Over the past two years, the only things that have stopped Scottie Scheffler are a Louisville police officer, a fill-in caddie and a wine-glass accident while making ravioli.
That’s the list.
Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm or any of golf’s other stars are not on that short list.
Yes, Rory McIlroy, the World No. 2, won three times earlier this season, including the Players and the Masters, but that was when Scheffler was still returning from the ravioli injury. The Scottie Scheffler who just dominated the field to win the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush is a different beast.
“I do,” McIlroy, who finished T7 at his home Open, said Sunday when asked if he felt he was back to the form he enjoyed in the spring. “But I also had the three wins when Scottie wasn’t quite on his game.”
Perceptive and honest, as always.
It took Scheffler a bit to get back to form after the puncture wound in his hand. But he won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in historic fashion and dominated the PGA Championship in his next start. He then defended his title at the Memorial, and this week he rolled into Northern Ireland and suffocated the field at golf’s oldest major.
Scheffler hit just three fairways in the first round but still managed to shoot three under. He blitzed the course with a seven-under 64 on Friday to take the 36-hole lead and then stretched his lead to four with a bogey-free 67 on Saturday.
When Scheffler arrived at the Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush on Sunday morning, his fourth major championship and third leg of the career Grand Slam was fait accompli. McIlroy was six shots back. Matthew Fitzpatrick, who watched Scheffler calmly dissect the course on Saturday, was five back. Haotong Li was the closest competitor to Scheffler, but his chances felt less than slim. Scheffler entered the day having converted his last nine 54-hole leads. If he was going to lose, it would take a herculean effort from one of the chasers and he would have to help them.
Instead, Scheffler hit his approach shot on the first to a foot for birdie. He made birdies at Nos. 3 and 4 and officially took the wind out of the hopeful chasers’ sails.
Xander Schauffele, the World No. 3 who won two majors last year, shot three under on Sunday to finish at 10 under in a tie for seventh. He felt it. Just as the feeling of inevitability swept through Quail Hollow Club at the PGA Championship when Scheffler romped to a six-shot win, it also blanketed Northern Ireland.
“I don’t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here’s Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,” Schauffele said. “You can’t even say he’s on a run. He’s just been killing it for over two years now. He’s a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us.”
Scheffler made an uncharacteristic double bogey on the par-4 eighth but birdied 9 and 12 to get back to 17 under before putting it in cruise control down the stretch.
Harris English, who finished second to Scheffler at Quail Hollow, shot five under on Sunday to grab his second major runner-up of the season. That’s a nice consolation prize, but English, who is projected to rise to No. 8 in the world, understands how vast the gulf is between Scheffler and the rest of golf.
At this point, it’s hard to fathom how it can be closed without Scheffler coming back to the pack.
“It’s pretty incredible,” English said of Scheffler. “Just how good of a frontrunner he is. He’s improved his putting. There’s no stat that he’s bad in. It’s like, how do you beat this guy? But he works so hard, and I see him in the gym all the time, see him practicing. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen, and to have No. 1 in the world working that hard, it just makes it that much harder to catch him.”
Fitzpatrick played with Scheffler on Saturday. He started the day one shot behind the World No. 1 and was five behind when the sun faded from the Northern Ireland sky. Scheffler was relentless with his ball striking, and when he did make the rare mistake, his putter bailed him out. Early last season, the putter was Scheffler’s Achilles heel. He switched to a mallet and started working with famed putting coach Phil Kenyon, and the rest is history.
Fitzpatrick, who also works with Kenyon, joked he was annoyed that the coach helped shore up the only weak link in Scheffler’s game.
“It’s f—ing annoying,” Fitzpatrick said while laughing on Sunday when Kenyon’s work with Scheffler was brought up. “So annoying.
“It was his weakness. He’s brilliant. Can’t knock his putting. He just looks good with the putter all of a sudden. Well, not all of a sudden. That’s very unfair. He obviously put in a ton of work for it, and I know Phil has obviously worked really hard with him as well. Even before he worked with Phil, I found it hilarious that he was winning tournaments — not only just, but one, two, it was a bit close, missed a few putts, let a few guys in, and now you fix his putting, it’s like, every week how many do you want me to win by this week.”
Fitzpatrick’s game was in the dumps a few months ago, but some work with coach Mark Blackburn has turned his approach game around. Top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship have followed. The 29-year-old Fitzpatrick, a major champion in his own right, feels like his world-class game is rounding back into form.
And yet, he knows he’s miles away from the guy setting the bar — the guy who just steamrolled golf’s best again in a major championship.
“I think Scottie Scheffler is a different class, obviously,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s literally a full shot probably better than the next best player in the world, let alone myself, who’s not the second best player in the world.”
Added Rahm: “Very few players have been able to do what he’s done. He’s won three majors in three years. Won nine times last season, and he keeps going on. He’s doing what everybody wants to do.”
At Quail Hollow, those chasing Scheffler described his “force of magnitude” as something that reverberates throughout the property when he’s on the leaderboard. He’s immune to leaderboard gravity because he rarely makes mistakes, and when he does, he very quickly bounces back and erases them. When Scheffler’s name rises up the leaderboard, everyone feels it. They know the immense challenge that lies ahead, and as his lead stretches, a feeling of resignation starts to creep in.
As the world’s best finished up Sunday, what has been evident for two years became crystal clear: There’s Scottie Scheffler and everyone else.
“None of us could hang with Scottie this week,” McIlroy said. “He’s an incredible player. He’s been dominant this week. Honestly, he’s been dominant for the last couple years. He is the bar that we’re all trying to get to. In a historical context, you could argue that there’s only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run, the one that Scottie’s been on here for the last 24 to 36 months. Incredibly impressive.
“He’s been absolutely amazing over these past two to three years. As I said, all you can do is tip your cap and watch in admiration.”
How do you beat and eventually eclipse someone whose very shadow sucks the oxygen out of a tournament? That’s what everyone not named Scottie Scheffler is leaving Portrush wondering.
