Rory McIlroy reveals why Scottie Scheffler is better than him, atop golfing world
McIlroy praises Scheffler for his incredible golf and accomplishing what many PGA Tour players wished they could do.
Rory McIlroy knows Scottie Scheffler holds a wide gap above the rest of the PGA Tour. Anyone on the Tour knows how phenomenal Scheffler is.
His 2024 season is something professional golf had not seen since 2007 when Tiger Woods did it.
McIlory did not have a terrible season but left a lot out there. He explained what makes Scheffler stand out above him and the rest of the PGA Tour.
“He makes more birdies than I do, and he makes less bogeys,” McIlroy said after his round on Sunday. That adds up to him being a little bit better right now. I think the one thing I’ve always admired about Scottie is the amount of bogey-free rounds he shoots.”
“If you go back over the last two, three years and you look at how many rounds he shoots — he’ll shoot like 4-under par, no bogeys, doesn’t look spectacular at all, but it’s just so solid, doesn’t put himself out of position. When you don’t make a ton of bogeys, the field has to do something special to keep up.”
Scheffler was No. 2 in bogey avoidance after the BMW Championship, behind Xander Schaffele. He only makes a bogey 9.94 percent of the time. At the Tour Championship, the two-time major winner had six bogeys, which put him at 133 bogeys on the season.
This historic run started in 2022 for Scheffler. The former Texas Longhorn went from winless on the PGA Tour to now having 13 victories, two majors, an Olympic gold medal, back-to-back Players Championship wins and winning four of the eight Signature Events.
Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in scoring average, at 68, and in birdie average, at around 4.82 a round. His scoring average is the lowest ever in a PGA Tour season.
He entered the 2022 and 2023 Tour Championships at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings. McIlroy won in 2022 after coming from six back, and Viktor Hovland dominated in 2023.
Scheffler may have been the favorite, but it was not his time. However, it is now.
What makes him so good?
“I think his consistency, his attitude,” McIlroy said. “I feel like he brings the same demeanor to the course every single day, no matter what position on the leaderboard he’s in. He’s amazing to watch the way he manages himself around the golf course. We’ll look back on 2024, and it’s one of the best individual years a player has had for a long time.”
In 2024, Scheffler won seven times in 19 events, had two runner-ups, 16 top-10s, and 17 top-25s, and did not miss a single cut all season.
His consistency has put him above the rest, and what Scheffler did in 2024 was remarkable.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.