meaningful to the wider population and featured a level of sentimentality that many of us will remember for the rest of our lives.

Your best anything doesn't always mean the most or the biggest. It can often be the first time something happened or even the last. If better means how much their years meant to them and the fans, again, there is only one winner.

I do wonder what Scheffler and McIlroy would say if you asked them the question. I'd wager that they would each nominate the other in public, but I wonder if the answer would remain consistent in private...

Let us know what you think in the comments.

It's Team USA v Europe for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, but sometimes these team contests get personal.

Not only is this a clash between the best golfers on the planet but also some of the biggest personalities, and Ryder Cups are often lit up by personal duels.

Who could forget Rory McIlroy's battle with Patrick Reed in 2016? Or the altercation between McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay's caddie Joe LaCava just two years go?

The teams have changed slightly from Rome, the USA has anyway, but there are still some personal scores to be settled, grudges to be ironed out and just some clashes that stylistically could result in blockbuster viewing.

So let's look at the big match ups we really want to see, whether they come in singles competition or as part of a team in the foursomes and fourballs.

We just really want to see these characters come face-to-face in New York.

Rory McIlroy vs Patrick Cantlay

Who doesn't want to see Rory McIlroy take on Patrick Cantlay again at the Ryder Cup, or take on Cantlay's caddie Joe LaCava should we say.

Let's face it, it's bound to happen at least once at Bethpage Black surely, but this time probably without the very public arguing and gesticulating and near punch-up in the car park afterwards.

LaCava will surely have learned his lesson and not get involved with any opposition players this time - but then again with a New York crowd behind him who knows what will happen.

This one would be tasty.

Rory McIlroy vs Bryson DeChambeau

Listen, you could probably put Rory McIlroy and almost anyone on the US team and there'd be some needle, but Bryson DeChambeau would be the next best candidate after Cantlay.

That dramatic US Open victory at Pinehurst really hurt McIlroy, but he got the best possible revenge when winning The Masters after playing with Bryson in the final group.

And DeChambeau wasn't happy that McIlroy blanked him during that Sunday at Augusta National. I can't see the conversation flowing if they're paired together at Bethpage either.

Jon Rahm vs Scottie Scheffler

These two are not only big leaders on their teams but have also seen plenty of each other at the Ryder Cup having faced off in the singles in the last two meetings.

Scheffler won the first 4&3 at Whistling Straits and then halved their match in Rome as they led their teams off at the top of the order, but they've also met three other times in foursomes and fourballs.

Rahm is unbeaten here with two halved fourball matches, one in the USA and one in Italy, and one 4&3 foursomes victory at Marco Simone alongside Tyrrell Hatton.

We'd love to see the singles trilogy.

Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg vs Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler's in a league of his own these days, but he was still pretty good two years ago when he was reduced to tears after being smashed 9&7 by Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland.

The World No.1 and five-time Major champion Brooks Koepka were simply dismantled by the Scandinavian duo - which included in Aberg a rookie that hadn't even yet played in a Major championship.

Make no mistake, that result was a body blow for Scheffler, and you can bet anything you like that he'd relish the chance to even the score up if he draws one or both of this pair again.

Justin Rose vs Xander Schauffele

A bit left field this one, and there are probably more fiery personalties that could clash in a more combative contest - with the likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Bryson DeChambeau or Justin Thomas out there.

But this could be a sneaky match of the tournament if they draw each other in singles, as they both produced some stunning golf when battling it out on Sunday at the 2024 Open Championship at Troon.

Both men can raise their games under pressure, as Schauffle showed when he managed to win his singles in Rome last time out.

Rose (2-3-1 in singles) has a point to prove, or a point to win it should be, in singles matches as he's lost his last three and halved a fourth after winning his first two Ryder Cup Sunday outings - which funnily enough both came away from home and both against Phil Mickelson.

That second success against Mickelson at Medinah in 2012 was an all-timer, and you feel Schauffele could drag something similar out of him.

A frustrated Scottie Scheffler made a miraculous par on the final hole at the Procore Championship in Napa, but it was not enough to see his record streak of sub-70 rounds come to an end.

The World No.1 has shot in the 60s every time he's teed it up in competition since the final round of the Travelers Championship in June.

His 21 consecutive rounds in the 60s tied Patrick Cantlay for the longest streak in modern day PGA Tour history, but he was unable to set a new mark on his own after shooting exactly 70 on his Procore Championship debut.

"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."

Scheffler only managed to shoot 70 after an incredible escape on the last, when a hooked tee shot saw him play his second down the 16th hole before hitting back over the trees, grandstands and hospitality tents onto the 18th green.

"I was behind all those tents and a scoreboard, and I would have liked to have been able to see the pin when I was hitting my approach," Scheffler said.

"Granted, you should probably be on the correct hole while doing that, but I could have gotten relief from the whole grandstand tent area, but either one of them would have brought me into the rough so it wasn't quite worth it."

Two putts gave Scheffler a wild par five, but ultimately a disappointing two-under round of 70 that puts him in T38 at Silverado Resort.

That means he'll need a good second round to keep another impressive streak going, as Scheffler has finished in the top eight for an incredible 14 consecutive events - stretching back to a T20 at The Players Championship.

Scheffler is also currently on a run of 63 consecutive cuts made, but it not the active leader in that one as Xander Schauffele has made his last 71 cuts in a row.

Scheffler is one of 10 USA Ryder Cup players taking part in the Procore Championship at the request of captain Keegan Bradley, who feels a warm-up event together is key.

Scheffler is playing alongsider Ryder Cup teammates Russell Henley and JJ Spaun in the opening two rounds - in what could be a clue about potential partnerships at Bethpage Black.

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and No.2 Rory McIlroy teamed up to face Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in The Showdown last December, and this year they'll face off against each other in a new challenge match.

The 'Golf Channel Games' will see the world's best two players each captain a team of four in a series of golf match-ups at Trump National Jupiter in the lead up to Christmas.

The event is in association with PGA Tour Studios and will be shown live on the Golf Channel and USA Network on December 17.

The remaining six players in the Golf Channel Games has yet to be confirmed, but the unique format has been - which takes inspiration from some of the DP World Tour's viral videos seen through the years.

Golf Channel Games format

• Timed drive, chip and putt: Solo competition where players try and drive a total number of yards, chip within a certain proximity to the pin, and hole a certain number of feet of putts.
• 14-club challenge: Closest-to-the-pin competition involving one player from each team, where players take turns selecting a club from a single bag (including driver and putter). Once a club is used, it’s out of play. All eight players will participate in four total matchups, which will take place from a designated spot in the fairway.
• Timed shootout: Four-player alternate shot on three holes with players staged throughout each hole: one on the tee, one in the fairway and two around the green. Lowest score in the shortest amount of time wins.
• Captain’s challenge: McIlroy and Scheffler will hit shots from pre-determined locations, including a 100-yard wedge shot, 50-yard pitch, bunker shot, greenside shot, 50-foot putt and a 10-foot putt. The player with the lowest total proximity to the hole wins.

It will signal the end of a busy year for Rory McIlroy, who has the Irish Open, BMW PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, DP World India Championship, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, DP World Tour Championship and Australian Open still left on his schedule.

He has won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Players Championship and The Masters this year and says a Ryder Cup victory would cement 2025 as his best ever season.

"I guess it’s the year that everything came together for me," he said ahead of the Irish Open.

"It was basically the one piece of the puzzle that was left for me to complete [winning The Masters].

"When I look at my career and my whole picture as a golfer, I basically, I’ve done everything I wanted to. I guess everything after that, it’s a bonus, but you have to reassess your goals.

"Obviously I’d love to win this week. I’d love to win next week at Wentworth. But the one thing for me this year to reassess my goals, an away Ryder Cup, after everything that’s happened this year, I would look back on 2025, and there’s no way that I would - if I did have a better year in the game, I’d love to see it.

"But if we were to win an away Ryder Cup with everything else that I’ve been through this year, 2025 would be the best year of my career."

“The Golf Channel Games will be a great mix of skill, strategy, and pressure," Scottie Scheffler said.

"This will be a brand-new way for the players and the fans to experience the game of golf. Everyone knows how competitive we are, and I think the Golf Channel Games will be an innovative competition that will engage the viewers.”

Scheffler's next appearance will be at the Procore Championship next week, where a number of Ryder Cup Team USA players will be in attendance to tune-up for Bethpage later this month.

Even without his usual trusted team around him, Scottie Scheffler proved once again why he is the undisputed World No.1 via a comeback victory in the second round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Scheffler recovered from four strokes behind Scotland's Robert MacIntyre at the start of Sunday's final round to lead after just seven holes of action at Caves Valley Golf Club, going on to wrap up his fifth PGA Tour title this year by two strokes.

In doing so, the 29-year-old collected his latest mammoth paycheck and took his on-course career earnings on the PGA Tour to over $95 million.

What made the adopted Texan's latest win even more impressive, though, is that he didn't have his usual looper alongside as Ted Scott was back home dealing with a private family matter.

In Scott's place was Chris Kirk's bagman, Michael Cromie. Kirk missed out on playing the BMW Championship by just one spot so was able to release his usual caddie to help Scheffler in Maryland.

It was a decision which likely paid out in a big way for Cromie. In professional golf, caddies are often paid 10% of what their player earns for a win with the number varying thereafter depending on final position and the agreement between golfer and looper.

Through the Travelers Championship, Scheffler's regular caddie - Ted Scott - could well have earned in excess of $1.3 million in bonus money this season.

The latest financial reward for Scheffler's continued excellence was $3.6 million from a total prize purse of $20 million at the BMW Championship. And as a thank you to one of the key men who helped him realize his latest success, Scheffler will likely have shared a significant chunk of the prize money - $360,000 - with his stand-in caddie.

The BMW Championship was the first time Scheffler had won a PGA Tour title without Scott on his bag, and the FedEx Cup leader paid tribute to the professional qualities of Cromie in helping him across the line in his post-tournament interview.

Scheffler said: "It was definitely different, for sure. But Cromie was doing a great job. He's a guy I can trust. He's one of Ted's good buddies.

"I'd just say it's pretty much as simple as that. Cromie is a guy that works hard. He does his prep work, and he was an easy guy for me to trust out there.

"I felt like we did a good job of talking through our shots and staying patient and keep doing the right things even when things were looking a little bit squirrelly there on the back nine.

"Cromie, I think, does a really good job of being really even keel. He's not a guy that's going to overreact to anything. He did a really good job of just staying even keel all week and kind of impervious to the pressure of a final round, and he did a really good job.

"We did a good job of staying focused and continuing to hit shots at the right targets. Closed the tournament out nicely."

With Scott having missed both the FedEx St Jude Championship and BMW Championship, it remains possible that Scheffler could turn back to Cromie once again for the Tour Championship this week.

Should the pair reign supreme once more, Cromie would likely end up earning $1.36 million in bonus money across a fortnight given the Tour Championship's total prize purse is $40 million and the winner earns $10 million.

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has a new caddie in place for the BMW Championship with his usual bagman Ted Scott not available.

Scott had to leave the FedEx St Jude Championship to attend to a private family matter, so Scheffler had Brad Payne - a good friend and PGA Tour chaplain - on his bag for the final round in Memphis.

With Scott also missing the BMW Championship this week, Scheffler has turned to Chris Kirk's regular caddie Mike Cromie - after his boss finished 51st and just missed out on a place in the field at Caves Valley.

Scheffler would not expand on when he expected Scott to return, saying: "I think Ted's where he needs to be right now, and I think caddieing is probably the last thing on his mind, as it should be."

And so Cromie is stepping in for the BMW and possibly also the Tour Championship - with Scheffler saying he's settling in nicely.

"It's been good. Mike's a great guy," said Scheffler. "He works really hard and does a good job. We're both learning a new golf course this week, so it's been fun.

"Basically, he's just going to try to fill in as best he can this week. Just asking little stuff. A lot of it is just more routine, like, hey, how do you like me to give you the numbers? When I say I'm hitting a hold shot, he's like, well, what does that mean?

"Just little stuff like that that we're figuring out as the week goes on. I think there's a lot of little stuff that caddies do that go kind of unnoticed throughout a round."

Scheffler thanked Kirk for allowing Cromie to step in for Scott, for what could be a lucrative couple of weeks' work.

"Ted's good buddies with him," said Scheffler. "I always liked him. He's a young guy, works hard.

"Chris was very nice to let Cromie come work with me this week. He had a good finish to the season. He was a little bit on the outside looking in, but played really good and was close at the end.

"It was really nice of him to lend his caddie for the week. That was very kind of him."

Cromie is a fine player himself who played college golf at the University of Georgia - winning the famed North & South Amateur in 2014 and being an All American.

He's now stepping into the best caddie job in the game, with Scott joining Scheffler in 2021 and being on his bag for all 17 of his PGA Tour wins including his four Majors.

Scott took home well over $5 million in 2024 thanks to Scheffler's incredible campaign, and is likely closing in on $2m this year as well.

The excitment is ramping up as the Ryder Cup closes in - but that excitement isn't shared by Scottie Scheffler who got bored of answering questions on it ahead of the BMW Championship.

The second FedEx Cup Playoffs event is taking place at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, but that hardly got a mention in Scheffler's pre-tournament media duties.

Scheffler answered questions on the absence of his regular caddie Ted Scott before then the focus from the media was firmly on the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

So much so, in fact, that the World No.1 had enough and snapped back at the journalists for ignoring what is his main focus this week - the BMW Championship.

"I love answering questions about the Ryder Cup, but this is ridiculous," Scheffler said shaking his head at yet another Ryder Cup question.

"We're at the BMW Championship. The Ryder Cup is over a month away. If you want to talk about this week, let's talk about this week.

"If not, I've got practice to do. I'm getting ready for a golf tournament."

While he was answering Ryder Cup questions, Scheffler confirmed his plan was to play at the Procore Championship in Napa as a warm-up event as Keegan Bradley has requested - with rustiness a problem in Rome last time.

"I think now with the way the schedule is, I think there's like four weeks after the Tour Championship before the Ryder Cup, and that's plenty of time to get rest while still staying competitive," Scheffler added.

"It's important for me to get out and get some competitive reps before the Ryder Cup. I felt like last time was maybe a bit too much time off."

Scheffler impressed with captain Bradley

Scheffler has had some discussions with Bradley about possible wildcard picks, but insists the final say rests with the captain and vice-captains.

And while Rory McIlroy doesn't think that being a player-captain can work, Scheffler backed Bradley to play after he has already "exceeded my expectations" as a captain.

"I think, looking at our squad, I think we have a really good group of guys. I think Keegan can only help that," said Scheffler.

"I think if it's something that Keegan wants to be part of the team and wants to play, I think he's a guy we'd all love to have on the team.

"He's passionate about the Ryder Cup. He cares a lot about us as players. It's been a lot of fun kind of watching him develop in this role, and we're excited to get the Ryder Cup started."

And Scheffler believes that having a captain that's playing so well and has been mixing it with his team all year can be a big advantage.

"I just feel like, since Keegan is out here a lot versus some of the other captains we've had in the past - not that they've done a bad job. It's different having him here week in and week out.

"He's a guy that we know well. I loved all of our previous captains, but I think it's just different when we're showing up, like hey, you want to play a practice round this week?

"We see him in dining. He's just around a lot more, so I think there's more opportunities for him to be kind of a part of our lives out here. I think that's really important as he steps into that captain role, knowing the players as well as he does."

Going into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Scottie Scheffler is, arguably, the favorite to claim a fifth title of 2025, but the World No.1 will be without a key member of his team.

Sitting two shots behind Englishman, Tommy Fleetwood, Scheffler is in a great position to challenge the 34-year-old, but the American will be without regular caddie Ted Scott.

Being on the bag for all 17 of Scheffler's PGA Tour wins, Scott has played a pivotal part in his bosses success but, for the final day in Memphis, he won't be on the bag for the 29-year-old.

Currently, the full reason is unclear, but Scott flew back home to Louisiana on Saturday night due to a 'family emergency,' with Scott being replaced on the bag by Brad Payne.

Currently sat at 12-under-par, two back of Fleetwood, Scheffler's replacement caddie, Payne, has had experience of being a looper, caddying for Scheffler during the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship when Scott left Valhalla for the day to attend his daughter’s high school graduation.

In fact, Payne's last caddying stint with Scheffler came the day after the World No.1 was arrested entering Valhalla. On that Saturday, the American carded a one-over-par 73, eventually finishing T8.

For those who don't know, Payne serves as a chaplain to PGA Tour players through his role with College Golf Fellowship. He is, in fact, a friend and mentor to Scheffler both on Tour and at home in Dallas, where both men live.

Previously, Payne has caddied for several players on the PGA Tour. He also played collegiate golf at Pepperdine, where he had three top three finishes in the West Coast Conference Men's Golf Championship from 1989-1991.

Following a year in which Scottie Scheffler won nine times and collected around $76 million in on-course earnings, 2025 is shaping up to be almost as good thanks to four victories - two of which were Majors - and a smattering of further top-10s already.

Despite missing January due to a hand injury and taking until his ninth start to pick up a first title of the year, the World No.1 has still managed to bank just under $20 million in 16 appearances.

However, given the extraordinary figures involved in the LIV Golf League, Scheffler is not the highest earner in golf right now. He may well return to the summit at some point soon, but then he could once again be usurped before August has concluded.

Nevertheless, a real purple patch during Major season propelled the 29-year-old past all of his PGA Tour challengers and up to the top of the FedEx Cup standings, where he holds a handsome lead ahead of the Playoffs.

Once the three-event mini-schedule begins, Scheffler will be the clear favorite to win each of those as well with a chance to defend his Tour Championship title the ultimate remaining individual goal this term.

But before the $100 million FedEx Cup Playoffs begin, the best golfer on the planet is about to add another $18 million to his net worth. And he doesn't even have to get out of bed to make it happen.

Due to his unassailable position at the top of the FedEx Cup standings - some 1,362 points ahead of Rory McIlroy who, like Scheffler, is not playing in the Wyndham Championship - the adopted Texan will receive $10 million no matter who triumphs at Sedgefield Country Club on Sunday.

The PGA Tour announced an adjustment to the overall FedEx Cup Playoffs prize money this season, with the FedEx Cup leader before the Playoffs begin scooping the aforementioned check.

The overall prize purse for the closing stretch has remained at $100 million overall, but the money has been spread around, seeing the winner of the Tour Championship earning $10 million instead of the $25 million Scheffler picked up during the last campaign.

Scheffler's cash injection is taken up to $18 million by the fact that he is also guaranteed to head up the Comcast Business Tour Top-10 through the Wyndham Championship. Everyone who ends inside the leading 10 FedEx Cup places is in line to effectively double up their earnings after the regular season concludes.

Remarkably, Scheffler's financial prospects could improve even more over the coming weeks given there is a maximum of $22.2 million up for grabs through the Tour Championship.

A $3.6 million winner's check is on the table at both the FedEx St Jude Championship and the BMW Championship, while the Tour Championship winner will collect $10 million. In addition, the FedEx Cup leader through the second event (BMW Championship) will secure an extra $5 million.

Should the American win it all, he will close in on Tiger Woods at the top of the PGA Tour Career Money list. Woods is in first place with $120,999,166 while McIlroy is second on $107,145,766. Third-place, Phil Mickelson is destined to be overtaken by Scheffler in the coming days given his total of $96,727,968 is roughly $6 million ahead of the current World No.1.

Scottie Scheffler is the current World No.1 and dominates the PGA Tour stats in a number of Strokes Gained categories.

Not only does he lead SG: Total, but also Tee-to-Green, Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green so, essentially, every long game category on the world's top circuit.

There are a number of reasons for Scheffler's success when it comes to ball striking. Obviously, the 29-year-old's relentless work ethic is one, but another is down to the equipment the American has in the golf bag.

A TaylorMade staffer, Scheffler signed a multi-year contract extension with the brand in 2024 and, since then, has racked up four Major championships, as well as 17 PGA Tour wins and an Olympic gold medal.

Using a full TaylorMade bag, the World No.1's specs in the driver stand at an 8° (set at 7.5°) TaylorMade Qi10 'dot' head, with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X shaft. The length of the driver is 45" cut, with a D4 swing weight.

This set-up, which also features a Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58 Rib grip, has led to Scheffler leading Strokes Gained categories for a number of years. However, there are certain aspects of his driver that are completely different to the standard Qi10s.

In an exclusive with Golf Monthly's Kick Point Show, TaylorMade's Tour Senior Manager Adrian Rietveld, who actually fitted and built Scheffler's clubs, explained just some of the unique features that the World No.1's driver possesses.

Brighter Clubface

As you can tell from the images above, the first difference is in terms of the color of the clubface, which is significantly brighter in the head of Scheffler's.

Since the TaylorMade Stealth was introduced, the brand have implemented colored carbon faces with red on the Stealth and Stealth 2, and a navy blue face on the Qi10.

Like Rory McIlroy, Scheffler has continued to use the Qi10 Dot and, according to Rietveld, the reason for the brighter coloring is down to the fact that Scheffler "likes the face to pop."

"The exact loft is 7.5° so, for him, it was more about the transition from Stealth 2 into Qi10, specifically making it smooth from a visual standpoint."

Another key difference is in the lack of topline on Scheffler's driver.

All Qi10 models that are sold by retailers feature a bright, white line; however, in the World No.1's model, this has been removed because Scheffler wanted it to go straight from black to blue.

Rietveld added: "You could say it's about the brightness of the face, but he doesn't have a topline on the driver, which is different to all of our drivers.

"When talking about the face, he likes to see as much of it as he can and that helps him at that low loft. It's set between 7.5° to 7.75° and you can head-sort to get that within the tolerance, so he can have that exact loft that he's always played and looked at."

No Hot Melt

For those that don't know, hot melt is a heated glue typically placed inside a hollow clubhead to help change the weight distribution on the clubhead as well as the sound and feel characteristics.

Previously, lead tape was used and, sometimes, still is. However, with the advancement of hot melt, it means it doesn't alter the look of the club.

The majority of professionals use hot melt in their drivers but, in terms of Scheffler, he doesn't, with Rietveld stating: "This is what is unique about him, he doesn't like any hot melt in the driver.

"When it comes to the driver, aside from the face, it's pretty much exactly what we would be selling in the shop."

Heavy Weighting

One way in which Scheffler's drive does differ, though, is the weight of the clubhead. "The key thing about the head is that it's a 203-gram head-weight, which is pretty heavy," explains Rietveld

"If there was a standard out there you would be looking around 195 - 197g. For him, at 203g, it's quite hard to build a driver without no hot melt in. What he has got is a 24g weight in the back (of the head), where the standard is 18-gram, so it's a little heavier back weight.

"Then, in order to hit that 203 exact, we've got a titanium screw in the front that weighs a gram less than a steel screw... (it's) A very back-CG (Center of Gravity) driver. Very forgiving and has to move left-to-right, predominantly."

DRIVER TRAVELS

At the PGA Championship, which Scheffler won by a convincing five strokes, the American was forced into a driver change just a day out from the championship, as his driver came back as non-conforming.

McIlroy endured a similar incident but, in Scheffler's world, he had planned for such an eventuality, breaking in a new driver as his old one became close to non-conforming.

"If you're a professional of a high standard, hitting a high 170 ball speed and you've had your driver for over a year, you're going to work towards your next driver, or your next options of driver," stated Rietveld.

"For Scottie, it was a couple of hours at Quail Hollow and nine holes on the golf course, but that was the cherry on top of two weeks pretty robust work.

"He would have had four (drivers) to choose from. That's what you do. In some aspects you're trying to find performance, in some certain aspects you're trying to find the same. When the time comes, and the circumstances change, he will go with what he feels is right.

"I would say he is more prepared than anyone I could think of in that regard."

Scottie Scheffler won half the Majors on offer this year as the World No.1 ends the season as the 2025 PGA Champion and Open Champion.

Scheffler made the cut in all four men's Majors for the second successive campaign and shot 32-under-par for his 16 rounds this season, a total that puts him 21 strokes clear of Rory McIlroy in second in the 2025 combined men's Major leaderboard.

It's a continuation of his dominance that has now stretched three years, with Scheffler winning 17 times on the PGA Tour since February 2022, plus the Olympic Gold medal last year and two Hero World Challenges.

He is rightly drawing Tiger Woods comparisons and currently sits 1st in Strokes Gained: Total, Off the tee, tee to green and approach, as well as leading the PGA Tour in scoring average.

Put simply, he is frighteningly good, and is now just a US Open away from joining Rory McIlroy in the career grand slam club.

We recorded his scores for every single Major round in 2025 and found some very impressive stats. Take a look below...

32-under-par

For 16 rounds of Major Championship golf in 2025, the Texan was 32-under-par.

That means he averaged two-under-par in each round across the year on the toughest tests the sport can find in the most pressurized environments. That's Augusta National, Quail Hollow, Oakmont Country Club and Royal Portrush off the tips while playing for legacy and millions across a variety of different conditions.

While his average score was two-under, he actually only shot two-under-par once, which came on the opening day of the PGA Championship.

His two-under per round average is even more impressive when you consider that 1/4 of his rounds this year were played over Oakmont Country Club, regarded as one of the toughest courses in the world, in US Open conditions.

He finished the week four-over there, where champion JJ Spaun was the only man to end the week in red numbers.

The scoring average at Oakmont was 74.180, with Scheffler comfortably beating that with 71.

For his 16 rounds, ten were under par, two were over par and four were level par.

He broke 70 in nine of his 16 rounds and three of them were bogey-free.

Birdies vs Bogeys

The World No.1 made 70 birdies across his 16 Major rounds this year, which is an average of 4.375 each round.

The 2025 PGA Tour average is 3.68 per round, meaning Scheffler made 0.695 more birdies per round in the four Majors than regular PGA Tour players do on tour courses. Remarkable.

He made 40 bogeys throughout the four Majors, which equals an average of 2.5 per round.

Eagles vs Doubles

Scheffler incredibly made more eagles in the 2025 Major Championships than doubles.

His eagles came in the 1st and 3rd rounds of the PGA Championship and the 3rd round of The Open.

He made a double on the opening day of the PGA Championship and in the final round of The Open, which were his only two doubles in the entire 2025 Major season.

That means he didn't make a single double-bogey at the 2025 Masters or US Open!

There were 316 double bogeys at the 2025 US Open. Scheffler made 0.

There were 135 doubles or worse at The Masters, a number which Scheffler again did not contribute to.

Masters winner Rory McIlroy became the first man to win the Green Jacket with four doubles, which puts into perspective just how solid Scheffler's play was.

McIlroy, who was second in the combined 2025 Major leaderboard, made nine doubles in his 16 Major rounds - a whopping seven more than Scheffler.

Scottie Scheffler's 2025 Major rounds:

This era of dominance from World No.1, Scottie Scheffler shows no signs of abating any time soon, with the American picking up his fourth Major and second of the year at last week's Open Championship.

Since the start of 2024, the best male golfer on the planet has also won The Masters, The Players, an Olympic gold medal and eight more PGA Tour events. All in all, Scheffler's success rate since January 2024 stands at 13 from 37 - roughly 35%.

But given the 29-year-old's penchant for steamrolling several of those fields while heavily restricting glimmers of emotion, not every triumph has been all that memorable.

As Golf Monthly editor, Neil Tappin put it while weighing up whether Scheffler's all-conquering abilities will lead to more fans tuning in most weeks: "Scheffler is easy to admire but hard to love."

Still, it's not his fault he wins by so many. What is he supposed to do, let his rivals close the gap so every finish is tight? That's not sport, it's closer to the arts.

It could be argued that the fact that Scheffler so often runs away with tournaments just proves the chasing pack must try and find ways of improving so that they can challenge him on a more consistent basis.

Nevertheless, over the course of the aforementioned 18-month period, TV ratings in men's pro golf have seemingly dipped before steadying and subsequently ascending towards far more impressive levels in 2025.

What do you think about Scottie Scheffler's dominance? Is it good for fan engagement? Let us know in the comments below this article.

Scheffler has continued to win at an extremely impressive rate, but the TV numbers have fluctuated regardless.

Moving forward, the question continues to be asked: Is Scottie Scheffler's dominance good for fan engagement? Here's what some Golf Monthly readers on Facebook and X had to say...

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

"Scottie being the best is great for golf."

"Didn't watch Sunday [final round of The Open], there was no point."

"I’d imagine the ratings were much higher at Pebble Beach, Sawgrass & The Masters -just saying! If Rory was in serious contention yesterday the ratings would’ve been the highest for a Open since prime [Tiger]."

"He is the representation of what golf would be if AI generated robots learnt to play golf. An absolute borefeast which will never inspire young golfers and turn the general public off. Thank God for the Tyrrell Hattons & Bryson DeChambeau's of this world."

"It’s fun to watch greatness!"

"Who cares? He is the best."

"He's not charismatic but who cares? Tiger Woods was overly charismatic. He's more like Jack Nicklaus. And I believe his dominance is more impressive as there are way more great players right now than they were when Tiger Woods was playing. I mean all Tiger had was Phil Mickelson."

"Yes! He’s fun to root for!"

"It was a truly underwhelming final round but I don't really think that was down to Scheffler's dominance as such. Nobody who was within reach at the start of the day stepped up."

"YES!!! If you’re a true lover of GOLF and not bells and whistles!!!!!"

"No, not at all..."

"Just enjoy the Golf!!!! No one knows how long it will last, ask Tiger!"

"I confess I tuned out early today when it became a foregone conclusion."

"He’s a pro golfer who is totally focused! He’s not a stand up comic! He’s playing a game nearly perfectly when “it’s not a game of perfect”! He’s showing the world how it’s suppose to be done! He manages his ball and score to win! If you love golf, play golf or aspire to play golf he’s the one to follow!"

"No, not good. Ignored fans all week. Walked long way from green to tee on practice days to avoid kids wanting sig or fistbump. Refused to show any emotion or to celebrate good shots in any way, wouldn't even smile at birdie putts. He's boring, immense talent, but bad for the game."

"Yes, Scottie is good for golf."

It has been a very busy past few days for World No.1, Scottie Scheffler as the American completed the third leg of a seemingly inevitable career Grand Slam via a victory at The Open Championship.

Scheffler's performance at Royal Portrush was exemplary and quite simply blew all of his rivals away with four days of near-perfect golf.

Yet, no sooner had he thrown his hat up into the air, embraced his wife Meredith and picked up son Bennett off the floor of a very steep run off guarding the 18th green, Scheffler was heading back over to the United States to show off his newest prized possession.

He began by rocking up on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, which aired on NBC at 11:30pm ET, eventually working his way into a bit while holding the Claret Jug.

Fallon begun the segment by sharing his congratulations with the then-hidden golfer before asking to see a picture with Scheffler and the trophy.

An image of just Scheffler hitting an iron shot appeared on the screen prior to Fallon reiterating his desire to see the Champion Golfer of the Year and the piece of silverware he won in the same frame.

A standalone shot of the Claret Jug appeared before the bit was finished by the curtain behind Fallon drawing aside and a white-shirted Scheffler walking on stage with Claret Jug in hand.

The World No.1 was formally introduced by Fallon and given a standing ovation by those inside Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, with Scheffler going on to say: "alright, if you want a picture, let's go ahead and do it."

Scheffler and Fallon took a selfie with the audience in the background and - no sooner as he had arrived - the four-time Major winner had exited stage left as he made his way on to the next engagement.

That was a stroll down the red carpet ahead of the Happy Gilmore 2 premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center, with a handful of other Open Championship contenders also in attendance.

Scheffler was joined by Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa in New York, as well as several past Major winners, such as Michelle Wie, John Daly, Jim Furyk and Fred Couples.

Plenty more famous faces from throughout golf are set to appear in Happy Gilmore 2, with Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris, Paige Spiranac, Nelly Korda, Nancy Lopez, Verne Lundquist and a certain Jack Nicklaus all making cameos at one point or another. None of the latter group walked the red carpet on Monday night, however.

A special guest which did, though, was the Claret Jug. Fresh off the back of taking in The Tonight Show, the Schefflers and the Open Championship trophy posed for photos and met with several members of the much-anticipated movie's cast.

Once the whistle-stop victory tour has concluded for Scheffler, he will return home to Texas before preparing for the defence of his Tour Championship title in the revamped format.

There are two weeks of regular PGA Tour events still to play prior to the FedEx Cup Playoffs commencing with the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind between August 7-10.

Just a day after the men's golf Major season came to a close in Northern Ireland, some of golf's best and brightest headed over to New York for the premiere of Happy Gilmore 2.

The Open champion, Scottie Scheffler hot-footed it across the Atlantic to smile for cameras on the red carpet at Jazz at Lincoln Center alongside his wife Meredith and the Claret Jug, and he was joined by a few of his defeated challengers, including Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa.

As well as some of the world's leading pros, several past Major winners were also in attendance, such as Michelle Wie, John Daly, Jim Furyk and Fred Couples.

The cast of Happy Gilmore 2 features plenty more famous faces from throughout golf, with Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris, Paige Spiranac, Nelly Korda, Nancy Lopez, Verne Lundquist and a certain Jack Nicklaus all involved at one point or another.

Full Swing producer, Chad Mumm is also a co-producer for Happy Gilmore 2, and he revealed earlier in the year that some roles the current professional golfers play are larger than some may expect.

Mumm said: "What was fun about it, is, normally, making Full Swing, it's kind of like, I'm invading their turf. And them coming out to the movie set, it was kinda like 'you're on our turf now.'

"But they had a blast. We had so many professional golfers and legends of the game come out to be in the movie and I think people will be really surprised by how much they're in it."

As well as leading faces such as Christopher MacDonald (Shooter McGavin) and Julie Bowen (Virginia Venit), other famous names set to make a cameo in the golf movie classic include music stars Eminem and Bad Bunny, plus Kansas City Chiefs tight end and boyfriend of Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce.

The much-anticipated movie arrives on Netflix on Friday, July 25, with the titular character - played by Adam Sandler - returning to golf nearly 30 years on from winning the 1996 Tour Championship as he aims to pay for his daughter Vienna's ballet school via another heroic victory.

It was another dominant showing from Scottie Scheffler as he lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush on Sunday, strolling to his second major victory of 2025 and the fourth of his career.

It was a fascinating week to follow the World No.1 - from his five minute monologue on his priorities in life earlier in the week to watching him on the course battle the Dunluce Links, the elements and an atmosphere from a crowd that clearly did not want him to win due to the presence of home favorite Rory McIlroy on the leaderboard.

Scottie spoke to us in the media tent following his dominant win, but these were the five main takeaways I took from his press conference.

He called his win the "best performance mentally" of his career

Considering how good he has been up to this point, is Scottie suggesting he hasn't even reached the top of his game yet?

"It's taken a lot of work - not only a lot of work, but it takes a lot of patience. It's a high level of focus over 72 holes of a tournament. This was one of my best performances mentally" he told media in his post-tournament presser.

"To only have one double bogey, really only one over par hole in the last 36 holes of a major championship, that's how you're able to win these tournaments."

For as much as the critics cite Scottie's lack of charisma on the course, there is a reason he's so cold out there. Following him Saturday and Sunday, there was little to no emotion other than when an important putt dropped which sometimes meant a fist pump followed. There were little to no waves to the crowd, tips of the hat or recognition of crowd support at Royal Portrush. Why? Because he was so unbelievably locked in, with tunnel vision focus on one thing - winning.

If his mental game is improving, that makes him an even scarier prospect for the rest of his competition, if that was even possible.

Tiger comparisons are silly

Humble as always, Scheffler branded comparisons to he and Tiger Woods as "silly".

"Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf," he said.

"I'm not motivated by winning championships. I don't look at the beginning of the year and just say, hey, I want to win X amount of tournaments, I want to win whatever it is. I don't do that. I have dreams and aspirations that I think about, but at the end of the day, when I wake up to practise, I feel like what motivates me is just getting out and getting to live out my dream."

When asked about whether he was concerned about breaking records in the game, he gave another honest answer:

"Not really. I think -- I've always done my best when I'm able to live in the present. For me, I always rely on the effort that I put in. When I step on the first tee, I remind myself that I'm prepared and I just try to go out there and compete. That's all I'm focused on."

I think it's easy to take this answer as a long-winded version of saying "I don't care", but this would be disingenuous. Instead of judging himself on wins and losses, Scheffler instead just wants to be the best he can be.

The result of a tournament is not the be all and end all. He made no secret about the fact that he hates losing when speaking to us earlier in the week, but he's also a realist - golfers aren't expected to win week in, week out.

The result of a tournament won't define him and, realistically, he doesn't really care about how you or I define him either. He's focused on his faith, his family and being as good a golfer as he can be. If he wins, great - a dream has been accomplished. If not then OK, let's get back to work.

Does this allow him to play more freely and feel less pressure? I would argue so.

He enjoyed playing the villain in Northern Ireland

Golf is better when there are heroes and villains. Sport is is better when there are heroes and villains.

Like any great piece of art or theatre, if you like every character it becomes harder for emotions to be stirred.

To state the obvious, Rory McIlroy was the hero at Royal Portrush. The vast majority of the fans on site wanted him to win and thus, Scottie not to. Scottie referenced this in his presser, but one particular comment raised my eyebrow.

"To be honest with you, walking up 18, I didn't really know if I was going to get that much support from the crowd. The crowd, I think, wanted somebody else to win this week, and I kind of got to play spoiler a little bit, which was fun as well."

Ohhhh, OK then Scottie...

You liked playing the villain? Maybe there is a bit more character to the best in the world than meets the eye.

I can't tell you how much I loved hearing this - he knew the crowd didn't want him to win and with this chip on his shoulder, it helped motivate him to spoil the party, per say.

It was a week where Scottie was brutally honest with us in the media tent and this was another little nugget that I appreciated - he wants to win, and he couldn't care less how you feel about it when he does. This is a mindset often reserved for the true greats in any sport and can explain why Scheffler has reached the pinnacle on the men's game and looks set to stay there.

He doesn't want to be the superstar - and that is OK

"I would say my greatest priorities are my faith and my family. Those come first for me. Golf is third in that order."

Scottie spoke about how he goes to a Chipotle in his home town, of which he wouldn't share where, simply because he knows he won't get noticed.

You don't see him on commercials. There aren't many sponsors on his golf bag. He doesn't feature in TGL - he doesn't want and couldn't care about the limelight - and that's fine.

Not everyone with talent as high as his were born to be the Jordans or Federers or even Tigers of their respective sports. He admits he isn't that type of star and he doesn't care whether you like that or not.

"This week I was the best player in the world. I'm sitting here with the trophy. We're going to start all over in Memphis, back to even-par, show goes on.

"I don't think that I'm anything special just because some weeks I'm better at shooting a lower score than other guys are."

Part of me wants the best in golf, or any sport for that matter, to truly live and breathe the sport and to care about winning at all costs, to smash records and to cement a legacy to last for the rest of time. This isn't Scottie, but even though this leaves me wanting a little more from the World No.1, it also reminds me that winning isn't everything. Sport isn't everything. Life goes on and other things are more important.

The cynics may question whether Scheffler really believes his order of priorities and could even cite it as a defection tactic to deal with the pressure of being the best - I don't think this could be further from the truth. Scottie is Scottie, just a kid from Texas who wanted to be a professional golfer his whole life and has now reached the mountain top. His honesty in relation to this may disappoint some but in my eyes it only makes him more of a fascinating character.

"I wanted to be a professional golfer, so I wore pants"

Speaking of tunnel vision, Scheffler has always had his sights set on being a professional golfer, so much so that he would get picked on by other kids because of it:

"I just grew up a kid in Texas that wanted to play professional golf. I grew up wearing pants to the golf course because that's what I wanted to do. I saw professional golfers like Justin Leonard, Harrison Frazar, those types of guys on TV wearing pants, and I was like, I want to be like those guys. So I used to wear pants to grow up to play golf. It would be 100 degrees out. I'd be way too hot. People would make fun of me.

"But that's what I wanted to do; I wanted to be a professional golfer, so I wore pants."

Scheffler was prepared to be uncomfortable if it meant helping him prepare for a future as one of the best in the world. This mindset, especially as a child, can help partly explain why he now has four major championships by the age of 29.

It has been obvious for some time that Scottie Scheffler is consistently outperforming his rivals.

For example, the player immediately beneath the World No.1 in the rankings, Rory McIlroy, admitted after the American’s Open victory that “he’s been on a different level for the last two years.”

Indeed, Scheffler has been so dominant in recent years that his form is drawing comparisons to Tiger Woods at his best.

While players and observers alike can see with their own eyes just how special a talent Scheffler is, one statistic also confirms that comparisons to the 15-time Major-winning legend are not too wide of the mark.

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is calculated using a rolling average of world ranking points per event played over a two-year period.

Scheffler has played 41 ranking events during that time, amassing 830.34086 points in the process, including another 100 for his victory at Royal Portrush.

As first reported by popular X OWGR stats guru Nosferatu (@VC606), that gives him an average of 20.25 points per tournament over that rolling two-year period, up from 17.9550 points a week ago.

A similar figure has only ever been seen once before, when Woods reached a comparable points average for four weeks in 2008.

A spell spanning June and July 2008 saw Woods average over 21 points for two weeks, before another two weeks averaging over 20 points. The high point came following his famous US Open playoff win over Rocco Mediate, where, like Scheffler at The Open, he earned 100 points.

However, that was his last action in a ranking event until March the following year after his season was cut short following reconstructive surgery on a damaged ACL, hence the gradual drop in points average after that week.

While Scheffler currently only has one week above the 20-point mark, his form of late suggests he may be able to stay in and around that level for some time to come.

He is not in the field for this week’s 3M Open and will also likely miss the Wyndham Championship, but he will tee it up in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the first of which comes with the FedEx St. Jude Championship on August 7^th.

Last year, that event handed winner Hideki Matsuyama over 70 world ranking points, with the following week’s BMW Championship seeing winner Keegan Bradley claim over 59 points.

Scheffler then won the Tour Championship thanks to his starting scores advantage, although Collin Morikawa topped the leaderboard to claim over 47 world ranking points.

Another stat that shows just how impressive Scheffler’s current average is can be found by looking at the player closest to him in the world rankings, McIlroy, whose average is a little over half, at 11.5563.

To strengthen the comparison between Scheffler and Woods, they are now also the only two players to win The Open while holding top spot in the world rankings.

While the stats show Scheffler's form resembles Woods in one of his most dominant spells, perhaps the one player who doesn't accept the comparison is the man himself.

After his latest victory, which brought him three-quarters of the way to his career Grand Slam, he said of the comparisons: "I still think they're a bit silly. Tiger won, what, 15 Majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there.

"I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf."

Scottie Scheffler won the most Majors of any male golfer this year with two, and he also finished 21 strokes ahead of his nearest challenger.

Major season is now over in the men's game and we took a look at the scores from all four, and there were some interesting takeaways.

Scheffler won the PGA Championship with an 11-under total before lifting the Claret Jug courtesy of a 17-under-par score. When you add his 8-under total at The Masters and his score of +4 at the US Open you get 32-under-par for the 16 Major rounds completed this year, meaning he averaged two-under-par each day in the Majors.

The World No.1 has made his last 14 Major cuts, which is a streak only better by Xander Schauffele - who has made the weekend in each of the last 15 men's Majors.

Rory McIlroy created the most memorable moment of the year, and recent golfing history, at The Masters when he sealed the career grand slam, and the Northern Irishman is second on the combined leaderboard with an 11-under-par total - not helped by his 10-over total for the PGA Championship and US Open.

Xander Schauffele finished 3rd with a 10-under-par score across the four Majors, while LIV Golf's Jon Rahm was fourth at six-under.

Harris English finished 5th with five-under while Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, both one-under, were the only other men to have finished under par across all four Majors.

Take a look at the full men's Major leaderboard for 2025, which features 15 players - all of whom are either American or European. Note: Corey Conners made the cut in all four Majors this year but he withdrew prior to the final round of the US Open, so his scores are not included.

Men's Major leaderboard 2025

Scottie Scheffler's putter has somewhat been an achilles heel for him during his rise to the top of the game, but the World No.1 has turned it around on the greens this year and has taken it to a new level at the 2025 Open.

With the flat stick firing, Scheffler is, unsurprisingly, unstoppable.

Through 54 holes, the three-time Major winner leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting with a total of +7.868. He is also 2nd in SG: Approach, a combination that tells the story of how he is four strokes clear with 18 holes to play.

Working with putting guru Phil Kenyon, Scheffler switched to the claw grip in December and went on to win the Hero World Challenge in his very next start. He sometimes still uses a conventional grip on the longer putts, but from inside 20ft he firmly relies on the claw.

"At the end of last year, I always kind of assess things and see if there's ways we can improve. That was something we tested out in the Bahamas last year and felt comfortable from the start," he said.

"I use it [the claw grip] as we get closer to the hole, lag putting. Outside of 15 to 20 feet, I'm still putting conventional. It was something we felt could help us improve, and so far it has."

That was after a switch to the TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet putter earlier in 2024, which reaped immediate rewards as Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the first of nine titles worldwide including The Masters, the Olympic Gold Medal and his first FedEx Cup.

After a hand injury caused by making ravioli on Christmas Day, Scheffler's 2025 season took a little longer than he'd have expected to get underway but for the year so far he now has three PGA Tour wins including his third Major victory at the PGA Championship.

Having ranked 162nd in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2023, losing 0.301 strokes per round, and 77th in 2024, Scheffler is up to 22nd on the PGA Tour this year in what is by far his best season with the flat stick in hand - gaining an average of 0.362 strokes per round on the greens.

That is while he ranks 1st in SG: Total, Tee to green, Off the tee and Approach.

He ranks 4th in Putting Average with 1.713, 8th in Birdie Or Better Conversion Percentage, 15th in Putts Per Round and 18th in One-Putt Percentage - all while being by far the best player in the world from tee to green.

These are statistics that put him head and shoulders above anyone else in world golf right now.

His form on the greens was something that third round playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick was impressed by, to say the least.

"His putting is night and day obviously. From what you guys all talk about how bad it was at one point, I didn't play with him really in that period," the Englishman told media after witnessing Scheffler's bogey-free 67 on Saturday.

"He's just not missed a putt today. There isn't one putt that he's missed, and that's obviously the difference that's taken him to this unbeatable run, which is annoying for me that Phil Kenyon shared those secrets."

"I think there's some pretty subtle slopes in these greens. I've done a really good job just being committed to my line," Scheffler said.

"Today I hit some good putts to start the round. I had a little three-putt there on the second hole, but I felt like I hit two putts the way I wanted to and I didn't let it bother me.

"I made a really nice putt there on the third hole to keep the momentum going. It was a little 10-footer for par, and that was what I felt like was a really important putt, and knocked it in. Then after that I felt like I did some good things out there."

Scottie Scheffler putting stats through the years: PGA Tour Strokes Gained

• 2020: 117th
• 2021: 107th
• 2022: 58th
• 2023: 162nd
• 2024: 77th
• 2025: 22nd

Scottie or Rory? World No.1 or World No.2? The former is the clear favorite in the betting for The Open.

However, McIlroy, who won The Masters in April, cannot be dismissed after shrugging off his Grand Slam hangover, especially after slipping comfortably back into links mode at the Scottish Open last week.

In fact, the latest statistics from Clippd suggest the Northern Irishman might just have the advantage over his American rival going into the final men's Major Championship of the season at Royal Portrush.

The two best players in the world (based on the Official World Golf Ranking) have taken the game to a new level over the last couple of seasons.

Although McIlroy hasn't won a tournament since The Masters in April, his last two performances suggest that he's back to somewhere near his best.

After missing the cut at the Canadian Open in June, the five-time Major winner recorded a top-20 finish at the US Open.

He was clearly still a couple of gears off it at Oakmont, although he tied for sixth at the Travelers Championship and was just pipped to the post at the Scottish Open last week.

Scheffler, meanwhile, who said this week that "golf doesn't satisfy me", remains a model of consistency.

Remarkably, Scheffler has not finished outside the top-10 since March. During this spell, he's racked up three wins, including the PGA Championship in May.

With results like this, it's obvious why he starts the week in Northern Ireland as the hot favorite, with many believing he'll get his hands on the Claret Jug at least once in his career.

Even so, it's a hard one to call. McIlroy has an Open Championship victory on his CV, and his performance in Scotland showed that his game is in very good shape.

Scheffler, however, who finished tied eighth in North Berwick, was not far off the pace.

You know all this. You're a punter and you want to know who to back - so is there anything we can learn from the statistics?

According to Clippd, both players have identical overall Player Quality scores of 105 - five points above the tour pro average.

It's when you drill down further that it gets more interesting, with the recent data actually coming out in favor of McIlroy.

The American is comfortably ahead in the iron play category and just clear around the greens, but McIlroy has the advantage both off the tee and on the greens according to Clippd.

The data shows that McIlroy is stronger with the flat stick in hand in the crucial 3-15ft range, is nearly twice as effective in Strokes Gained: Putting over the last 20 tournament rounds and has fewer putts overall.

Clippd sums up how McIlroy could well have the advantage this week, saying: "While Scheffler's iron play excellence keeps him highly competitive and directly addresses Royal Portrush's most obvious challenge, McIlroy's advantages over the last 20 rounds in three of the four key performance areas — driving, short game, and putting — create a compelling case for the Northern Irishman's prospects.

"The data suggests that when the championship reaches its decisive moments on the Dunluce Links, McIlroy possesses narrow statistical advantages that could swing things his way.

"Whether those numbers translate to lifting the Claret Jug will depend on execution under the unique pressures that only golf's oldest championship can provide.

"For golf fans and analysts alike, the statistical backdrop promises a compelling championship where two different approaches to excellence will be tested against one of golf's most demanding venues."

Read Clippd's full breakdown of how Scheffler and McIlroy compare statistically