Relentless Scheffler joins Nicklaus and Woods as he races to 20th PGA Tour win at American Express
CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 18: Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during the final round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on Sunday, May 18, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
If Rory McIlroy needed any motivation to knock off the rust in his game he only had to watch Scottie Scheffler make more history en route to victory in The American Express last night.
The world number one (29) might have double bogeyed the “island” green 17th at the Stadium Course at PGA West, but he still fired a six-under 66 to win by four shots on 27 under par and become just the third player to win 20 PGA Tour events - and four majors or more — before the age of 30.
The others are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, which puts into perspective the generational talent that Scheffler has become since he claimed his first PGA Tour victory less than four years ago.
Ominously, Scheffler spent no time clapping himself on the back and simply started planning for his next chance to win at the WM Phoenix Open in two weeks.
“I mean, any time you can get mentioned with those guys, it means you're doing some stuff right,” Scheffler said.
“At the end of the day, it's not something that will occupy many of my thoughts day-to-day.
“When I was thinking about getting ready for this week, I was just trying to prepare and do the best that I could.
“Hopefully, we'll get out of here tonight and get ready to gear up again, get some rest, and then get ready to kind of do it all over again in a couple of weeks.
“I don't spend too much time thinking about the milestones or anything like that.”
After hoisting trophies four times in 2022, including the Masters, he won twice in 2023, seven times in 2024 (another Masters) and six times last year (PGA and The Open).
As a result, he now has 11 more wins than anyone else in the same span.
McIlroy, for example, has won “just” nine times since Scheffler broke through with that playoff win over Patrick Cantlay in Phoenix, which got him into the winner’s circle for the first time.
Some Scheffler facts via PGATour.com
Becomes the 40th player to reach 20 wins on the PGA TOUR and moves to T36 on the all-time wins list
First player to reach 20 wins since Rory McIlroy (earned 20th win at the 2021 CJ CUP in South Carolina)
First player since Tiger Woods to earn 20 PGA TOUR wins under the age of 30; Woods’ 20th win came at the 2000 U.S. Open/24 years, 5 months, 19 days
Marks the second-fewest starts (151 starts) to reach 20 wins, only behind Tiger Woods (95 starts)
By reaching 20 wins on the PGA TOUR, Scheffler is eligible to be a Life Member; the Life Member category is below Tournament Winners on the Priority Ranking, so Scheffler would not compete out of the Life Member category for at least the next five years
Span between Scheffler’s first win (2022 WM Phoenix Open) and 20th win: 1,442 days; second fastest to reach 20 wins after claiming first (Tiger Woods/1,351 days)
Last season was memorable for the fact that Scheffler was out of sorts with his game until May, having suffered a hand injury at Thanksgiving that prevented him from teeing it up until early February.
This season, he appears ready to hit top gear earlier than ever and after winning with ease in his first start of 2026, he has 20 wins, ten seconds and 12 thirds in just 151 career starts.
If he could win six times last year after an injury hit off-season, how good can he be this year?
“You look at last year, it is different just because I had made what I felt was so much progress in the offseason,” Scheffler said.
“And then to have that basically taken away by four to six weeks of inactivity from golf, that has an effect.”
A shot behind Si Woo Kim overnight, tied for second with 18-year-old Blades Brown, he won by four shots from Ryan Gerard and former world number one Jason Day, who was close to Woods and recognises brilliance when he sees it.
“I mean, just the patience and not only the belief that he has in his game, but the ability to be able to shake off all the distractions around him,” Day said when asked what stands out most about Scheffler.
“To be able to get on to the golf course and play the way he does. Very unorthodox in the way that he swings the club, and it's not like we're looking at Tiger, but he's putting up Tiger-ish numbers, even though Tiger was, you know, obviously the GOAT.
“But every time he tees it up, he's right around the lead. And that is one of the most difficult things to do, to be always stay hungry to the point of not being satisfied. Because it's very easy to get satisfied out here.
“You win a couple of times, you're like, Well, I'm kind of relaxed, and I can coast for a little bit. And it seems like he never wants to relax.
“He always does his work, needs to do whatever he needs to do to be able to prepare, and he's always around the lead.
"And that's a very, very difficult thing to do with how much distractions there can be, especially at No. 1.”
Seamus Power closed with a level par 72 to finish joint 63rd on 13-under and heads to this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines ranked 60th in the FedEx Cup standings.
