I’ve been following golf pretty closely for years now, and what I find remarkable about Scottie Scheffler’s career is how quickly he skyrocketed to the top. It feels like all of his big wins and his rise to World No. 1 happened in the span of just two years or so. I honestly don’t even remember him being talked about much in his early 20s.
He turned pro in 2018, but I don’t recall hearing his name much back then. Did he just find something that clicked out of nowhere? I mean, the guy already has a win total that some pros would be thrilled to have over an entire career, and he did it so fast.
Did anyone else notice this about his career trajectory? Was it a change in his technique, coaching, or just everything coming together at the right time?
All I really remember from 2020-2021 is the buzz around the presidential election and the whole Covid situation. Pretty much everything else seemed to go unnoticed.
He switched putters and started putting much better. Last year, his putting held him back from winning more. He’s only been playing on the tour for 5 years, and 95% of PGA Tour players won’t win 4-5 times in their entire careers.
He technically turned pro in 2018, but only played three pro events that year, so his first real season was in 2019. That’s when he won two Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) events and earned his PGA Tour card for 2020.
His 2020 season was incredible for a rookie, especially since he had to adjust to PGA Tour courses, events, and deal with the two-month pause due to COVID.
In my opinion, the fact that he didn’t win in 2021 is even more extraordinary, but it seemed clear that once he got that first win, he wouldn’t stop.
I’m an above-average golf enthusiast, and I hadn’t even heard of the guy until the 2021 Ryder Cup. I was so confused when Scheffler was matched up against Jon Rahm, who was dominating at the time. But then, this seemingly random guy smoked Rahm in singles. After that, it felt like I was hearing Scheffler’s name every Sunday—it was like that weekend was his big breakout.
You see flashes of brilliance here and there (like Jake Knapp this year), but Scheffler just went berserk.
He’s basically won at every level he’s played. It might feel like he burst onto the scene and started contending and winning quickly, but it’s really just a continuation of what he’s always done. He was already used to winning.
Scottie hired Ted Scott as his caddie and immediately started winning. But even before his first tournament win, he was already ranked in the top 15 in the OWGR, so it wasn’t really a shock. His laid-back personality, though, kept him under the radar for a while. In fact, it wasn’t until the incident at the PGA this year that he started to shake off his “boring” image.
