Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 golfer, not yet Tiger Woods territory | Golf Central | Golf Channel

Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 golfer, not yet Tiger Woods territory | Golf Central | Golf Channel

Golf Central on YouTube is brought to you by the new elite family of woods and irons from Callaway. Tom Abbott was part of our coverage team over at Port Rush this past week. Tom, let’s start with the hometown favorite, Rory Maroy. The crowd favorite for sure. We know what it looked like on TV. What was it like in person with what you saw? Oh, George, it was incredible. I mean, I think the fact that there was so much passion for the way that Rory Mroy was going to play that week, it was interesting in his comments coming into the championship, saying, you know, maybe wasn’t quite ready for exactly the reception that he was going to receive back in 2019, so he knew what it was going to be like, but preparing himself, I think, uh, for that opening T-shot and getting through the first couple of rounds and into the weekend, um, I I think he he was really relishing that experience. He said he had uh the open circled on his calendar maybe more than any other event that he was going to play in 2025. I think there were obviously some disappointment that he wasn’t able to challenge Scotty Sheffer there all the way to the end. But being inside the ropes as I was in a group ahead of Maroy earlier in the week and nobody was moving. All the gallery were right there. They were sticking to their spots on the gallery ropes because the next group through was going to be Maroy. So, nobody wanted to give up their space in the crowd. It was I’d not really seen anything like that before. The atmosphere out there, seeing close to 40,000 people from some of the spots on the golf course, you could see basically everyone that was there that day. It it was uh it was really something very very special indeed. Yeah. you know who they were behind, but by the end of it, they lent their support to the champion golfer of the year up that final green. Uh Scotty Chef threequarters of the way to a career grand slam. You see what he did and he’s so ruthlessly efficient. What stood out to you from his performance at the Open? Yeah, I followed Scotty Sheffller on Thursday uh in our featured group coverage. I was out there uh following walking with his group. His demeanor never really changes. And I think it was funny when we were doing the coverage on Sunday. We showed Scotty Sheffller arriving in his courtesy car to the golf course, you know, a couple of hours before his tea time. And his demeanor walking from the courtesy car to that open clubhouse that they use for the Open was exactly the same as it was when he was inside the ropes on Thursday. It really doesn’t change. He’s so in control of his emotions and not getting too high and too low. And I think we saw that on Sunday with the way he was able to save par, stay in his routine, stay there mentally, not get down on himself, and obviously his skills and his talent speak for themselves with the way that he is playing, but the way he’s able to control his emotions, uh, it really is very, very impressive. And I think that really is a big weapon for Scotty Sheffller. It’s going to be interesting to see whether he can continue this sort of form into next year’s major championship season. Remember, we were saying this 12 months ago and he’s done it again in 2025. And of course, when we go to Shinikok Hills for the US Open next year, there’s going to be a lot of talk of that Korea Grand Slam. It’s going to be a fascinating watch for all of us. Uh but I think he was so good Sheffller at Port Rush that I think he he he sent a huge message across the golf world. We knew that Sheffller was the world number one. We knew what he could do, but I think the way he played at Port Rush really showed us something very special. And how spoiled would we be at golf fans if we had to wait 25 years from Tiger to Rory to complete the career grand slam and then we wait one year for Scotty to send shock waves at Shinik next summer. I know the hype machine is already going to be dialed up to a 10. And Tom, I’m not going to date you, but you’ve been covering the best of the men’s and women’s tours for a bit of time now. In terms of recent dominance, where does Scotty Sheffller’s run these past few years, ripping off four major 17 PGA Tour wins stack up? Yeah, I mean that’s interesting. November 4th will be 20 years for me at Golf Channel. Yeah. So, I have been around for a little a little while. We’ve seen it on the men on the women’s side. We’ve seen some players come up and dominate and then fall away over the last what 10 15 years. You think of Yanni Seni Park. Before that it was Lorena Oawa, Anukica Saren Stam. Um in terms of the men’s game, yes, I think there will be parallels now with Tiger Woods. Do I think that Scotty Shefflet is Tiger Woods? No, he’s not at that level right now. Who’s to say that if he continues playing the way he does, we might be comparing him more favorably to Tiger Woods a decade from now or five years from now? I think that that’s still to be determined. Certainly at the beginning of his career, he wasn’t the a Tiger Woods. Now he’s kind of getting in to that level. I remember talking to Randy Smith, his longtime coach last year at Pinehurst and he was talking about really two players that he had seen as a youngsters that he thought these two could be great. Uh obviously Scotty Sheffller and the other one was Justin Leonard and he was he was right about major championship winning material with those two youngsters in the way that their careers have gone. Scotty Sheffller is something very special. Uh is he a Tiger Woods? No, he’s not right now. Will he become the end of his career? We’ll see. Uh but I think it the game is better for him being uh on the center stage, for him being the world number one and he he holds himself with great class. Uh he’s somebody to look up to. He’s a role model for a lot of people and the way he plays the game, he plays his own game, his own golf swing, his own shuffle there that we see with the driver. Uh it’s I’m just really excited to watch and to see what he can do not only for the remainder of the season but as you say into next year and beyond. Yeah, it was fascinating. Shane Lowry said if if he had a swing that looked like Adam Scots, we’d be saying he is the next Tiger Woods, but aesthetically he does it a little different. So maybe he’s not quite there yet for the the casual fan, but the the crowds at Royal Port Rush as it hosted for the second time in the past six years, record-breaking numbers. What do you think of Port Rush as a course and its fit within the open roa? Look, I mean, I would encourage anyone to go and play Port Rush if they have the chance. It’s difficult to get tea times. Remember, it’s a private club, but they do have visitor tea times like a lot of the the great courses over here uh in the UK and Ireland. And certainly the Open Championship Rotor, you can you can play all of those golf courses. I would encourage anyone if they get the chance to go and play Royal Port Rush. is really something very special. It has a little different flavor than the other courses that are used for the open. Certainly those views along the coastline, that north coast of Northern Ireland, famous for the giant causeway game of thrones. I mean, it’s it’s it’s spectacular. And the passion uh that the Irish fans brought out was really great. A lot of Americans had come over to watch the open this year. uh easy flights into Dublin, play a lot of golf on the way up to Royal Port Rush and have a really nice time. We saw that quite a bit. Uh the Irish fans were brilliant. You know, I think they really embraced this. They did it in 2019. There were obviously question marks about how it was going to go six years ago. It went very well and I think it went even better this year. They had 1.2 million ticket applications for the open this year at Royal Port Rush. We expect it to be similar next year at Royal Burgdale. You can get in, you can get into the ballot and try and get your tickets for next year if you want to experience an open championship. Uh, but I think you’ll have to wait for a few years to go back to Royal Port Rush if you want to see that. But I think the RNA will be very encouraged from what they saw. The gallery was well behaved. It was passionate. It was enthusiastic. It was behind great shots. There were a lot of youngsters in the crowd. So, a lot of young people out there. It was it was a really really good atmosphere and I think something that you would expect, George, if you uh if you go to a sporting event in that part of the world. Just don’t expect to get much sleep if you’re in the town of Port Rush cuz it was pretty rowdy in the evenings. I understand. I I can only imagine. And maybe by the end of the week, you were part of the revalry that was on. I was well behaved. I was well behaved. I didn’t get involved. I know you’re you’re you’re close to the RNA. you you generally hear kind of the comingings and goings and what could be in the hopper for them. A lot of the the scuttlebutt or the subplots have been courses that aren’t part of the open roa. Some that have been, some that would like to be a part.

Golf Central’s George Savaricas talks to Tom Abbott about The Open Championship, including Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler’s performance. #GolfCentral #Golf
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Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 golfer, not yet Tiger Woods territory | Golf Central | Golf Channel
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