Tiger Woods-like dominance of golf 'difficult', says Scottie Scheffler after RBC win - Five Things We Learned
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ByEurosport
Updated 24/04/2024 at 11:44 GMT
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler delivered yet another masterclass to win the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links where only Mother Nature dared to resist the dominant Texan. As has been the way of late, the rest of the PGA TOUR’s finest were playing for second place. Here are our five key takeaways from the RBC Heritage.
Scottie Scheffler smiles with the trophy
Image credit: Getty Images
Another week, another win for Scottie Scheffler
Just a few days after slipping on his second Green Jacket at the Masters, Scottie Scheffler could have been forgiven for taking his foot off the pedal at the PGA TOUR’s latest stop, but that’s just not his way.
The 27-year-old refused to let up and took control of the contest with an eight-under 63 during Saturday’s third round. Mother Nature provided the sternest challenge with the final round disrupted by severe rain and lightning.
As a result, Scheffler was among those forced to return on Monday to complete the final round where he closed out a three-shot victory over fellow American Sahith Theegala with compatriots Wyndham Clark and Patrick Cantlay a further shot back in third.
In doing so, he became the first player to win The Masters and the RBC Heritage in back-to-back weeks since Bernard Langer in 1985.
“I didn’t show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations. I came here with a purpose,” Scheffler said following his latest triumph.
Incredibly, that also made it four wins in his last five starts and he is the first PGA TOUR player to conjure such a run since Tiger Woods at the end of the 2007 season and the start of the 2008 campaign.
“Coming off the high last week to going into here, not really with a ton of energy, not really with a ton of prep work,” Scheffler said.
“I think it’s underrated how difficult it is to do the stuff that Tiger was doing, and win like every single week. It takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically, especially major championships.”
But he has had to share the golf headlines with LPGA star Nelly Korda who has eclipsed even Scheffler with five straight victories in recent weeks including the year’s first major – the Chevron Championship – last weekend.
A perfect 10
Scheffler now has 10 career PGA TOUR wins to his name with all of them having come since his first victory at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open.
Interestingly, his victories have all come in the months February through April, which offers some hope to those hoping to top a leaderboard between now and the end of the year.
He has reached this milestone after just 51 tournaments – surpassing the efforts of Tiger Woods (59) and Rory McIlroy (79). Only David Duval has achieved the feat quicker, reaching No. 10 after just 33 events.
“It does not get boring,” Scheffler said. “I think hitting a really well-struck golf shot close to the pin is like an addicting feeling.”
However, we are set to have to wait for No.11 with Scheffler expected to take a break due to the impending birth of his first child.
But even without another victory – or even appearance - before the end of the season, Scheffler is surely odds on for another money list and Player of Year double.
Ranking the best of the rest
The world rankings themselves may have suffered a bit of a reputational mauling of late since the departure of many leading names to the rival LIV Golf League, but there can be little doubt that Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the game right now.
The extent of his stranglehold on the top spot was highlighted by journalist Dan Rappaport following Scheffler’s latest victory and the latest update to the rankings.
After digging into the detail, he noted that Scheffler’s lead over World No. 2 Rory McIlroy is currently bigger than McIlroy’s advantage over Tiger Woods – who is currently ranked World No. 784.
His position at No. 1 in the world is so great that he became the first player since Woods to crack the 15-point average points per tournament mark (15.0135).
Scheffler is not short of a buck or two
Victories not only bring ranking points, but money – and significant amounts when the tournaments are among the ‘signature’ events designated by the PGA TOUR and awarded bumper prize funds.
Scheffler has now earned US$18.69million in official prize money this season – a total that is more than double his nearest challenger, Wyndham Clark, who has banked $9.3m.
His accountant must have struggled to keep up with his client’s income in recent weeks with Scheffler having banked $4m at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, $4.5m at The Players, $553,735 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open (where he could only finish tied 2nd), $3.6m at The Masters and $3.6m at the RBC Heritage.
That works out as an average of $375,000 – nice work if you can get it.
Remember, it is also only April. Unsurprisingly, Scheffler also wrapped up the money title last year with a record season total of $21,014,342 – a figure that is surely in doubt this term.
Success at Hilton Head also earned Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott a reported $360,000 pay day to take his estimated season earning to $1.8m - more than PGA TOUR star McIlroy has earned in official prize money this year.
Horschel’s happy return to winning ways
It appears the only way to prevent Scheffler from winning a PGA TOUR event is enter one where he is not teeing it up.
Those PGA TOUR players not lucky enough to qualify for the RBC Heritage travelled to the Dominican Republic for the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Among them was Billy Horschel who completed a remarkable comeback having memorably broken down in tears last year following a gut-wrenching 12-over first-round score in the defence of his Memorial tournament title.
A final round of 63 carried the 37-year-old to his eighth PGA TOUR title and his first in two years. His victory should also propel him back into the big tournaments he craves but he insists his comeback journey is not over.
“I'm not anywhere close to where I want to be or back to where I want to be,” he insisted following his victory.
“If a win didn't happen today, was that going to be the end of the world? No. Everything's moving in the right direction. A win doesn't mean I've got to where I want to be yet, back to where I want to be in this game of golf, but once again, it's moving in the right direction.”
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