Scheffler, a new Tiger? The statistics don’t lie

The question on everyone’s lips in the golfing world: Is Scottie Scheffler the New Tiger? Well, the statistics don’t lie.

Until 2024, Tiger Woods was the only golfer to have won both the Masters and the Players Championship, but now he’s not alone.

Scottie Scheffler is simply dominating the world of professional golf, with a consistently humble and composed attitude, never attracting too much attention. This may frustrate some golf fans overseas who crave a bit more “spark” to truly replace Tiger.

Whenever Scottie steps onto the tee, much like Tiger in his prime, he’s always considered in contention for the win, regardless of the course or the competition. This, to me, is already a telling sign of Scheffler’s dominance, and I can’t recall anyone quite like him in the last decade.

Just how close is Scottie Scheffler to Tiger’s numbers? The statistics are simply staggering.

Scottie Scheffler, numbers

In his last 5 outings on the PGA Tour (including the Masters), he’s won 4 tournaments and was just a putt away from a clean sweep at the Houston Open. He’s earned $18.7 million in 2024 alone and is on track to easily surpass his previous record of $21 million in 2023. His caddie, Ted Scott, based on a quick calculation of earning 10% of Scottie’s winnings, would currently rank among the top 40 players on the PGA TOUR, bringing home three times as much as Viktor Hovland in the first 4 months of the year. This immediately draws comparisons to what Steve Williams, Tiger’s legendary caddie, earned, making him the highest-paid “athlete” in all of New Zealand in 2006.

Now let’s talk jaw-dropping figures. Scheffler started the season with 39 (THIRTY-NINE!) consecutive rounds at par or better. In his last 5 tournaments, he’s shot a total of -76. His scoring average is currently 67.50 strokes. The PGA Tour record for scoring average in a season is 67.79, set by Tiger Woods in both 2000 and 2007. The gap in points in the official World Golf Ranking between Scheffler and the world’s number 2 player, McIlroy, is greater than the gap between McIlroy and any other golfer in the world, including us.

Only twice in eight events measured over all 72 holes did Scheffler not finish first in tee-to-green data, and in these tournaments, he still came in second and third. Last weekend, Scheffler was the worst putter among the top nine golfers in the RBC Heritage rankings and still won by three strokes over Theegala.

The data under the microscope: Is there a weak point? At the moment, Scheffler leads in Stroke Gained (strokes gained compared to other players) in shots between 50-100 yards (nearly 2 strokes), between 150-200 yards, and even over 200 yards. He gains 1.56 strokes compared to everyone else on approach shots, 3.43 tee-to-green, and a whopping 3.45 strokes overall in all areas of play. Guess who was the last player to have more than 3 strokes gained on the rest of the field? It can only be Tiger back in 2009, when he last dominated the tour and won 6 tournaments in just 16 appearances.

The only downside at the moment? Putting, where Scottie ranks only 66th for accuracy but is tirelessly working with world-renowned putting guru Phil Kenyon. Just imagine what would happen if he improved here as well; there would practically be no competition come Thursday on the first tee.

At his peak, some argued that Woods’ presence was worth half a shot, and now Scheffler is starting to have the same effect on his rivals, especially on Sundays.

Any comparison to Tiger is as unfair as it is unfounded. Tiger was a generational player who accomplished the most difficult feat: surpassing the huge expectations he had since he was 5 years old. However, Scheffler’s current form is reminiscent of Woods when he dominated world golf without question.

We’ll just have to wait until the end of the year to see if Scottie manages to break all records. In the meantime, let’s continue to enjoy this phenomenon that will entertain us for many years to come.