Golf Digest contributor and longtime golf journalist Jaime Diaz joins Gary Williams on 5 Clubs to put Scottie Scheffler’s remarkable run into historical perspective and discuss where he stands among the game’s modern greats.
Diaz explains why he believes Scheffler has established himself as the second-best player of the 21st century behind Tiger Woods, how his career trajectory compares with Rory McIlroy, and why Scheffler could ultimately be remembered as the greater player.
The conversation also turns to the PGA Tour’s changes coming in 2028, the lasting impact of LIV Golf, Jay Monahan’s handling of one of the most turbulent periods in professional golf and Tim Finchem’s legacy as PGA Tour commissioner.
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Doesn't somebody have 5 majors you're not talking about?
Scottie’s doesn’t have the international resume Rory has. Ryder Cup. Euro wins etc. Next seven years….he can and should pass Rory. If no injuries, health or life screw ups.
Ryder Cup means nothing. What was Jack’s RC record ? Who cares ? But yes, Scottie must do more to pass Rory. In particular, win the US Open.
Scotty will set records and be up there with Tiger's 82. The fact that Bryson and Jon Rahm are not in the mix each week is sad for golf. I hope that changes soon. LIV was about the money, but if you check back the issue was the PGA's stranglehold on "media rights". There was no team play as in the Ryder Cup. Finally, the PGA had to do Signature events to keep their talent. So LIV served its purpose and the PGA had to adapt. Personally, the 2028 two tier system will not continue due to the way sponsors are treated and routed to a second tier. They would have been better keeping 20 spots open each week to give newcomers and those of lesser ranking a chance. The second tier will be like the Kornberry Tour and do you think the sponsors are going to pay the players for advertising where there is minimal TV coverage?
Pretty tough to compare Tiger's record and Scottie's record at age 30. Tiger had 51 wins and 10 majors; Scottie has 22 wins and 4 majors.
Tiger played with less competition and his game is erratic (due to PED's). Poor driver of the ball. Again, he won because of the poor competition. I like Scotties game better..
Is that Seve and Jose Maria over Jaime's left shoulder?
Where are the PGA tour and big Equipment 's hatebots going to be directed now that LIV is bankrupted. Now any significant YouTube golfers seem next targets. Cuz PGA tour live broadcasts, player interviews and reporting are still unwatchable
LIV exposed the PGA Tour's totally American centric view of golf. The pga tour draws in the best players from around the world, starving golf in Australia, South Africa etc. Jaime seems to view golf through a totally US lens, denying any responsibility for supporting golf in other parts of the world. Most, but not all, American players rarely travel outside of the US. They don't need the money and don't accept any responsibility to support golf worldwide. The LIV circus did at least provide high level golf outside of America
Bryce said it best. Scottie hits it straight all the time, he hits it straighter than me. Scottie went at the pin when he needed to in his Sunday round last weekend and hit his shots and makes some putts. He's the best right now. And to prove how hard this game is, he uses "the claw" grip with his shorter putts. Why? the traditional putter grip can use more right hand which throws the square putter hit off. I remember when golfers said only those struggling with their shorts putts use the claw grip. :-). He changes to traditional putter grip on putts over 15 feet.
Tiger was on steroids and his only competition was Phil Mickelson, scottie has more competition and is held to a higher standard than tiger. Rory won the Master's because he spent all month practicing… definitely not fair.
The AFL didn't improve pro football? The American League didn't improve pro baseball? Competition FORCES sports leagues to improve their product or be overtaken and the PGA Tour improved their product because of the threat LIV posed. I hate LIV but this is a fact, Jaime.
None of these guys will win 22 times in their 40's
No offense to Jaime Diaz, but he is 100% wrong on LIV's impact to the game of golf. Let me share with you Jamie the impact and please I love watching both tours and if LIV does collapse, I hope the PGA Tour can adopt many of the practices below.
LIV Impact
1. LIV is truly a global tour and has brought global exposure to the game of golf (this was actually Greg Norman's vision). Just this year alone, LIV played tournaments in: Saudi Arabia, Australia, China, Singapore, South Africa, Mexico, Korea, Spain, UK, and the US. The PGA tour and its players have never supported global golf. They have a few co-sanctioned (opposite field) events in the Dominican / Puerto Rico, along with the Canadian Open and the Scottish open (the week before the Open) but that is it. The PGA tour has never cared about global golf and evangelizing golf globally which is what LIV has done – the PGA Tour is lazy. In fact, Greg Norman, Gary Player (and many of the European players) had several battles with the PGA tour as they wanted less restrictions regarding the mandated PGA schedule to be able to go back home and support their local tours (like the Australian Tour) and the PGA tour never allowed it (it is a bad look for sure). You actually see a similar battle going on right now with Rory's schedule.
2. LIV's TV coverage of tournaments (although less watched given the broadcasting platform) is so much better. They will cover all the players, they will cover both good shots and poor shots. They get closer to the players with on course interviews. TV viewers get a much more complete view of the tournament across a broader spectrum of players. The PGA tour will cover Scottie and Rory (who are often the leaders) walking to the bathroom, hanging with their kids, blowing their nose (no offense to Scottie / Rory who I really like) versus showing complete coverage of all players. There will be guys inside the Top 20 that you will never see on a PGA Tour TV broadcast…again the PGA Tour is lazy with their coverage. They always just want to show the amazing shots versus the three putts, miss-hits, etc.
3. LIV's team game (along with the individual competition) is quite good. It is awesome seeing the team game back into golf. I know the PGA Tour (and most US golfers do not like team games – especially as you look at the Ryder Cup records the past two decades), but all of us really good golfers had amazing high school and college experiences wrapped around the team game and LIV has brought that back.
4. LIV brought more money into the game for players, sponsors, etc. Do not kid yourself that competition drove this and the PGA tour players should be thankful of the more money the top players are earning as a result of LIV.
5. Finally, the end of season competition is so much better from LIV versus the PGA Tour…they have a true ending and a great match play contest that frankly the PGA Tour should adopt.
So no offense Jaime Diaz, but you are 100% wrong with your assessment. You are letting your PGA Tour bias (I assume given the money you make off the tour) get in the way of true, objective thinking / reporting (you are like the typical media in the US – swayed by the mighty dollar bill).
Good luck to both tours! It is too bad we cannot have one tour that combines the greatness of both!
Scottie obviously is great but he's not having to compete against a ton of the world's best players with liv golf so there's a bg asterisk next to what he's doing right now. Tiger not only was much more dominant but he did it competing against everybody.
The question is if Bryson, Rahm, Keopka, Johnson didn't go over to LIV, would Scottie be as dominant? I mean kudos to Scottie because he's still playing against some serious talent and producing. He has come out on top after that exodus. I thought Rory would be the top guy.
Age of Scottie. Boy, that's exciting….