PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland \u2014 Another comparison between Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler surfaced during the final round of the British Open. This one wasn\u2019t about numbers or trophies, but a fist pump.<\/p>\n
And it was for par.<\/p>\n
Scheffler needed only one hour to expand his four-shot lead to seven shots with a steady diet of fairways and greens at Royal Portrush on Sunday, along with three birdie putts. But he missed his tee shot on the par-3 sixth and his chip was weak, leaving him a 15-foot par putt.<\/p>\n
Scheffler fiercely pumped his fist when it dropped, evoking memories of Woods and his 15-shot win at Pebble Beach in the 2000 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n
Woods had a 12-foot par putt on the 16th hole of that final round, and it was the most emotion he showed all day when he made it. He wanted a clean card and wound up going his final 26 holes bogey-free. Woods was so utterly dominant that his only competition came from himself.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how it felt with Scheffler when he won the claret jug for the third leg of the career Grand Slam.<\/p>\n
Scheffler went 32 holes without a bogey until he took two shots to get out of a fairway bunker on No. 8 and made double bogey. What stood out to Scheffler in his four-shot victory was the lack of bogeys, the DNA of his dominance.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo only have one double \u2014 really one over-par hole in the last 36 holes of a major championship \u2014 that\u2019s how you\u2019re able to win these tournaments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He won the British Open by four shots. He won the PGA Championship in May by five shots. He won by four in the 2024 Masters. Scheffler was five shots ahead on the final hole in his first Masters win in 2022 when he four-putted while simply trying to finish.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of numbers to consider, starting with his position at No. 1 in the world. No one has held it longer since Woods.<\/p>\n
Scheffler and Woods are the only players in the last 50 years to win two majors in the same year by at least four shots. Researchers with time on their hands at the PGA Tour discovered that Scheffler and Woods each went 1,197 days between winning their first and fourth majors.<\/p>\n
Enough of the comparisons, Scheffler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still think they\u2019re a bit silly,\u201d he said. \u201cTiger 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
For majors alone, a better comparison would be with Rory McIlroy. He also won four majors in three years, including two of them in 2014. McIlroy won a U.S. Open and a PGA Championship by eight shots, the latter a record margin.<\/p>\n
Scheffler won for the fourth time this year and now has 20 victories worldwide. He has won 11 straight times with the 54-hole lead.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old from Texas was introduced as champion golfer of the year, a title the R&A has used for more than a century. Scheffler, at this rate, might be champion golfer of his generation.<\/p>\n
And to think he was slowed at the start of the year recovering from a puncture wound on his right hand that he got while trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t focus on that kind of stuff,\u201d Scheffler said of the comparisons. \u201cThat\u2019s not what motivates me. I\u2019m not motivated by winning championships. I don\u2019t look at the beginning of the year and just say, \u2018I want to win X amount of tournaments.\u2019 I don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I wake up to practice, what motivates me is getting to live out my dream,\u201d he said. \u201cI get to play professional golf, and I feel like I\u2019m called to do it to the best of my ability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also driving the comparisons to Woods are high praise from just about everyone who has had to face Scheffler since that first win in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is the bar that we\u2019re all trying to get to,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here\u2019s Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,\u201d Xander Schauffele said. \u201cYou can\u2019t even say he\u2019s on a run. He\u2019s just been killing it for over two years now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheffler’s dominant performance at the British Open has drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods, but he remains focused on his own goals and motivations. With his impressive record and consistent play, Scheffler is solidifying his position as one of the top golfers in the world.<\/p>\n
A: Scottie Scheffler has won four majors, including the British Open, PGA Championship, and two Masters titles.<\/p>\n
A: Scheffler’s style of play is more consistent and less dynamic than Woods, with a focus on fairways and greens rather than recovery shots.<\/p>\n
A: Scheffler is motivated by the opportunity to live out his dream and play professional golf to the best of his ability, rather than by winning championships or comparing himself to other golfers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scottie Scheffler’s Dominant Performance at the British Open PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland \u2014 Another comparison between Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler surfaced during the final round of the British Open. This one wasn\u2019t about numbers or trophies, but a fist pump. And it was for par. Scheffler needed only one hour to expand his four-shot lead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/DATO4UPENNFGVIJ5CGB4OF426E.jpg?auth=ec66ee4eec8dbc350bb5d700bb2c33ba42190797afa6ccb369d1233d3096f399&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9821,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9818\/revisions\/9821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}