Follow us on Google Discover Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are two of the greatest golfers on the planet.
Scheffler has 22 PGA Tour wins to his name since February 2022, including four major championships, while McIlroy has won 30 times on the PGA Tour, including six majors.
The Northern Irishman is one of only six men ever to have completed the career Grand Slam, while the 30-year-old American is a US Open trophy short of joining him.
There is no doubt that when they are both on their very best form, nobody in the game today is good enough to compete with either Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy.
Is the Internet Invitational now better to watch than the PGA Tour?
Now imagine that neither of them made it as professional golfers, but rather as soccer players.
What kind of player would they be? Jon Rahm was asked that exact question, and he put some real thought into his answer.
The soccer players Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy would be if they weren’t golfers
During an interview with Ten Golf, Rahm was asked what soccer player Scheffler would be if he wasn’t a golfer.
“Right, you have to think of someone who, I don’t know, when they shoot and when they run, does something strange, right? Because of how he moves,“ Rahm said.
“I would say because of the control he has over the game. You have to go with someone who has exactly that. Someone who has the ability to see the game and control it, I would put him as like a Xavi, or an Iniesta.“
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
The interview then asked Rahm whether Scheffler is more like a Xavi or Iniesta than he is a Rodri or Busquets.
“Yes, because he has a creativity that is quite underrated with his hands. And I think Xavi had a touch for making passes, just like Iniesta, perhaps to an even higher level.“
Rahm was then asked which soccer player McIlroy would be.
“What soccer player can we say looks good at everything, who is faster than the rest? I’m giving him a lot of praise, right? But that’s just how it is,“ the Spaniard replied.
“Someone who can do a bit of everything. Someone who is powerful. Well, it would almost be. If I have to go with today’s players, almost a Haaland, or an Mbappe. I’d say more Haaland.“
Rahm likened McIlroy to Haaland due to his raw speed and power, and suggested that Scheffler would be more like Spanish legends Xavi or an Iniesta due to the control he possesses.
And the Spaniard has absolutely nailed it with those comparisons in my opinion.
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