Ever since Tiger Woods took the golf world by storm, the sport has not been the same. There have been others in the past who fundamentally changed how the game is perceived and played, but no one has completely overhauled golf’s reputation like Woods. People still ask, will we ever see someone like him again? Some people say Scottie Scheffler could take up the mantle. Others disagree.
Watch What’s Trending Now!Game Recap: Mystics vs. Mercury (9/5/24)closevolume_off-01:53sdclosed_captionsfullscreen
When asked on an edition of Fairways of Life podcast, Billy Horschel gave a very interesting answer to Matt Adams asking whether he would take the over or under on whether Scottie Scheffler can replicate the number of wins he’s had this year in the next year, which also gave rise to comparisons with Tiger Woods as he was the last person to achieve that feat. Horschel said, “I think it’s very difficult. It’s nothing against Scottie and I believe he’s super talented, but the talent level that Tiger had and just the dedication and sacrifice that he gave for 15, 20-plus years, there has to be something very similar.”
USA Today via Reuters
He went on to talk about how Scheffler has also just become a father and that he’s a good father already. Tiger Woods’ first 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, Sam Woods, came much later in his career in 2007, 11 years after he joined the PGA Tour and had several years of dominance in the sport.
Woods was also an elite athlete who put his body on the line for success in golf. His swing was a powerful rotation of the spine, hips, back, and shoulders, which has had a lasting impact on his body. Despite this, he constantly bettered his swing and technique to get more shot variations and distances out of himself. This brings us to the question of what Scottie Scheffler needs to achieve to challenge Tiger Woods for the throne.
What would it take for Scottie Scheffler to equal Tiger Woods?
Tiger Woods has 82 PGA Tour wins behind only Sam Snead, 199 top ten finishes, has won 15 majors, second behind only Jack Nicklaus, and is one of only five in the history of golf to win all five majors. His best back-to-back years were 1999 and 2000, where he won 8 trophies in ’99 and 9 trophies in 2000. Then, in 2006, he won 8 PGA Tours and in 2007 won 7.
He has also had a lasting impact on the sport. Because of his domination in the late ’90s and 2000s, the sport attracted a much larger audience than it used to be . He also compelled golfers to become serious athletes as he was. He could drive the ball much longer than anyone, so courses became easy for him. This changed with the Tiger-proofing era, which saw golf course designs become larger and more technical in order to pose a challenge to Woods.
Scottie Scheffler would have to do all this by the end of his career to be counted as equal to Tiger Woods. Currently, the challenge for him is to equal or better the seven wins he has this year in the next.
