With seven victories on the PGA Tour together with the Masters, his FedEx Cup success and Olympic gold, Scheffler has put collectively an excellent season.
Scottie Scheffler’s victory within the Tour Championship caps a tremendous season for the world primary and brings a chance to replicate on the state of the elite males’s sport.
Right here, golfnews.co.uk appears on the state of affairs heading in the direction of 2025.
Will Scheffler’s dominance proceed?
With seven victories on the PGA Tour together with the Masters, his FedEx Cup success and an Olympic gold medal, Scheffler has put collectively an excellent season.
He has not been fazed by frequent comparisons to Tiger Woods and proved he can ship below stress. Like all gamers, he nonetheless makes errors however he has proven a powerful psychological capability to recuperate from them.
If there’s a part of his sport that may nonetheless be improved it’s his placing, however he’s near being the whole participant. Kind can come and go however with such fortitude and consistency, there’s each cause to consider his dominance can keep on.
Does he not nonetheless face robust competitors?
Sure after all. Regardless of Scheffler’s pre-eminence, he has not been the one present on the town. Xander Schauffele has actually run him shut for the title of 2024’s finest participant, having captured the US PGA Championship and the Open titles. With Bryson DeChambeau profitable the US Open, all 4 majors had been taken by Individuals, that means there’s loads of competitors from inside his personal nation.
The likes of Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and LIV participant Brooks Koepka all add to the US power. Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg will hope to kick on after a formidable first full 12 months on the principle circuit after which there’s the menace from Rory McIlroy.
The place is McIlroy at?
Because the world quantity three and with one other couple of match wins below his belt, there isn’t a doubt McIlroy has had one other tremendous 12 months.
But after a barren run within the majors that now stretches to a decade, he could also be it otherwise. His close to miss on the US Open was his most heartbreaking but.
Not like on the 2022 Open at St Andrews when he was caught by a surging Cameron Smith, this time he may solely kick himself after two pricey missed brief putts down the stretch.
He has since admitted that solid a shadow over the rest of his 12 months and he might scale back his schedule in future. No person doubts the Northern Irishman’s high quality however his seek for the magic main formulation continues.
How are issues off the course?
Elite males’s golf stays fractured with no obvious finish in sight to the merger talks between the principle excursions and the breakaway, Saudi-funded upstart LIV Golf. LIV’s raid for Jon Rahm did not speed up negotiations and the PGA Tour pressed forward with their ‘signature occasions’ sequence in an try to stave off future defections.
The long-running saga has been extremely damaging for the game’s picture and can stay so so long as it continues.
May it have an effect on the Ryder Cup?
Europe’s preparations for the 2023 occasion had been disrupted by LIV – not least with an enforced change of captain – and it may occur once more if Rahm, one in all their key gamers, misses out on qualification.
The Individuals is also affected however whether or not this focuses minds stays to be seen. The build-up to Bethpage subsequent 12 months has already begun.
With Luke Donald lengthy in place, Europe look properly organised this time in distinction to the Individuals, who named Keegan Bradley late and will face a dilemma if he additionally qualifies as a participant.
