Category: Scottie Scheffler

PGA Tour 2024: Scheffler’s Historic Run

The buzz surrounding Scottie Scheffler’s fantastic season keeps getting louder every time he tees it up—but where does the ultra-hot start to his ’24 season stack up against some of the greatest seasons of all-time?

Through his first 10 starts, Scottie has recorded 4 wins, including The Players and The Masters, with 9 Top-10 finishes. After taking a look through the record books, Scheffler’s opening run in the ’24 season ranks at the very top since 1960—with only Tiger (of course) putting up a comparable record through the first 10 starts of the year in his monumental 2000 season.

Tiger 2000

With 9 victories including 3 Major championship wins and a T5 at The Masters, the 2000 season was undoubtedly the greatest of Tiger’s amazing career. His first 10 starts that year couldn’t match what he did in the second half of the season (winning all three majors), but it was fantastic just the same with 9 Top-10’s including 4 wins and 4 runner-up finishes.

Although Tiger recorded the same number of wins with 3 more runner-up finishes and a slightly better average finish, he was 2^nd in The Players and 5^th at The Masters (Scheffler won both), so you have to give Scottie the nod by an eyelash.

Jack 1963

Although Nicklaus never had a “monster” year like Tiger in 2000, he had a ton of great ones to choose from—so we picked 1963 out of the hat. Jack finished the year with 5 wins, including The Masters and The PGA Championship along with 17 Top-10’s.

In his first 10 starts of ’63, Jack recorded 9 Top-10’s with 3 wins including The Masters, but Scheffler also won at Augusta and notched one more win—and it happened to be The Players, so once again it’s Scottie by a whisker.

Arnie 1961

Arnie had a tremendous year in ’61, making the cut in 25 of his 26 starts with 21 Top-10’s and 7 wins, including the Open Championship. He also recorded a runner-up at The Masters and a T5 at the PGA—while constantly having to look over his shoulder at Jack.

It’s tough to have a great year without getting off to fast start, and Arnie did just that in ’61 with 9 Top-10 finishes in his first 10 starts including 3 wins. Unfortunately, Palmer missed the cut in the first tournament of the year at the LA Open, and then came heartbreak at the Masters when he made double on 18 to lose by a shot to Gary Player—so Arnie comes up just shy of Scottie’s run as well.

Johnny Miller

Perhaps the greatest iron player of all-time, Miller had his best year in 1972. Johnny made the cut in 20 of 22 starts with 13 Top-10’s and recorded 8 wins that year, and started the season sizzling hot with 3 consecutive wins (Crosby Pro-Am/Pebble Beach, The Phoenix Open and The Tucson Open).

Through his first 10 events, Johnny recorded 6 Top-10’s with 4 wins—a fantastic start to the season. As great as Johnny was at the start of ’72, it pales in comparison to what Scottie has done in 2024—and provides some perspective on just how good Scheffler has been this year.

Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh played his first year on the PGA Tour at 30 years old, and had his greatest season in 2004 at the age of 41. In 29 starts, Vijay recorded 18 Top-10’s with 9 wins including The PGA Championship at Sahalee, while missing the cut just once.

In the first 10 starts of ’04 Vijay was terrific, making the cut in 9 of 10 events with 5 Top-10’s including a win, a runner-up and a T6 at The Masters—but still not close to the numbers Scheffler has put up.

The Road Ahead

No doubt Scottie takes it one round at a time, one tournament at a time, and that’s good–because if he looks hard at what it will take to match Tiger for the rest of the year, it may bring on a panic attack.

Scheffler will need to win 4 more times, including 2 additional majors, without missing a cut —while recording 8 more Top-10’s and throw in a T5 at the fourth major to boot.

With the way Scheffler is hitting the ball right now, and the confidence he exudes with every shot, it certainly brings back images of Tiger at the height of his powers—but can Scottie keep it up?

We’ll have to watch and see.

Upcoming Events

This week the Tour is in New Orleans for the Zurich Classic (April 25-28), and then heads to Dallas for the CJ CUP Byron Nelson (May 2-5) at TPC Craig Ranch.

Next up is the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC (May 9-12) along with the inaugural playing of the Myrtle Beach Classic at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club (May 9-12) , followed by the second major of the year—The PGA Championship (May 16-19) at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, KY.

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Tour ’23: Scottie Wins in Scottsdale and Tiger Returns at Riviera

**Scheffler moves to #1 and Tiger Returns at Riviera**

Scottie Scheffler defended his title last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, defeating Canadian Nick Taylor by two strokes in the PGA Tour’s first full field event of the season. With this latest victory, Scheffler has moved back into the number one spot on the official World Golf Rankings, and number five in the FedEx Cup standings.

The even bigger news is that Tiger will make his first start of the year at Riviera this week in a star-studded field—and all eyes will be glued to CBS Sports and Golf Channel this weekend to see how close he is to the Tiger of old (and if he’s ready to continue the pursuit of Jack’s major championship record).

WM Phoenix Open

Eighteen of the Top twenty players in the World Golf Rankings were in the field last week at TPC Scottsdale, and seven finished in the top 10. In addition to Scottie Scheffler jumping to #1 in the world with his win, Jon Rahm continued his dominant play in ‘22-23 with a 3^rd place finish (Rahm has finished in the top 10 in all five of the events he’s played this season, including two wins).

Justin Thomas (No. 7) and Jordan Spieth (No. 16) each recorded their first top 10 of the year, and look like they are gearing up to make a challenge at Augusta (which is not too far away).

Xander Schauffele (No. 6) continued his strong play thus far in the young season with a T10 (Xander has made the cut in all 5 of the events he’s played including 3 top 10’s), and Sungjae Im (No. 18) recorded his 3^rd top 10 of the season with a T6.

Rory McIlroy (No. 2) made his first PGA Tour start of the calendar year after a win at the CJ Cup back in October, finishing well back at 4 under par (T32). His win on the DP World Tour at Dubai in January gave him 2 wins in his previous 2 starts, so Rory’s head-to-head match-up with Scottie and the red-hot Jon Rahm was highly anticipated, but some loose driving and an ice-cold putter resulted in a failure to launch—perhaps Tiger’s presence this week in LA will ignite him

Jason Day (5^th), Rickie Fowler (T10) and Keagan Bradley (T20) also continued their 2023 resurgence, while a bit of comic relief jumped up on Sunday when a streaker ran onto the 16th green wearing only his underwear and grabbed the flag stick before flopping into the nearby pond (and was quickly escorted away by Security).

**The Riviera Country Club: Tiger’s back**

Tiger at Riviera

Tiger’s return at Riviera this week will be his first start on the PGA Tour since The Open Championship last summer, where it was apparent that his come-back needed more time as he missed the cut. The general consensus had been that Tiger would only play the major championships this year, starting with the Masters.

The Genesis, however is Tiger’s tournament and his foundation (TGR) has been hosting the event since 2020. Riviera is also a special place for Tiger because its where he made his PGA Tour debut back in 1992 at the age of 16.

Expectations were sky high for the young phenom as an enormous gallery gathered to follow him that day at Riviera, and Tiger got a glimpse of the future when he was swarmed by media after completing a first round 72.

In his pre-tournament press conference, Tiger said he was ready to compete, and would not tee it up if he didn’t think he had a chance to win—although his record “wasn’t very good at Riviera.”

Of course, “not very good” is based on Tiger’s standard for himself. Scheduling conflicts and injury limited him to only twelve starts at Rivieras since he first came out on the Tour in 1996, and although he never notched a win, he finished among the top twenty in ten of those twelve, including four top 10’s (and twice runner-up), while missing the cut only once.

Every other player on tour would be thrilled with that kind of record at a tour event, but Tiger is in a category of his own—and the reason the world will be watching when he tees it up on Thursday.

The Genesis Invitational

The Genesis Invitational, historically known as the LA Open, has been played at iconic Riviera Country fifty-nine times since the event was first played in 1926, and forty-eight of fifty since 1973.

All of the greats in golf history have teed it up at Riviera, including Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Sam Sneed, Arnie and Byron Nelson.

For year’s Riviera was called “Hogan’s Alley” because he won there three times (’42, ’47 and ’48), and the club has been home to many of the biggest stars in Hollywood (including Humphrey Bogart, who was seen taking in the play from beneath a Sycamore on the 12^th hole so often that it became known as “Bogeys Tree”).

In addition to Tiger, this year’s field includes nineteen of the top twenty players in the World, and the leaderboard will be jammed with the biggest names in golf as the tournament heads through the weekend to what will no doubt be high drama on Sunday—so make sure you tune in and get ready to hold onto your hats.

Looking Ahead

The last tournament of February is the famed Honda Classic at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach, Florida (February 23-26). This event will officially kick off the ‘Florida Swing’, where players will be competing in four events in the state of Florida. These include the Arnold Palmer Invitational (March 2-5), The Players Championship (March 9-12), and the Valspar Championship (March 16-19).

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PGA Tour: 2023 Season Preview

**Scottie and Rory: Ready to resume battle in 2023**

Scottie Scheffler had a break-out season in 2022 with his win at The Masters, 3 regular tour victories and 6 more top 10 finishes—capping it off with PGA Tour Player of the Year.

And with 3 Tour wins and a Top 10 at all four majors, including runner up at The Masters, 3^rd at the Open Championship, and a T5 at the US Open, Rory McIlroy gave Scheffler a run for his money—adding a huge cherry on top with his FedEx Cup victory.

The 2023 season promises even more excitement, as Jon Rahm has his game ramped up to full power for an all-out assault on the majors, and Justin Thomas, Collen Morikawa, Patrick Cantley and Tony Finau appear to be primed and ready for a big year as well.

In addition to the deep field of top stars, there is a host of mega-talented young players looking to hit it big on Tour in ‘23, along with a few big-name Tour veterans who had dropped out of sight in recent years, but appear ready to make some noise again in 2023.

Here’s where they stand so far in the wrap-around 2022-23 season.

**Jon Rahm: Four Top 10’s and 2 wins in 2023**

Who’s Hot

Jon Rahm
After a relatively quiet 2022 season where Jon failed to record a top 10 in any of the major championships, Rahm has finished among the top 10 in all four tournaments he’s entered thus far in ‘23, including 2 wins in January (Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, and the American Express at La Quinta).

Scottie Scheffler
Continuing his fantastic 2022 season, Scottie has made the cut in all five events he’s entered this year, including 3 top 10’s (T3 at Mayakoba, T7 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and T9 at the Cadence Bank Houston Open), narrowly missing another top 10 at the American Express where he finished in a tie for 11^th.

Rory McIlroy
McIlroy has played one PGA Tour event (CJ Cup in South Carolina in October) and one DP Tour event (Hero Dubai Desert Classic last week), winning them both. The wins moved Rory past Lee Trevino into No. 20 among the GolfDay All-time Top 100 players.

Max Homa
Max recorded 2 wins in 2022 and has added 2 more thus far in the ’23 season (The Fortinet Championship in September and The Farmers last week at Torrey Pines. Homa has made the cut in all 5 of the events he’s played thus far, finishing among the top 10 in 4 of them. At 32 years old, Max is in his prime and it should not come as a surprise if he adds a major championship to the to 6 Tour wins that he has recorded since 2018.

Tony Finau
Coming off a terrific 2022 season where Tony notched 2 wins (back-to-back at the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July) with 5 additional top 10’s, Finau is off to a fast start in 2023 masking the cut in 4 of 5 events with 3 top 10’s. This may be the year that Tony brings his power game to bear at a major championship.

**Collen Morikawa: 2 time major winner**

Collin Morikawa
While two-time major champion Collin Morikawa failed to record a win in 2022, he still notched 8 top 10’s including a 5^th place finish at The Masters and a T5 at the US Open. The start to his 2023 season has been solid as well, making the cut in all 5 of the events he’s entered with 2 top 10’s, including a runner up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and 3^rd at The Farmers last week.

Taylor Montgomery
After 2 successful seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, Montgomery is off to a hot start to his PGA Tour career, making the cut in all 10 of his starts in 2023 with 4 top-10’s. Taylor hits it a long way (308-yard average off the tee), and he’s ranked No. 1 in putting and No. 1 in scoring—a pretty good formula for success.

Young Guns

Sahith Theegala
In 2022, his first full season on Tour, 25-year-old Theegala made the cut in 26 of the 32 events he entered–with 5 top 10’s including a tie for runner up at the Travelers and a trip to the Tour Championship. Thus far in 2023, Sahith has made the cut in 8 of 9 events with 4 top 10’s. It’s only a matter of time before he records his first Tour win, and sooner is more likely than later.

Tom Kim
Yet another young phenom coming out of South Korean, 20-year-old Tom Kim is off to a blazing start to his PGA Tour career, making the cut in 6 of the 7 events he’s played, including a win (the Shriners Children’s Open in October) and 2 additional top 10’s. It seems almost certain that he will notch another win or two as the season progresses, and keep an eye on him at the majors as well.

**Day, Fowler and Bradley: Back on track in 2023**

Come-backs

Jason Day
After yet another dismal season in 2022 where Jason made the cut in only 12 of 19 events, Day looks like he may have things turned around. Thus far in 2023 he has made the cut in 6 of the 8 events he has played, recording 2 top 10’s (already matching his 2022 total). Jason certainly has the talent, and at 35 there should still be plenty in tank.

Rickie Fowler
Rickie is back with Butch Harmon, and the results are starting to pay off. He’s made the cut in 5 of 6 events with 2 top 10’s in ‘23, and his confidence is growing with each start (including a solid T11 with a 67 in the 3^rd round at Torrey Pines last week). That elusive major may be a big ask, but Rickie is still only 34, and there’s something about his look that tells me he’s back.

Keegan Bradley
Keegan’s game began to come back in 2022, making the cut in 19 of 25 events with 6 top 10’s. So far in 2023 Bradley has kicked it up another notch, making the cut in 5 of 6 starts with 3 top 10’s including a win at the Zozo Championship and a runner-up at The Farmers last week including a 66 in the final round on the difficult South course. At 36 years old, it would seem we have not seen the last of Keegan Bradley.

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Scottie and Rory: PGA Tour’s Best in 2022

**Scottie and Rory: Going Head-to-Head**

Scottie Scheffler took home the Jack Nicklaus award as PGA Tour Player of the Year for 2022, and it was certainly well deserved after such a fantastic season—but it was definately not a “slam dunk” as some are saying. When you take a close look at the season Rory McIlroy put together, you pretty much need a razor blade to separate them.

The Majors

Scheffler’s win at The Masters was a brilliant performance, but keep in mind that Rory finished runner-up at Augusta with a magnificent final round 64 (a shot off the lowest rounds ever recorded at The Masters—63 by Nick Price in ’86 and again by Greg Norman in ’96).

Scottie also had a superb run at the 2022 U.S. Open, finishing a shot behind Matthew Fitzpatrick for runner-up. But remember that Rory was also among the leaders at The Country Club on Sunday afternoon, finishing with a T5.

**Scottie Scheffler: 2022 Masters Champion**

And while Scottie missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and was outside the top 20 at The Open Championship, Rory recorded a Top 10 at the PGA (8^th) and finished 3^rd at The Open.

In 16 rounds at the major championships in 2022, Rory recorded 9 rounds under 70 with a scoring average of 69.2, while Scottie recorded 7 rounds under 70 with a scoring average of 69.7.

Although Rory was unable to record a major win in 2022, finishing in the top 10 at all four majors is a rarely accomplished feat. Tiger did it in 2000 when he recorded a T5 at The Masters and then won the other 3 major championships. Jack did it 3 times (1971, 1973, 1974), Brooks Koepka did it in his fantastic 2019 season (win at the PGA, 2^nd at the U.S. Open, T2 at The Masters and a T4 at The Open Championship) and Rickie Fowler recorded Top-5 finishes at all four majors in 2014 (including runner-up at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship).

Scottie gets the edge with a major win and a runner-up, but Rory had one of the most outstanding major championship seasons on record—so it’s pretty darn close.

The Tour Season

In addition to his Masters win, Scheffler recorded 3 regular tour wins (including the WGC Match Play Championship). McIlroy also recorded 3 regular season wins, including the Tour Championship. Rory made the cut in 14 of the 16 events he played in 2022 (88%) and recorded 10 Top 10 finishes (63%), while Scottie made the cut in 21 of 25 events (84%) with 11 Top-10’s (44%).

**Scheffler: 3 Tours wins and Major Championship**

From a performance standpoint, Rory led the Tour in scoring average at 68.7 and he was 2^nd in driving distance at 321.3. Scottie was fourth in scoring average at 69.3 and 19^th in driving distance at 311.6—but Scheffler was #1 in greens in regulation (72.3%) while Rory was #12 at 69.9 %.

Scheffler also recorded 3 regular season runner-up finishes—a T2 at the Houston Open, 2^nd at the Charles Schwab Challenge and a T2 at the Tour Championship).

Both Scottie and Rory had phenomenal regular seasons on Tour, and from the numbers it looks pretty much like a flat-footed tie.

The FedEx Cup

Scottie Scheffler was No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings going into the Tour Championship, so under the new format he began the tournament at -10, six shots ahead of Rory who was No. 7 and began at -4.

Scheffler and McIlroy played flawless golf through the first 3 rounds, and both were -13 going into Sunday’s final round—but Scottie still held a six-shot advantage due to the FedEx standings adjustment (Scheffler was -23 and Rory was at -17).

Although Rory wasn’t able to put four fantastic rounds together at any of the 2022 major championships, he put the hammer down at the Tour Championship and fired a closing 66 to finish at -17 (21 under total with the adjustment). When Scheffler faltered with a final round 73 (20 under total), McIlroy had erased the massive deficit to take the championship—and also the FedEx Cup for a record third time.

**McIlroy: Wins Tour Championship and FedEx Cup**

The Wrap Up

Scottie Scheffler had a great year in 2022, and he will be a force to reckon with on the PGA Tour for many years to come. His win at The Masters, strong showing at the U.S. Open, and consistent performance throughout the year make it hard to argue with his choice as Player of the Year.

With his impressive comeback victory at the Tour Championship and third FedEx Cup, however, McIlroy closed the gap with Scottie to a photo finish—and most certainly not a Scheffler “slam dunk” as some are saying.

Rory played only 16 events on the PGA Tour in 2022 (he also played 2 on the DP World Tour, finishing 3^rd at the Dubai Desert Classic and runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship), while Scottie played 25 Tour events, and that also moves the needle a bit more toward Scheffler—but we think Rory edged him by a nose with his third FedEx Cup.

One thing is for sure, the 2022-2023 PGA Tour season (and major championships) are going to be pretty exciting with Scottie and Rory going head-to-head.

When you put Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantley, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth and Tony Finau into the mix, and then top it off with young stars like Sungjae Im, Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris and Victor Hoveland—2023 is shaping up to be one heck of a year on the PGA Tour.

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