Scheffler separates himself thanks to space between the ears

Rory McIlroy seemed unsure how to frame his post-career Grand Slam goals last week without unnecessarily burdening himself with tangible numbers.

Yes, he wants to become the most successful European of the modern era, which means winning two more majors to pass Nick Faldo's haul of six.
Even then, nothing will top what he did at the Masters.

But after seeing Scottie Scheffler extend his lead at the top of the world rankings to a massive 5.6-point average, outstripping the Texas-based star (seven years his junior) as the game's undisputed number one player looks like an even loftier goal.

But for the Christmas Day ravioli preparation accident and the hand injury that derailed Scheffler's early season schedule, we might now be talking about a calendar Scheffler Slam.

McIlroy showed at Augusta that working harder than ever on the mental game can make all the difference.

But after an indifferent week at Quail Hollow, where Scheffler won without having to go to his A game for all 72 holes, the Holywood star and Offaly's Shane Lowry will have taken note of the new PGA champion's unflappable cool on Sunday as they prepare for next month's US Open.

"I mean, he stripes it," Ted Scott said, explaining what makes caddying for Scheffler the best job in the game.

"Obviously, it's pretty amazing. But, you know, the hardest thing is a lot of expectations. This game is a lot more about the mind than it is about anything else.

"And so you can be hitting it great, and that doesn't mean anything. So I'd say the greatest gift that he has is his mental thought process and his ability to do what he did today, to not have his game, but to hang in there and just stay tough, stay resilient, and then all of a sudden, you find a little something, start hitting it good, and now you're winning by a lot."

Having scaled the mountaintop at Augusta National, McIlroy will continue to work on his mental game skills, as will Lowry, whose tenure as world number ten lasted exactly one week after his well-chronicled Charlotte frustrations led him to missing the cut and slipping back to 13th yesterday.

Scheffler is clearly the best driver of the ball in terms of accuracy and length and the best iron player in the game since Tiger Woods.

But he also has that X-factor that separates the good players from the great — that hatred of losing and the ability to combine rare stretches of utter brilliance with hole after hole of incessant grind.

"The first two days, I did not swing it my best, and I was able to post a score somehow," Scheffler said. "Outside of the last five holes yesterday [five-under for the last five], that's where I really kind of put myself ahead in the tournament. I mean, the back nine today was pretty special as well."

With three majors on his CV, the debate has inevitably shifted to speculating how many Scheffler can win.

The bookies have been emailing already — "Scheffler 18/1 to complete career Grand Slam in 2025", one tells me — but the man himself insists his next goal is to compete to win this week's Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, where Seamus Power also plays.

"It's an endless pursuit, and it's a lot of fun," he said. "It's definitely one of the great joys of my life to be able to compete out here."

His other joy, worringly for the rest, is working on his game.

"When I think about the game of golf, my favourite thing to do in golf is probably just -- when I can be by myself and I can just practice, it's one of the most fun things for me," he said.

"It's so peaceful, and I love the pursuit of trying to figure something out. That's what I love about this game… I can be kind of a crazy person sometimes when it comes to putting my mind to something."

Reacting well to adversity adversity is the mark of a champion and while

Scheffler was one of the players forced to change driver last week after the USGA's random testing of a third of the field, he seemed unfazed by having to give up a club he'd used to win eight times last year.

Suspecting it was on the limit after that much wear and tear, he'd prepped a backup driver the previous week.

"We were really prepared," he said. "So it wasn't that big of a deal."

Having the stomach for battle and the tools to cope is what makes players like McIlroy, Lowry and Scheffler such fun to watch.

"When you step out on the first tee, it's pretty dang cool," Scheffler said.

"There's definitely stress. It's definitely challenging, but at the same time, I mean, it's a lot of fun."

Roll on Oakmont and more fun times at the US Open.