{"id":14558,"date":"2025-07-22T03:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T03:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/14558\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T03:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T03:57:14","slug":"open-win-is-childs-play-for-scottie-scheffler-in-his-era-of-greatness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/14558\/","title":{"rendered":"Open win is child\u2019s play for Scottie Scheffler in his era of greatness"},"content":{"rendered":"

If golf does not fill the \u201cdeepest wants and desires\u201d of Scottie Scheffler\u2019s heart, it at least enabled him to fill his boots and then the Claret Jug with a celebratory tipple. This was a parade bereft of drama or uncertainty, but as an appreciation of a master of his art, and science, it was breathtakingly good. An Open and shut case, we are edging into an era of all-time greatness. <\/p>\n

Tiger Woods\u2019s modern record victory margin at the Open is eight at St Andrews in 2000. Scheffler briefly threatened that but a round of 68, a score of 17 under par and a four-shot gap to Harris English were more than enough. The only real stumble from Scheffler\u2019s camp came when young son Bennett fell while exploring the green during the presentation. It says much about Scheffler\u2019s priorities that the emotion only morphed into a victory salute and tossed cap when he saw his wife and son. <\/p>\n

Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n

Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n

Bennett\u2019s dad has become a golfing phenomenon. Since the start of last year, Scheffler has now won 13 times, including triumphs at three different majors and an Olympic Games. It took Rory McIlroy 11 attempts to complete the career grand slam after getting to the three-quarter stage. Nobody expects it to take Scheffler as long to add the US Open and become the seventh man of that celebrated club. Of only 25 majors played, he has won four, been runner-up twice and had 16 top-ten finishes. These are dizzying numbers.<\/p>\n

He started the day four shots clear of Haotong Li, with Matt Fitzpatrick another shot behind and McIlroy trying to cross a six-stroke divide. In truth, Evel Knievel had a more realistic chance of crossing Snake River Canyon in his old home-made space rocket, but at least McIlroy\u2019s parachute opened after a troubled post-Augusta period. The uneven nature of golf\u2019s calendar means he must retain his major mojo for almost ten months until his Masters defence.<\/p>\n

Credit English for chipping away, again finishing runner-up to Scheffler, as he did at the US PGA, but the world No1 was never in the remotest danger. The Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup was five adrift, followed by a resurgent Fitzpatrick, Li and Wyndham Clark. McIlroy was feted by febrile crowds, but in a land of mythical giants, fated to finish in this one\u2019s wake. Bob MacIntyre also made the top ten to underline his impressive progress this summer, but it was a solo show by the seaside.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Golf Digest harshly declared the Open \u201ca dud\u201d when Brian Harman romped home at Hoylake. It was undoubtedly a day drained of excitement, but if that was again the case here, the crowd knew they were witnessing a generational talent at the peak of his powers. Being brilliant can never be convincingly boring.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

Home favourite McIlroy had huge support all four days\u2026 but he is playing catch-up to Scheffler<\/p>\n

WARREN LITTLE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

And this week Scheffler has been far from dull, causing a stir with a media address in which he said golf was not fulfilling<\/a> and wondered why he cared so much. \u201cSometimes, I just don\u2019t understand the point,\u201d he said. That honesty was elevated by the fact Scheffler rarely says much beyond the practical, but the remarks were a reflection of his deep faith and belief in a greater purpose. He cares and suffers, but he knows this is only the important fluff of life. <\/p>\n

A rounded player with a consistent game and level mind, his bad days are average and the good ones are stellar. Ten consecutive wins from 54-hole leads shows front-running is another arrow in his quiver. And for greater historical perspective, it is worth noting that nobody has won their four first majors by at least three shots since 1909.<\/p>\n

Dominant SchefflerScottie Scheffler is the first player in modern era to win each of first four majors by three or more shots2022 Masters: won by three shots
2024 Masters: won by four shots
2025 PGA Championship: won by five shots
2025 Open: won by four shots<\/p>\n

It was not flawless. In a fairway bunker on the 8th he needed two attempts to get out. That double bogey, allied to Gotterup\u2019s charge, reduced the lead to four. The intimations of mortality welcomed down the field. Scheffler\u2019s response? A 335-yard drive, wedge and easy birdie. <\/p>\n

In the group up ahead, McIlroy was over a hill and, after failing to mount a grassy bank with his chip, far away. That double bogey left the local hero eight shots adrift. He has likened winning the Masters to climbing Everest, but when it comes to scaling mountains you would really want Scheffler as your guide.<\/p>\n

Others left with a raft of what-ifs. Bryson DeChambeau was down and almost out after an opening 78, but was 16 under for the remaining holes. It is too easy to suggest he had figured out the vagaries of links golf, though. \u201cI still have to crack the code when it\u2019s raining and windy,\u201d he said. Indeed, the weekend has been positively balmy, but Scheffler showed that he is a man for all seasons by surviving Thursday.<\/p>\n

DeChambeau\u2019s take on Scheffler? \u201cScottie\u2019s in a league of his own right now,\u201d he said. \u201cI played with him a lot in college and he was not that good so he\u2019s figured out a lot of stuff since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

He certainly has. One of the remarkable things about Scheffler is that he was pushing 26 before he won his first professional tournament. By that age, McIlroy had four majors while Jordan Spieth\u2019s purple patch came at 22. Scheffler, though, has entered into a period of superiority that we have not seen since Woods. <\/p>\n

Part of the credit for this should go to Phil Kenyon, the quiet putting guru of Southport, who has helped Scheffler in his one area of vague weakness. \u201cPhil has been tremendous for me,\u201d he said. \u201cHe is a great guy to be able to bounce stuff off and I feel like we\u2019ve made some great progress.\u201d In turn, Kenyon says teaching Scheffler is easier than dealing with 20-handicappers who think they know it all.<\/p>\n

\"Scottie<\/p>\n

In the driving seat: Scheffler rarely showed any weaknesses as he launches the ball down the fairway<\/p>\n

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BRADLEY ORMESHER<\/p>\n

After doing the same major double in 2014, McIlroy said he did not need another year like the one he had enjoyed. \u201cI need another ten,\u201d he explained before talking of \u201cMessi, Federer and LeBron\u201d and how star power drove sport. He had an 11-year wait for another. All the other Open champions since 2014 have not won another major since, but we should expect that curse to be lifted soon.<\/p>\n

As for Royal Portrush, McIlroy was right when saying it has quickly established itself as one of the top two or three Open stages, with a stunning vista and terrific sequencing of holes, and so it was fitting that this championship produced such a fine winner. <\/p>\n

\u201cPhenomenal player,\u201d Tommy Fleetwood said. \u201cIf he keeps going the way he is then we\u2019re going to look back and talk about him in the same breath as some of the all-time greats \u2014 and he\u2019s played in our generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheffler just said he thought comparisons with Woods were \u201ca bit silly\u201d and that he did his best \u201cby living in the present\u201d. It is a good policy and sensible perspective. He is the man of the dazzling moment.<\/p>\n

McIlroy: Scottie is on a different level<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy described Scottie Scheffler\u2019s run of success as \u201chistorical\u201d, conceding that the rest of the field were unable to come close to Scheffler in such sparkling form (John Westerby writes).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on the run that Scottie\u2019s been on for the past 24 to 36 months,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I had been closer to Scottie going into today but he\u2019s been on a different level all week and he\u2019s been on a different level for the past two years. What he\u2019s doing is historical. None of us could live with what he had this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheffler now needs only a US Open victory to complete the career grand slam, which McIlroy finally achieved with his victory at the Masters in April. Scheffler had spoken before the tournament of how golf was not ultimately fulfilling, that he was a \u201csicko\u201d<\/a> for working so hard at his game and that the pleasure of victory was \u201cawesome for two minutes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Scheffler was asked whether he would enjoy his Open triumph for longer than two minutes. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the greatest joys of my life to compete out here,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, having success in life, whether it be in golf, work, whatever, that\u2019s not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart. My greatest priorities are my faith and my family. Golf is third.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to live as normal of a life as possible because I feel like a normal guy. I have the same friends I had growing up. I don\u2019t think that I\u2019m anything special just because some weeks I\u2019m better at shooting a lower score than other guys are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If golf does not fill the \u201cdeepest wants and desires\u201d of Scottie Scheffler\u2019s heart, it at least enabled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-14558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}