“What can he do going forward? He can only get better—and that’s a scary thought,” said Butch Harmon, the long-time former coach of one of Tiger Woods. But these words weren’t for him, but for Scottie Scheffler. These are really strong words, especially considering Harmon has had front-row seats to golfing greatness during his career. You see, for Scottie, now the matter seems to be of ‘when’ and not ‘if.’ We are talking about his next step in the world of golf, into the club of GOATs or Grand Slam winners. His dominance these past couple of years speaks volumes. Ben Griffin, who recently got a firsthand account of what it is like to be chased by a marauding #1, spoke at great length about his recent PGA Tour victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where the World No. 1 finished 4th, 4 strokes behind Griffin.

Griffin draws a similarity between Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods

Heading to the last day, Griffin was tied in first place with Matti Schmid at 13 under par. Scheffler was down in T7, with a score of 7 under par, a long way off. However, Griffin did not think so. “I was like, Scottie’s probably shooting 10 under tomorrow, so I need to make sure I am at least 17 under, so I need to keep the pedal down,” the two-time PGA Tour winner recalled his mindset ahead of the last day.

Scheffler has been a dominant force on the PGA Tour for the last three years. He has not missed a single cut, with his lowest ever finish being a T41 at the 2024 US Open. He has finished outside of the top 25 just four times during this span and has recorded 41 top 10 finishes in 53 events. No matter what the event is, if he is participating, he is expected to be firmly in contention. Last year, Scheffler managed to establish daylight between himself and the others by recording one of the most one-sided seasons in PGA Tour history. Scheffler won seven events on the Tour, including 4 signature events, the PLAYERS Championship, the Masters, and a FedEx Cup playoff event, and to add the cherry to the sundae, he claimed the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. So, Griffin was right to worry.

Really, it is no wonder that Scottie is getting compared to one of the greats of the game at just 28 years old. “We are living in a little bit of a Tiger era with Scottie. I mean, he is so dominant, and you can never put anything past him. It could be the hardest hole in golf, and he’s going to find a way to have a birdie look,” Griffin further added, explaining his predicament. In 2000, Tiger Woods won 9 events on the PGA Tour and established himself as one of the GOATs. Scottie’s 2024 season was a testament to his potential to match Tiger.

To say that no lead is safe while #1 is on the prowl is an understatement.  At the Charles Schwab Challenge this year, Scheffler was seemingly out of contention after day 2, carding just a 1 under par after two rounds of golf, barely making the cutline at even par. Griffin and Schmid held the co-lead at 11 under par, nearly 10 strokes off the World No. 1. However, day 3 showed Scheffler’s full potential. The 2025 PGA Championship winner carded 7 birdies and an eagle to finish the round with a 6 under par, climbing to T7 on the leaderboard. So it is no surprise that Griffin was looking constantly at the leaderboard to see Scheffler’s position and score. “I was fortunate not to see his name up there, but I would not have been shocked for a moment.” Griffin stated.

Not everyone is a believer, though.

Scottie Scheffler hasn’t caught up to Tiger Woods, says Peter Finch

“When Tiger came out and he was such a dominating force, there was such a bigger gap between Tiger and everyone else, physically, mentally, and technically. He was by far a different animal.” This is golf expert Peter Finch’s argument against Scottie Scheffler. Woods left the chasing field so far behind in his career. When he came onto the field, several greats were competing, like Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and many more. However, it did not take him long to surpass all of them.

For Scheffler, right now the chasing pack is right there behind him. The likes of Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy have been dominant themselves during this period. The latter especially has had a similarly successful season this year, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the PLAYERS Championship, and the Masters. Schauffele had meanwhile won two majors last year, in the midst of Scheffler’s dominant season. There is also the case of LIV golfers who are not competing on the PGA Tour in a regular capacity. With all these factors, what Scheffler will need is to produce consistency.

Do you think Scheffler can achieve a gap between himself and the rest of the pack over the coming years and establish himself as one of the GOATs of the game?