Not long ago, Rory Mcilory said that his competition with Scottie Scheffler is pushing him to improve, but not only that, but revealed that he looks at his rival to learn how he does things. Something like that tells us about the place that Scheffler occupies in the golf. It is a world number one that has managed to settle and that the competition is fierce.
In 2024, the golfer born in Ridgewood (New Jersey) won seven titles of the PGA Tour, in addition to the Olympic Gold Medal and the Hero World Challenge. He was also champion of the Fedex Cup and was number one in the world ranking throughout the year. For the third year he was elected best PGA player. It was probably not his most prominent milestone in the 2024 course, but it should be remembered that Scheffler became the first player in history who successfully defended his title in The Players Championship.
It is curious, but no one until last year had defeated in two consecutive editions of the so -called ‘Fifth Grande’, although we are talking about a tournament that was born in 1974 (it did not reach TPC Sawgrass until 1982). This season Scheffler has not yet added titles to his record, but he has played less than usual due to the cut that was made in the hand at Christmas, which required a surgical intervention. He has been in four tournaments, but you have to stay above all with which he played great in Bay Hill (Arnold Palmer) last week, with the proviso that he went quite bad with the putter. In any case, he showed that he is still the best of Tee to Green.
These days the world number one will seek the most complicated, which is a third consecutive players. Even Justin Thomas, winner of the event in 2021, surrendered to his compatriot: “I think it’s hard to play with him and think: ‘I want to play more like Scottie’. Who would not mean: ‘I want to be the one who best hits the ball of the planet.” Admirers are not missing, but no rivals want to overcome him.
Together with Scheffler, we can place a handful of players among the favorites, perhaps starting by Ludvig Aberg, a player called to reign time on Pete Dye’s route; He debuted in 2024 with an eighth place. Collin Morikawa would be another one of the chosen ones, no doubt; His results and his tee game to Green invite him to have him as a great candidate. At a very good time Mcilroy, Matsuyama or Lowry also arrive. And let’s not forget who appears as a favorite number one on the official page of the PGA Tour, SEPP Straka, a risky bet, but when the Austrian has the week seems unstoppable. Although Schauffele just returned, it should also be included in this payroll.