Scottie Scheffler’s rise from generational to all-time great continues unabated after PGA Championship win

CHARLOTTE — Greatness does not always look the same. It is often foreign and may develop differently than you expect. It may even be questioned when the effort does not regularly bear the expected fruits. It is a relentless path for an individual to achieve, and it is one Scottie Scheffler has been marching on for three years, the groundwork laid over a lifetime of work.

Scheffler’s stride only lengthened Sunday at Quail Hollow Club where he claimed the 2025 PGA Championship, marking his third major victory and first to come away from the friendly confines of Augusta National.

Scheffler became just the third player since World War II to win 15 PGA Tour events and three major championships before the age of 29. He joins the company of two men whose names you know well, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, and it’s quite possible those three are mentioned in the same breath time and again over the next decade or so.

Just 3 years and 94 days since his first PGA Tour victory in the Arizona desert, Scheffler won his 15th, marking the third-shortest span for a player to achieve such a mark. Nicklaus and Woods each beat him by only a few months.

All three of Scheffler’s major triumphs have come by a margin of 3+ strokes making him the sixth man in history to achieve that mark and first since 1983 when Seve Ballesteros claimed his second of two green jackets. Only two men have more in their careers (yes, Jack and Tiger). Scheffler won by five on Sunday converting a 54-hole lead into a victory for the sixth consecutive time; he improved to 10 for 16 in his PGA Tour career.

Boy, if that doesn’t sound like someone else.

“Winning is a lot of fun, and I think winning as often as I can is a lot of fun,” Scheffler said with the Wanamaker Trophy by his side. “Each week you’re playing in a tournament, and you want to try to give yourself a chance to win. When I stepped on the tee on Thursday, I’m not thinking about what’s going to happen on Sunday. I’m preparing for a 72-hole event. That’s what I tell myself on the 1st tee: It’s 72 holes. That’s a lot of time. That’s a lot of holes. That’s a lot of shots. 

“I always focus on my preparation, and so when I show up on the 1st tee, I just tell myself to stay patient, remind myself that I’m prepared for this and go out and just compete.”

While similar on paper — building a profile at every level from junior golf to the major championship stage — Scheffler’s path may not be as tree-lined as those of Nicklaus and Woods. The way in which he walks comes with a unique rhythm. You’ve seen how his feet move. 

Goals aren’t voiced because he truly does not have any tangible ones to share. He does not have eyes on besting Jack’s major record or winning a certain amount of times or collecting a desired amount of money. He does not care about what his peers are doing around him, the noise it may stir and where he stands in the annals of professional golf. 

There’s golf Scottie, who focuses on process and preparation, and there’s non-golf Scottie, who focuses on faith, family and friends. This severance of spirit has served as his greatest superpower; it creates a balance inside the ropes and an identity (where it really matters) outside of them.

“I don’t focus on [big career goals],” Scheffler said. “I love coming out here and trying to compete and win golf tournaments, and that’s what I’m focused on. After this week, I’m going to go home and get ready for next week’s tournament, and the show goes on. If I show up and miss the cut next week, I’m going to have to answer questions of what went wrong and just start over again on Thursday. 

“That’s one of the things that can be frustrating about our game, and it’s also what’s great about our game. If I had a tough day today and came in with a loss, I could step back up on the tee Thursday next week and have another chance to win a tournament. It’s an endless pursuit, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s definitely one of the great joys of my life to be able to compete out here.”

Unconcerned about his counterparts and only focused on the purest form of competition, Scheffler is effectively shouting “on your left” as he zooms by them. No longer are comparisons sufficient to the active two-major club: Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele. There are fewer and fewer correlations these days to his fellow Texan, Jordan Spieth.

No longer is Scheffler a generational talent; he’s on the path to becoming an all-timer.

Scheffler has been at the top of the world for 105 straight weeks, the third-longest stretch ever behind Tiger (twice). He has seen challengers fall by the wayside, analogous to how this PGA Championship ultimately unfolded.

The three-man show of Scheffler, DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy rolled into the Queen City lauded as the only players who could realistically hoist the Wanamaker.

McIlroy never got off the bus despite being a four-time winner at Quail Hollow. DeChambeau did his usual thing. Holding the fans captive at one point Saturday, the big golfer was making a big ruckus as he pumped up the crowd with the solo lead in one hand and an extended palm in the other to satiate his rabid base.

Scheffler never noticed. Down on the other side of the pond, only a few holes behind, he struck gold. An eagle landed and sunk DeChambeau’s chances as a five-hole stretch played to the tune of 5-under-par late in the third round gave the world No. 1 the No. 1 spot on the leaderboard heading into Sunday. 

For as much as the first 49 holes of this golf tournament were about not getting too far behind — it was clear Scheffler was without his best stuff entering the weekend — those final five holes in the third round were all about getting ahead.

“It was a long week. I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career,” Scheffler said. “This was a pretty challenging week. The first two days, I did not swing it my best, and I was able to post a score, somehow. Outside of the last five holes [Saturday], that’s where I really kind of put myself ahead in the tournament. 

“I mean, the back nine [Sunday] was pretty special as well. But [Saturday] the way I finished off that round, I think it was really important for me to have a lead to play with. I played with it a little bit more than I would have liked to. I think at one point in the tournament, I was tied for the lead on the back nine, but I stepped up when we needed to, and it was a pretty special week.”

One could tell Sunday afternoon that Scheffler had not maintained the form he flashed Saturday evening. Battling a case of the lefts off the tee — without excuse despite using a backup driver — he stumbled out the blocks and let more than just one competitor back into the fray. The door was opened, and Scheffler scrambled as his overnight edge was dashed by the time he reached the back nine.

A slight change and a quick conversation is all it took. Mid-round adjustments are so underrated. Those post-round range sessions beating fundamentals into one’s brain tend to come in handy when required, and they were Sunday. Heeding the advice of his caddie, Ted Scott, Scheffler tweaked his alignment ever so slightly on the 10th tee and did not miss a shot coming in.

Jon Rahm held a share of the lead for 13 minutes and not one second longer. Scheffler immediately responded with a birdie to claim the top spot for himself, where he has stood with little objection the last three years.

“I love the pursuit of trying to figure something out,” Scheffler said. “That’s what I love about this game. I feel like you’re always battling yourself, and you’re always trying to figure things out, and you’re never going to perfect it. I can be kind of a crazy person sometimes when it comes to putting my mind to something. In golf, there’s always something you can figure out. There’s always something you can do better. It’s a great challenge, and it’s a lot of fun.”

How much longer Scheffler stays on this path will ultimately decide whether the company he now shares has merit. We have seen three-year windows make careers before — think Spieth, Jason Day and Padraig Harrington, among others — and it is only those who have staying power that remain in the conversation.

This rise feels distinct, and it looks unlike any other before. Scheffler’s game isn’t littered with prodigious length or immense flash, just a barrage of the correct shots at the correct moments — over and again.

That’s just Scottie Scheffler, and that’s just his version of greatness.