Scottie Scheffler has redefined golf with his unbelievable form over the last 3 years. He has won 13 PGA Tour events in this period including two Masters wins in 2022 and 2024. His unbelievable strokeplay and intelligence in the game have left many awestruck during this period.

Considering his natural talent and skills, no one would think that there was a time when he wasn’t considered the best among the best. But for Scheffler’s former teammate, it is ‘crazy’ that the world no.1 achieved so much success. The person in question here is Scheffler’s 2017 Walker Cup teammate, Braden Thornberry.

Scottie Scheffler was a part of one of the best teams of the Walker Cup in 2017. One of his teammates in the tournament was fellow amateur player Braden Thornberry. Thornberry, who also made his debut alongside the world no. 1 in 2018, recently sat down in an interview with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz for a Golf Subpar podcast on YouTube. Let’s learn what he had to say about Scottie Scheffler.

A candid ex-teammate of Scottie Scheffler

The interview mainly around Thornberry’s glory in the Korn Ferry Tour among other things. As the trio discussed the pro golfer’s 2017 Walker Cup campaign, he was asked if the team was the best ever in the tournament. After putting a little thought to it, Thornberry stated, “A lot of guys haven’t like done probably a lot of great stuff they’re gonna do.” He clarified that having Scheffler alone in the didn’t is not what made the team the best.

Adding more details to what actually happened, Thornberry said, “On that team, Scottie and Will (Zalatoris) were kind of the last two on. Which is amazing, I mean Will has almost won three majors and Scottie has obviously had one of the best runs of all time.” Clarifying Will Zalatoris’ record, he finished 2nd in the 2021 Masters Tournament, 2022 PGA Championship, and 2022 US Open. Hence, Thornberry mentioned that Zalatoris ‘almost‘ won three majors.

Thornberry got animated reimagining the entire scene as he said, “It’s crazy! Shows how hard or strong that team was that they were like some of the last guys on it.” Speaking specifically about Scheffler, he said, “Scotty’s crazy to me because I always knew he was a great player and get success at every level but the success that he has had…” He went on to include Colt in the conversation saying that the host has known Scheffler longer. Then Thornberry continued to compliment Scheffler as he said, “I just did not expect that level…” Still baffled by Scheffler’s achievements, he said “I expected (him) to be on tour, went on tour, all that kind of stuff. But just what he’s done, I didn’t think it was possible anymore in the modern game, honestly.”

The three individuals continued to discuss Scheffler’s achievements in the last three years for a minute before getting back to the topic. But then the hosts asked Thornberry if there was any other player who he thought would make it big as a pro. Thornberry took a minute to think before saying, “Probably Morikawa. He was another one (of the best) in college too because he didn’t win as much as like how good he was. He finished top 5 in every big tournament you can imagine.” Thornberry continued to praise Morikawa by saying that he had a “Beautiful golf swing” and as far as Morikawa’s overall abilities go, he said, “Everything was just very sound.” Thornberry then went on to claim that “He (Morikawa) was like a PGA Tour player when he went out there.”

Another player who received a lot of compliments from Thornberry was Sam Burns. Speaking about the world no. 18, Braden Thornberry said “I’ve always been a big fan of Sam Burns. I think he’s just unbelievable. I think he has everything you want and I think he’s very underrated.” Thornberry did clarify that Burns was not on the 2017 Walker team but he just wanted to mention him.

Braden Thornberry definitely knew what he was talking about as all three players he mentioned are in the Top 20 list of OWGR. As he too is getting a taste of wins in the Korn Ferry Tour, do you think Thornberry will also reach the same career heights as his teammates from 2017? Let us know in the comments section below.