Scottie Scheffler committed during the offseason to improving his physical strength in preparation for the upcoming season. It looks like he was feeling burnt out at the end of the 2025 campaign, during which he won six times, including two majors: the PGA Championship and the Open Championship.
It seems like the only thing running out is the path to his door with the delivery of another Jack Nicklaus trophy.
Advertisement
“The main part of it is just getting my strength back to where it was in 2024 and then making sure my body feels good so I can perform throughout the season and not have to struggle in certain events, maybe if my body doesn’t feel 100 percent,” Scheffler said Monday after being announced as the PGA Tour Player of the Year for the fourth year in a row. “So I’m using this time in the offseason where I’m not playing as much golf to eliminate some inflammation and get a good recovery here at home, just to be ready to go out and play another long season.”
Scheffler, 29, was voted Player of the Year by his peers, beating Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood and three-time winner Ben Griffin. Scheffler joins Tiger Woods as the only player to win the award four or more times in a row. Woods won it five times in a row between 1999 and 2003.
South African Aldrich Potgieter won the Arnold Palmer Award as Rookie of the Year after a season that included a win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic while being the only rookie to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Slowed early in the year by a hand injury Scheffler suffered over the Christmas break when he pierced his palm with a broken wine glass, he did not win his first event of the season until the Byron Nelson CJ Cup in May in his hometown of Dallas. Then his season took off.
Advertisement
“I definitely didn’t start out the way I planned. I missed the first two weeks of the season, but I did a good job bouncing back,” Scheffler said. “I started playing really good golf in May, had this really good start at the Byron here in Dallas, and then started playing really good golf after that.”
Nice indeed.
At the Byron Nelson, Scheffler matched the low 72-hole score on tour (since 1983) with his total of 31-under 253. Two weeks later, he captured his third career major title at the PGA Championship, winning by five at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. Two weeks later, he successfully defended his title at the Memorial Tournament, joining Woods as the only players to achieve consecutive victories at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Then came the third career Grand Slam milestone when he won the Open at Royal Portrush. The US Open is now the only major tournament that Scheffler has not won.
He finished the year with 19 career victories.
Advertisement
In 20 starts, Scheffler never finished outside the top 25 while posting a season-high 17 top-10s. He didn’t miss a beat. His statistical performances included tour-leading numbers in scoring average (68.131 adjusted and 67.99 actual) and strokes gained/total at 2.743.
But now the undisputed world number 1 wants to be fitter and stronger for the 2026 season. This does not bode well for the competition.
“When I talk about strength, it’s basically getting my body back to where it was in 2024. So it’s something that would be basically imperceptible to anyone but myself, based on how I feel,” he said. “Then using the time that I have here at home to get my body in a good place where I could go out and compete another 20, 22 weeks on tour because the season now is more of a sprint. You don’t really have time throughout the year to do tons of strength exercises or anything like that. Basically, I just wanted to maximize this offseason in terms of getting my body in a good place where I could go out and compete and have a good energy, having a good mind and just generally being a little healthier in a sense.
Scheffler said he takes great pride in his consistency from week to week, being in contention and posting high results if he doesn’t win. He credits the mindset that changed for him a few years ago that started this series of Jack Nicklaus Awards.
Advertisement
“When you look at the last few years, I was able to get a big lead through 54 holes and then maintain those leads as well. I felt like early in my career I wasn’t bringing the right intensity to the early rounds of the tournament,” he explained. “It almost felt like when the lights came on on the weekend I was better than I was earlier in the week when the stakes were almost lower. A lot of it was trying to bring the same intensity to every round and every shot, which is a lot easier said than done.”
Yet he succeeds.
