It was the first playoff hole at the Travelers Championship. Scottie Scheffler was circling his ball 11 feet from the hole on the 18th green for a birdie. However, he failed to card the same but instead, he guided the ball for a par, clinching another victory of the season. Little did the pro know that he would be equaling one of Tiger Woods’s records with that par-putt all the while being close to breaking the 48-year-old’s record.
A tweet was shared by the official X handle of the PGA Tour mentioning how Scheffler managed to join the “elite company.” The post pointed out how he is the first player since Woods to emerge victorious a total of six times in a single season, the latter of whom had done it last in 2009.
Scheffler kicked off his wins with a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational which saw him scoring a 15-under. He followed it with a triumph at the PLAYERS Championship, The Masters, RBC Heritage, The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, and the recently ended Travelers Championship. By doing so, he joined the likes of Woods and Nick Price in winning six times during a season, the latter of whom did it back in 1994.
Scheffler would surely be looking to best the 82-time PGA Tour champ in the future with three more wins this season. The latter had also garnered 7 triumphs in a single year in 2007 just like Tom Watson did back in 1980. Moreover, he also procured 8 victories a year back in 1999 and 2006 while topping the table with the most number of victories in a season alongside Vijay Singh at 9. Woods had done so in 2000 as opposed to Singh, who raked in the wins four years later, in 2004. The fans, meanwhile, were very amused by the 2024 Masters champ after being compared to the legend of the game.
The current No. 1 also boasts a points average of more than 16 (16.2879 before the Travelers win) with a total of 815.28559 points (after the Travelers win). This makes the two-time major champ the only pro after Tiger Woods to achieve the same after OWGR adopted the two-year rolling system in 1996. A fan consequently commented, “He’s the best player since Tiger.”
Nelly Korda has been doing a similar thing as Scheffler while he was dominating the PGA Tour. The 25-year-old, despite a sub-par start at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, emerged triumphant six times. Out of the same, she won five of them consecutively helping her clinch the top spot on the Rolex Ranking. A follower couldn’t help but point out the same as they responded, “First male player. Nelly Korda did it this year.”
The PGA Tour has finished a total of 28 events on its 2024 calendar including three major championships. The men’s circuit has 12 more tournaments remaining counting the upcoming Open Championship, and the FedEx playoffs, the latter of which is set to take place in August. Scheffler, during the post-round presser, also divulged his plans for the future as he said, “I’m playing The Open, the Olympics, and then the last three playoff events, and then I think I should be on the Presidents Cup team, and after that, I’ll take a break.” With such a packed schedule in tow, a couple of his fans came forward to mention the same, “He’s not done,” and “With two full months to go.”
The PIF officials met with the PGA Tour’s Transaction Subcommittee which included the likes of Rory McIlroy, Woods, and Adam Scott, on June 7. The talks did not succeed in closing the framework agreement. The PGA Tour, as a result, sent a memo to its members reiterating the need for more time to make the merger a reality. A fan, meanwhile, alluded to the same while commenting, “Sadly his competition isn’t the same. Records mean nothing until the PGA and LIV work something out.”
The community can only wait and watch as the 2024 Masters champ hopes to overcome the wall that is Tiger Woods this season.
