PGA Tour, LIV Golf execs reward Scottie Scheffler at U.S. Open

Scottie Scheffler arrives at Pinehurst No. 2 as a large 3-to-1 favourite, astonishingly low odds not seen for the reason that mid-2000s, when Tiger Woods dominated the game.

Consequently, Scheffler has turn out to be the speak of the city, as followers, pundits, and his fellow gamers alike can’t cease buzzing about what the reigning Masters champion has achieved this season. He has 5 wins already, probably the most earlier than the U.S. Open since 1980. He additionally has completed no worse than a tie for seventeenth, which got here on the American Specific in January.

His superior statistics are off-the-charts spectacular, too.

“While you begin getting in comparison with Tiger and issues that Tiger has finished, that’s when you realize you’re at a degree that’s fairly particular,” stated LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm, who, like many others, fielded a query about Scheffler throughout his pre-tournament press convention Tuesday.

“To win 5 instances in a season… And successful the tournaments, he’s successful. To win Bay Hill, The Gamers, Masters, RBC [Heritage], after which the Memorial, you’re mainly replicating a Tiger Woods season. It’s incredible to see. He’s been enjoying incredible golf and doing what he must do.”

Photograph by Andrew Redington/Getty Pictures

Everyone seems to be speaking about Scheffler as a result of no participant has had a season like this since Woods was in his prime.

“The truth that the one factor that took him from successful a golf event was going right into a jail cell for an hour,” joked Rory McIlroy, referencing Scheffler’s PGA Championship arrest.

“Looks like he’s all the time in rivalry. Essentially the most thrilling factor about final week on the Memorial was when he made the triple on 9 [on Saturday]. Everybody was like, ‘Oh, seems to be like he may let individuals in right here,’ however he finds a solution to regular the ship and make a couple of birdies when he must. Undoubtedly one of the best participant on the earth on the minute by a great distance. It’s as much as us to attempt to get to his degree.”

Scheffler’s capacity to bounce again after a mistake is without doubt one of the most spectacular aspects of his sport. Each time he misses a brief putt or hits an errant tee shot, he all the time appears to bounce again, simply as he did at Muirfield Village final week to finally beat Collin Morikawa by one.

“You may’t win that many tournaments or be up there on the leaderboard with out doing the whole lot effectively,” added Viktor Hovland.

“As a result of if he had holes in his sport, he wouldn’t carry out in addition to he would.”

Earlier than the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, quite a few pundits knocked Scheffler for his struggles on the greens. He seemed shaky with the putter and did not convert loads of alternatives earlier within the 12 months.

However then he switched to a mallet putter at Bay Hill and has been tearing aside the PGA Tour since.

“He tried the Spider [putter] final summer time for a few tournaments,” added McIlroy.

“However I believe the work that he’s put in with [his putting coach] Phil Kenyon as effectively, I believe that’s an enormous a part of it. I do know they began to work after the FedExCup Playoffs final 12 months. Clearly, the work they’ve finished has actually been paying off.”

Photograph by Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour by way of Getty Pictures

CBS Sports activities invited McIlroy to hitch the published on the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February. In doing so, McIlroy famous that Scheffler ought to change from a blade to a mallet putter, which helped his personal sport, too.

However that change elevated Scheffler to a brand new stratosphere, as he now seems to be unstoppable.

“From my perspective, he’s acquired full management of his golf swing. He’s discovered a variety of his placing. From what I can inform, he performs some extremely strategic golf. He doesn’t go too loopy. He simply hits the proper photographs on the proper time. He’s actually answerable for the atmosphere, not solely his atmosphere however the circumstances on the golf course,” defined LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau.

“He is aware of what the golf ball goes to do. He is aware of the right way to react accordingly. When issues go proper, he can proper the ship fairly shortly. That’s only a recipe for achievement, and he’s been in a position to do it longer than anybody has for a very long time. He’s the gold customary proper now, and we’re all trying as much as him going, ‘All proper, how can we get to that degree?’”

Little doubt that Scheffler is presently in a league of his personal.

The chances replicate that, and his fellow gamers agree with that evaluation, too.

However are we now at a degree the place, like Woods in his heyday, we ask the query, ‘Is it Scheffler versus the sector?’

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By. Make sure to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.