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Scottie Scheffler is truly remarkable. He is not just winning golf tournaments; but how he handles victory is something very uncommon. During the 153rd Open Championship, Scheffler made it clear to the world that golf is not his priority. In fact, he doesn't even take a ton of joy in dominating the sport like anyone else would.
Yet, the World No. 1 has distanced himself from every golfer alive.
On Sunday, Scheffler won The Open and the fourth major of his career. He did so, removing the drama from fans during the final round at a major. The Ridgewood, New Jersey native entered his last 18 holes with a four-shot lead and birdied three of his first five to build an insurmountable lead. He ultimately claimed a four-stroke victory over Harris English with a final round 3-under 68.
Scheffler has now won three of the four legs to a career grand slam. The only missing title is the U.S. Open. Coincidentally, our national open will be held at Shinnecock next year, during his birthday. What a birthday that would be if he were to claim the grand slam.
It was only three months ago that Rory McIlroy joined that illustrious club. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, and McIlroy are the only players to win the Masters, PGA Championship, Open Championship, and U.S. Open.
Scheffler entered 2025 a two-time Masters champion, but a ways from joining that list. After winning two more legs this year, he stands on the precipice of history.
That got us thinking. At just 29 years old, where does Scheffler's start to his major career stack up against some of the legends of the game?
Scheffler Keeping Pace with Legends
Scottie Scheffler has now played in 25 career major tournaments. It is somewhat astonishing how his success is nearly identical to McIlroy's thus far. The Northern Irishman also won his fourth major in his 25th attempt. But it would take him more than a decade to claim his fifth and complete the slam.
I think nearly everyone would be shocked if it took Scheffler as long. As McIlroy said during The Open, Scheffler is “inevitable.”
We obviously cannot compare complete resumes because Scheffler's is incomplete. But how does he truly stack up against Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus to this point?
It was well publicized during the final round of the Open Championship that there were exactly 1,197 days between both Woods' and Scheffler's first and fourth major titles. But that is far from the only parallel.
As Golf Digest's Jamie Kennedy points out, he is hanging with the legends.
First 25 major starts.
Scottie is hanging with the greats…. pic.twitter.com/lfehFJ6Cac
— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) July 21, 2025
Woods and Arnold Palmer had six majors under their belt through 25 starts. Nicklaus had five. Then comes Scheffler and McIlroy with four.
Additionally, Scheffler is tied with Nicklaus for the most top 10s during that span and has one fewer top 25. He is tied with Woods for the fourth most top 5s and trails only Nicklaus, Palmer, and Woods for the most top 3s.
If we look even more granular, Scheffler still stacks up favorably.
Tiger Woods won seven majors by at least three strokes. That is the most ever since the Masters first began in 1934. Nicklaus did so six times. Next on that list is Scheffler with four, according to The Athletic's golf statistician Justin Ray. So, it's not just that he is winning on the biggest stage, but he basically has run away with all four of the majors that he has won.
But he's far from done.
Scheffler's Resume Beyond the Majors
It would be one thing if Scottie Scheffler was racking up major titles, but not equally dominant on the PGA Tour. But that is far from the case.
Last year, Scheffler won nearly every Signature Event that was not a major; namely the Arnold Palmer, the PLAYERS, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial, the Travelers Championship and the TOUR Championship. That would be a full, successful career for almost any golfer. He did that in the season where Scheffler also won his second Green Jacket.
He is back at it again this year, with a historic win at the Byron Nelson, went back-to-back at the Memorial, and added on his two majors.
It is flat out ridiculous what this man is doing on the golf course. He turned pro in 2020. At 29, he has four majors, two Masters titles, two PLAYERS titles, two Memorial wins, two Arnold Palmer victories, two at the PGA Tour fan favorite WM Phoenix Open, and we are looking at another TOUR Championship next month.
Now just imagine if he lived and died by the sport. But that is not who Scottie Scheffler is. If he doesn't crack double digit major titles, the only logical reason might be because he walked away far too early.
