Scottie Scheffler didn’t need another pile of world ranking points to prove what is already abundantly clear: he is by far the best golfer in the world.
The 28-year-old American capped an extraordinary 2024 by emerging from a two-month hibernation to claim a six-stroke victory at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas last Sunday.
The outcome was never in doubt. It was another dominant display from the reigning Masters, Players and Olympics champion, who was last seen competing at the Presidents Cup in September.
There are some caveats, however. This victory came from a field of just 20 players and Scheffler was one of only three members of the world’s top 10 in attendance.
Compared to the eight other tournament victories he has in 2024, this is the least notable. But its impact will always be felt.
It’s clear that exceptional levels of golf magic continue to flow through the veins of the game’s supreme exponent. He clearly proved it by finishing at 25 under par to defend his title.
“He’s really not doing anything wrong,” tournament host Tiger Woods observed.
The regularity of his performances requires comparing him to the 15-time major champion. Historically, Woods is miles ahead, but the current world number one achieves feats worthy of a Tiger.
Scheffler was 293 under par in his 21 starts this year. He won nine of those tournaments – or 42.9% of them – to tie Woods and Vijay Singh for the most prolific winning seasons.
The big Texan is the first men’s player to start and end the year as world number one since Woods in 2009.
Woods gained more points in the rankings in 2000, when he completed the Tiger slam of all four majors, as well as in 2005 and 2006.
Each time, he crossed the 700-point mark and Scheffler has now become the only other player to reach that mark in a calendar year.
For context, his 2024 points total of 727 compares to 444 for Xander Schauffele, who won the Open and the US PGA Championship, and 347 for world number three and Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy .
While watching the final in the Bahamas, Woods described Scheffler’s unconventional footwork as “the contortions he gets himself into”, but could not hide his admiration for the quality and control of the ball of the champion.
“If you stand behind him and watch the ball fly, it’s very close either way,” Woods added.
“Yes, he makes a significant number of birdies, but he doesn’t make any mistakes. No doubles, no loose bogeys here and there.”
These were the qualities of the discipline of golf patented by Woods in his pomp.
Then there’s Scheffler’s work on the greens, which was his Achilles heel until he successfully switched to a mallet-style putter under the tutelage of British coach Phil Kenyon early in the season.
And now, further refinement with Scheffler adopting a “claw” grip for shorter putts with early encouraging signs. “What is this thing?” » joked the ultra-orthodox Woods when he first saw the new method last week.
“You know he can do it one way or another,” added the former world number one. “He has incredible sensations.
“You can see it in his short game and his trajectory control on the greens. If he’s consistent on the greens, he’ll finish in the top 10 every week and have a lot (of wins).”
Scheffler collected just over 30 world ranking points for his six-stroke victory over Tom Kim, cementing his place atop the world rankings.
Yes, it may seem fitting that such a dominant performance should be given due recognition in the rankings – but this was an invitational tournament with a very small field.
This does not change much to the credibility of the official ranking at a time when the separatist LIV circuit, with its 54 players, is not recognized by the official world golf ranking.
Whether LIV should receive points is a separate argument, but the fact that the hero does so seems inconsistent. By finishing second in the Bahamas, Kim moved up six places to 21st in the world.
Justin Thomas, who was third, went from 25 to 22. These are useful rises for these players, but they were not achieved by beating golfers who are fighting for their futures, as was the case – e.g. – during the International Series event in Saudi Arabia.
Joaquin Niemann beat a full field in the Asian Tour season finale last weekend and received a fraction more than 21 world ranking points, more than nine fewer than Scheffler earned beating only 19 other competitors.
Yes, the Saudi players were of a lower caliber (although Niemann had to beat former Open champion Cameron Smith in the play-offs), but there was a competitive intensity in the Middle East that was much less apparent during Woods event.
So add this factor of continued erosion of the validity of the world rankings to the list of so many things that need to be addressed in men’s football. It still remains dangerously divided since the arrival in 2022 of the LIV Golf League.
Its commissioner Greg Norman confirmed that he would soon leave his post, which is a rare certainty in a period of persistent turbulence. Perhaps the departure of the abrasive Australian offers a path to peace, who knows?
But, in an age where inevitabilities are so rare, there is a banker. Whenever the biggest names come together next year, Scheffler will remain the man to beat.
