DISCUSSION: Does Scottie Scheffler Have What It Takes to Become Golf’s GOAT?

Scottie Scheffler’s run on the PGA TOUR over the past few years has been nothing short of remarkable. While it is relatively early in his career and in his potential run of greatness, many are asking whether he has what it takes to overtake Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the debatable GOAT of Golf.

Scheffler has won over $90 million in his career, becoming just the fourth player to do so, and he’s not even 30 years old. He’s also already won four Major Championships, and is only a U.S. Open away from being the seventh player to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Nicklaus and Woods shared a common mindset, a killer mentality, if you will. Scheffler, stoic yet lighthearted, has a much different mindset, as revealed in a few press conferences both before and after his victory at The Open Championship this past weekend:

Scottie Scheffler just gave one of the best (and deepest) press conference answers ever heard. pic.twitter.com/SUIRKuLwgb

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 15, 2025

Scheffler’s ability to check out when the tournament is over might be his biggest advantage. While Woods was known as a killer, a true competitor, and someone who did not have anything on his mind other than being the best, it might have led to what was his eventual downward spiral. With his game not being quite what it could have or even should have been from 2010 onward, Woods potentially missed out on the Major record that Nicklaus still holds, as well as plenty of other things.

Scheffler does not seem to have that risk, at least not now.

But what remains is this: there are a lot of people who think Scheffler has a real chance at being the best golfer of all time. It almost seems crazy to think someone could top Tiger or Jack. No matter which way you lean between those two, there is one thing that is for certain: if Scottie Scheffler continues this dominant run for the next decade, there will be plenty of things to look at.

Even players on the TOUR are recognizing that Scheffler is in a league of his own. Rory McIlroy said he is “inevitable.” Xander Schauffele said it “sucks for us” when he sits anywhere near the top of the leaderboard.

Although it might not matter to him, it is something we are all thinking about. Scheffler has done nothing but dominate. Earlier this year, I thought that, even if Scheffler won The Masters, winning no other Major might be considered a bit of a failure. Of course, it’s hard to think of winning The Masters as an off-year, but we were all waiting for Scottie to win something other than a Major played at the same course year in and year out.

He did me two better: he won the PGA and the Open. And neither were particularly close.

The question is, who, or what, will stop Scheffler? Will it be enough at the age of 33 for him to say, “I’ve won enough. I need no more. I have my family, and that’s enough for me.” It does not seem like it’s a far-fetched idea, but it’s hard to believe he’d hang it up in four years.

Is another player going to come along and dethrone him by simply playing better golf? It doesn’t seem likely. Players like Scheffler come along only once in a great while. Not too many people thought we’d see someone as dominant as Tiger so soon. It’s here now, so there’s always the possibility that Scheffler could be outshone.

More than likely, Scottie’s falloff will only happen because of one thing: himself. He might lose the fire, he might decide he’s had enough. Both of those things are okay. It’s more than evident that he has more in his life than golf. For now, let’s enjoy the ride.

Cover Image via Fox News