Scottie Scheffler has been backed to break one of the long-standing records held by Tiger Woods, although he can’t do it until 2028!
Rocco Mediate, who lost out to Woods in a memorable playoff at the US Open in 2008, believes Scheffler can extend his run at the top of the world’s rankings beyond Woods’ record of 281 weeks.
Woods spent a total of 683 weeks as world No 1, a status he held on 11 different occasions in his glittering career and many that record will be insurmountable, even for Scheffler.
But the reigning Open and PGA champion has spent the last 124 weeks as top dog, and he’s the only player other than Woods to be on top of the world for over 100 weeks.
And Mediate thinks Woods’ mark of 281 weeks in a row could be under threat when asked which of the 15-time major champion’s records are most likely within Scheffler’s reach.
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“Win-wise, no, I don’t think so,” said Mediate ahead of the PGA Tour Champions’ Furyk and Friends in Jacksonville, where he is the defending champion.
“But world No 1 ranking, I think Scottie breaks it with the streak he’s on now because he has the game to do that.
“Rory’s awesome. Xander’s awesome, they’re all awesome. But Scottie doesn’t miss that much, he doesn’t have any balls and the other guys do.
“So the way he drives it, if he continues to play, if he doesn’t quit, he will surpass Tiger’s No 1 ranking in this run, unless he gets hurt. Hopefully that won’t happen. Hopefully he didn’t go skiing or hopefully he doesn’t cut himself on whatever.
“But if he continues to do exactly what he’s doing, is he going to win seven, eight times a year? I’d say probably not, but he could. There’s not many other guys you could say that about.
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“Scottie’s too much like this, it’s so unbelievable to watch and I think he breaks Tiger’s No 1 ranking record.
“He’s going to have his bad times, of course he is, it’s just golf. But man, the way he does it now, this is what Tiger did, the same thing. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes with foul balls.
“So I think Scottie’s got a shot at it. Is he going to win 90 times? I don’t know, I would doubt it, but can’t say he won’t.”
Mediate also had a dig at Phil Mickelson for his ill-advised prediction on social media after Scheffler finished tied for 20th at The Players Championship in March.
Scheffler was winless for the year at the time, and Mickelson boldly claimed that he wouldn’t have any victories before the Ryder Cup.
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Mickelson was later forced to acknowledge his mistake as Scheffler added six trophies to his cabinet, including the PGA Championship and The 153rd Open.
“What did Phil say? Scottie won’t win before the Ryder Cup,” added Mediate. “He won six times, and two majors. Please, stop it!”
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