Scheffler’s recent dominance reminds Els of prime Tiger
Ernie Els watched Scottie Scheffler claim his third major on Sunday and was reminded of Tiger Woods’ dominance in his prime.
The South African, who joins Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke at the scene of his 1997 US Open win for this week's US Senior PGA Championship, sees many similarities between the recently crowned PGA champion and 15-time major winner Woods.
"No, it was a tough one," Els said of suffering at the hands of Woods. "And I see the similarities now with Scheffler.
“Seems like he plays his best golf under the most extreme pressure, and that's a hallmark of a champion.
"There's more confidence that he's getting by winning these tournaments. It's only going to get tougher for the group following to try and get into that kind of mindset that he's in.
"I think Tiger brought that intensity. You had your work cut out for you.
"I won four majors in his era, and there was a lot of other guys that won majors in that era, but we never got to the six, seven, eight.
"Mickelson did eventually; he got to six majors. But he had a hold on us.
"You knew you were in for a tough tournament when he was around, and I think that's happening now with Scheffler."
Els claimed his second US Open in four years at Congressional Country Club in 1997, the year Woods won his first major by a record 12 strokes at the Masters.
"If I saw his name on the leaderboard, obviously he's playing well, and he's not going to go away," said Els, who won that US Open but only two Opens after Woods emerged on the scene.
"So you knew you were in for a long haul.
"What did he win, 15 majors? And the rest of us kind of were there for the scraps kind of a thing.
"I won four, Mickelson six, Vijay three, Padraig won three, Retief won two. So there was a good supporting cast, very talented players, won our fair share.
"But with him around, I think it could have cost each of us at least two or three kind of a thing. Almost like a Nicklaus thing, I guess."
Els broke his senior major duck last year, but while Harrington has a US Senior Open among his 41 professional wins, he admits he'll be nervous this week if he gets into contention.
"Hopefully I feel nervous here this week on Sunday because that means you're there or thereabouts," Harrington said.
"It's not possible in my world to win tournaments without feeling nervous, so I want to be nervous for sure."
Winning breeds confidence and following his wins in back-to-back starts at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the PGA Championship, Scheffler is aiming to make it three in a row in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial where he has finished second, tied third and tied second in his last three appearances.
It's also a big week for Seamus Power, who lies 103rd in the FedEx Cup standings following his missed cut in the PGA and needs some big weeks to make the top 100 who keep their cards.
Conor Purcell is also seeking momentum in the DP World Tour's Soudal Open at Rinkven International in Antwerp, while Leona Maguire plays the LPGA's MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba looking for positive feeling ahead of next week's US Women's Open at Erin Hills.
On the Ladies European Tour, rookies Anna Foster, Annabel Wilson and Canice Screene join Lauren Walsh in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort with confidence following strong performances in the Netherlands last week.
Meanwhile, Liam Nolan spearheads a seven-strong Irish contingent alongside Mark Power, Max Kennedy, Alex Maguire, Dermot McElroy, Jack Madden and Daniel Mulligan at the Danish Golf Challenge in Bogense.
