Tiger Woods comparisons generally are a really good thing.
Scottie Scheffler recently became one of the seven multiple-time Players champions, following in the footsteps of Woods. This achievement brought to light a somewhat disheartening statistic.
The current top-ranked player in the world has been performing exceptionally well over the last 25 months. Scheffler secured his first PGA Tour victory in February 2022 at the WM Phoenix Open and has maintained a high level of play ever since.
He achieved victory three more times within the following three months of that season, which included his inaugural major title at the Masters. In 2023, he triumphed in Scottsdale once again before securing the Players Championship a month later. Following that, Scheffler experienced a 52-week winless period (gasp!), but that did not hinder him from solidifying his position at the pinnacle of the sport.
Although Scheffler did not claim victory in an official event between March 2023 and March 2024, he consistently achieved top-10 finishes at an astonishing rate. Throughout the entire 2022-23 PGA Tour season, he only finished outside the top 12 on three occasions. And what happened in his next appearance after the Tour Championship, at the unofficial Hero World Challenge? He emerged as the victor.
Over the last fortnight, the 27-year-old has once again emerged victorious in official competitions, triumphing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and successfully defending his title at TPC Sawgrass, making him the first person to achieve this remarkable feat.
As per the analytics site, DataGolf, Scheffler’s current peak of +2.82 in the DG Index is the fourth highest ever recorded, trailing only Woods in 2000, Vijay Singh in 2004, and David Duval in 1999. Despite losing strokes on the green until recently, he has managed to sustain and even improve upon this impressive score.
Scheffler humorously shared a story on Sunday night at TPC Sawgrass about a fan comparing him to Woods. He mentioned an incident at Riviera where a spectator shouted, “Congrats on being No. 1 Scottie. Eleven more years to go.” This anecdote highlights the high expectations and pressure that come with being compared to a golf legend like Woods.
"Anytime you can be compared to Tiger, I think is really special." pic.twitter.com/2O4W0P0sSO
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 18, 2024
He reiterated, “There are still eleven years remaining.”
The spectator at the recent Genesis Invitational was discussing Woods’ remarkable achievement of spending 683 weeks as the top-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, which is over twice as long as the next competitor. Woods also held the World No. 1 position for two separate periods of 281 and 264 weeks, once again surpassing the next closest player by a significant margin.
In the past two years, Scheffler has been dominating the Official World Golf Ranking, holding the top spot for an impressive 44 consecutive weeks and a total of 79 weeks throughout his career. However, to surpass Woods, he would need to maintain his position for another 604 weeks, which is equivalent to approximately 11 years and seven and a half months.
On a positive note, Scheffler recently secured his eighth career victory, bringing him closer to Woods’ record of 84 wins on the PGA Tour. Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Scheffler’s lone major title falls short by 14 compared to Woods’ remarkable achievement.
It’s always an honor to be compared to Tiger, but he truly stands out in our game. I’ve had some success, but I still have a long way to go to catch up to his achievements. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and stay focused on my goals. Tiger has been an inspiration to all of us, and we’re grateful to have him in our sport.
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