If you want to catch a glimpse at Scottie Scheffler the golfer, look no further than last year’s Hero World Challenge. Yes, the Tiger Woods-hosted hit-and-giggle in the Bahamas where only 20 players tee it up and more-or-less use the event as an excuse for a tropical vacation amid the holiday season.
After a 2024 campaign that saw Scheffler claim nine titles worldwide, including his second green jacket, the first successful defense of The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and his first FedEx Cup crown, Scheffler assessed the state of his game and felt he could get better.
“I’m always looking for ways to improve,” he said at the time.
He was right.
Making the switch from a conventional putting grip to a saw-style grip, the world No. 1 won that tournament by six strokes. Scheffler has since turned an improving weakness on the greens into a certifiable strength. It helped him win his first major championship away from Augusta National this spring at the PGA Championship, and it has now taken him to the doorstep of the career grand slam after he boat-raced the field in Northern Ireland at the 2025 Open Championship in what can only be described as his most complete performance to date.
Scheffler made mincemeat of the his peers and Royal Portrush en route to raising the Claret Jug and earning the esteemed title Champion Golfer of the Year. While his prior major championship wins came with a window of hope for his competitors in the final round, this one was curtains when his approach shot on the 1st hole settled 16 inches from the pin.
The conversation shifted from whether Scheffler would win to how many majors he will win in his career. This as his lead ballooned (briefly) to as many as eight strokes and historical implications became the objects racing beside him.
In the end, Scheffler achieved a four-stroke victory making him just the third player since the first playing of the Masters in 1934 to win four major championships by three strokes or more (Woods, Jack Nicklaus). He’s the first since John Henry Taylor in 1909 to do so across his first four major victories as well.
It’s this unwavering desire to squeeze out the fullest of his golfing potential — along with, well, every other part of his game — that makes Schefler so dominant inside the ropes. It’s why his counterparts trip over their words when asked to describe Scheffler and trip over the pressure of being perfect when asked to compete against him.
“How do you beat this guy?” Harris English posited after finishing runner up to Scheffler at a second major this season.
“He’s literally a full shot probably better than the next-best player in the world, let alone myself, who’s not the second best player in the world,” Matt Fitzpatrick said.
“If Scottie’s feet stayed stable and his swing looked like Adam Scott’s, we’d be talking about him in the same words as Tiger Woods,” Shane Lowry contended.
“You can’t even say he’s on a run. He’s just been killing it for over two years now,” Xander Schauffele said. “He’s a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us.”
“I think all you can do is admire what he does and how he does it,” Rory McIlroy said. “I think what he does is one thing, but how he does it is another.”
“I don’t think anybody is like him,” Jordan Spieth echoed.
It’s why the one time Scheffler showed true emotion while in the 18-hole ring Sunday afternoon — in enemy territory, a course just over an hour from McIlroy’s hometown — was not when he was throwing haymaker after haymaker at the opening bell. It was only after he misjudged his tee shot into the par-3 6th leaving him a tricky up-and-down from below the putting surface in front.
With Northern Ireland’s finest trying to find a way to conjure up some energy for their countryman to make a run, Scheffler’s shot was met with oohs and aahs as a rare slip up felt imminent. His subsequent pitch left him just outside 16 feet for par, and when Scheffler connected, he delivered not one but two pumps of the fist as if they were meant from those lining the outside of the green.
“The crowd, I think, wanted somebody else to win this week,” Scheffler said. “And I kind of got to play spoiler a little bit, which was fun as well.”
The rest of Scheffler’s walk went as planned. Shots were executed and jokes were exchanged with playing partner Haotong Li over the course of what was described as a “super calm” round. A tepid ovation met Scheffler when he walked up the 18th hole as the engraver got to work on the Claret Jug.
Less than a minute after the final putt dropped and Scheffler’s supremacy was secured, onlookers got a peek at Scottie Scheffler the man. Following a tame celebration and embrace with caddie Ted Scott, Scheffler saw what mattered most in the crowd. Only then did real jubilation begin to wash over his face.
“Every time I’m able to win a tournament, the first person I always look for is my wife,” Scheffler said. “Where we walk off each day is usually on the right side, and I didn’t see her at first. So I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, where’s Meredith? What happened? She’s not there.’
“As I kind of circled around the green, I saw my dad standing there. I was like, ‘OK, perfect, my family must be down there’, so I saw Meredith. She’s always the first person I want to celebrate with. She knows me better than anybody. That’s my best friend. It takes a lot of work to be able to become good at this game, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without her support.”
Securing his most prized possessions, Scheffler walked off the 72nd green of The Open a winner in more ways than one — his child in one arm and his wife in the other — the Claret Jug still nowhere to be seen.
“I would say my greatest priorities are my faith and my family. Those come first for me,” Scheffler said. “Golf is third in that order.”
The trophy ceremony followed. A speech in which he had to check his notes — to ensure he thanked everyone on his team — came next before Scheffler’s first raise of one of the most-famed trophies in sport. The theatrics, pageantry and photographs had come and gone with Scheffler standing tall as the Champion Golfer of the Year.
He’s already much more than that to those who matter the most.
“It’s a fun life for us, and being able to celebrate winning tournaments like this, I feel like my whole team … their name should be on the trophy with me because it really does, it takes a village,” Scheffler said.