I've been seeing a lot of talk about Scottie is almost as good as Woods, he's the next Woods, etc. etc.
I put a comment on a post saying that Scottie isn't in the same conversation as Tiger Woods yet and I got downvoted to hell. lol
Now I'm not saying Scottie isn't he best player around, but he is not yet in the same ballpark as Tiger. Sure he's had an incredible 24-25 season and bested 2 of 9 stats that Tiger still holds such as putts per round and birdie %. Everything else Tiger still has on him and everyone else who has ever played the game.
I've also heard comments about "oh the field is tougher". Yes the field is always getting better, that's how it goes. And Scottie isn't dominating the game like Tiger did. He isn't changing the course of golf as we know it. He isn't winning the US open right now by 15 strokes like Tiger did in 2,000 at Pebble. Scottie only won the US open by… oh wait hang on a sec.. he hasn't won the US open yet.
Let's put this nonsense to bed right now.
Tiger Stats
PGA Tour Wins: 82 (tied with Sam Snead)
Major Championships: 15
Masters Tournament Wins: 5. The first was when he was 21 years old and won by 12 strokes!
Consecutive Cuts Made: 142 (1998-2005). Woods: ~88.2% cuts made; ~43% top‑5; ~66% top‑20.
Career Gand Slam: Made 3 times
683 total weeks at World No. 1. That’s more than 13 years total at the top spot.
In Majors from the 1997 Masters through the 2013 PGA Championship: Tiger Woods: -126 to par.
The next best player in that stretch? Steve Flesch at +125. That’s a 251-stroke difference over the same major tournaments. Absolutely absurd.
He has 10+ wins at three different events: The Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Bridgestone, and Farmers Insurance Open.
Tiger was a dominant pro for 13 years before break/decline in 2009
Scottie Stats
Total PGA Tour Wins: 16
Major Championships: 4 (Masters, PGA Championship, British Open)
Masters Tournament wins: 2. His biggest stroke advantage was 4.
148 Weeks at world No. 1
Career Grand Slam: 0
Consecutive cuts made: 55 consecutive PGA Tour events. Scheffler: ~85.4% cuts made; ~33.8% top‑5; ~61.5% top‑20
Scottie Scheffler has been a pro for 7 years. More than half of Tigers dominant reign and he has 20% of the wins has.
So just incase we need to spell it out some more:
PGA Tour Wins Tiger 82 to Scottie 16
Career Grand Slam Tiger 3 to 0, or put another way Tiger 15 to Scottie 4
Total Weeks at world number 1: Tiger 683 to Scottie 146 weeks
Consecutive Weeks at number 1: Tiger 281 to Scottie 112
Consecutive cuts made: Tiger 142 to Scottie 55
Weeks at top 10: Tiger 906 to Scottie 120+
2000 US Open Tiger won by 15 strokes. 97 Masters Tiger won by 12 strokes. Biggest margin 15.
Scheffler won his masters by 3 strokes in '22 and 4 strokes in '24. Biggest Margin 5
As we can clearly see the stats aren't even close yet, I'd like to finish this off with the non stats part of all of this. I was fortunate enough to watch Tiger play all throughout his career. I started playing golf before Tiger was a pro. I grew up in Bay Hill and I watched him play there almost ever year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I saw him live, I saw him on TV almost every other weekend. If you did not get a chance to see him play I cannot express to you in words the level of domination that we saw during his time. It was bigger than almost any athlete in any sport ever. The world had never seen anything like it and still has not to this day.
Tiger's level of skill, focus, determination, sheer will, and most of all his ability to make the absurdly difficult shots when it counted most has not been matched to this day. Scottie is a hell of a player. His accuracy and consistency is incredible, there's no doubt about it. And maybe one day, one day we can put him in the same category as Tiger. But gentlemen, he isn't there yet. Rant over.
by zRouth
44 Comments
We’ll start talking about it when Scottie has 50 tour wins and 10 majors. Until then – not even worth comparing.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
So this is the Adderall-enhanced Reddit version of “send tweet”?
the comparison isn’t about career stats. Despite his appearance, he’s still in his 20’s. The comparisons come from his absolute dominance over the last 2 years. Which is Tiger-like
Steve flesch?
That’s the most amazing stat of them all
I don’t think anyone is saying Scottie > Tiger at the moment. Tiger and Nicklaus have had the greatest careers to this point. Tiger has undoubtedly had the greatest peak and period of dominance.
Scottie is also great, and what he’s doing is arguably the best run we’ve seen since prime Tiger. He also seems like he can stay out of trouble and has the chance to potentially maintain this form for a longer period than we got with Tiger (due to injury and other controversies), which is exciting. We can appreciate both in their own right.
It really is a testament to how incredible Tiger was that we see Scottie’s current amazing run and have to think “oh if he keeps this up for almost a decade he’ll reach Tiger”.
Obviously people are talking about if Scottie is playing at the same level as Tiger at similar points in their careers. I can’t imagine anyone arguing the Scottie has already accomplished more than Tiger Woods.
No one in their right mind thinks Scottie > Tiger.
What everyone looks for in sports after a dominant figure is the next one they can watch and relive the feelings they had.
Kobe Michael
Jokich Federer
Phelps nobody
Messi nobody
The idea is that we want champions. We want dominance.
We crave it and need it as sports fans.
Nobody will ever touch Tiger. Right time, right talent, right mindset.
I appreciate Scottie from the sheer fact that he balls out, but he doesn’t get me amped and he’s not exciting.
He’s anti-tiger.
Tiger would never say “what’s the point?”…
Bruh I’ve gotten downvoted for oblivion for saying this. SS is nowhere near as good as Tiger.
People get carried away with the scheffler praise, no matter how many times I go over Tigers career/ dominance, it still leaves me speechless every time. Also Tiger was way more dominant from an earlier age than scotty so im not sure if scotty has enough time to achieve what tiger has hes almost 30 already
I wonder how different his stat’s would be if LIV never happened. A lot of those guys form dropped off a cliff once they signed and left the tour. Having those guys competing with him regularly might have pushed some of them to raise their game and compete with him. Could have pushed him too and made him even better again
Tiger’s amazing no doubt, but some of those stats are a little decieving BECAUSE of Tiger…he changed the game.
I hate that posts like this still get engagement
Firstly no one is saying Scottie is Woods. They are saying hes looking the best since Woods.
Secondly you comparing a fully played out career to one that is progress is disingenuous.
Scottie is on track for grand slam and 10+ majors at this velocity.
Scottie is very unlikely to fuck up his body with stupid navy seal training, bang a bunch of random cocktail waitresses at chain restaurants in suburban Florida, get chased down the street by his wife wielding a 3 wood, or drive into a tree in LA while high on drugs.
Scottie could beat Nicklaus’s majors records as long as he stays healthy and as long as he still thinks competing in golf tournaments is worth the effort.
Anyone have TLDR? 👀
This is reddit. When Morikawa had his super stretch few years ago, people here called him the new tiger. Didn’t happen.
Scottie can become one of the all time greats, but he can also fade out like Spieth, who was the new tiger pre-r/golf. Only time will tell.
https://preview.redd.it/sxd1p87m76ef1.png?width=1304&format=png&auto=webp&s=c6b7e4a55094013e33f6538f21fc6e9f77fd314c
Here’s their careers side by side on wins. Scottie started much slower, but the trajectory after that first win is hard not to acknowledge. Lets see in 10 years
I don’t think anyone is saying he is Tiger Woods, but he definitely doing Tigeresque things
What’s the debate?! Scottie is on a generational run, he’s fantastic. But he’s not Tiger. If he NEVER stops playing like this, we can have this conversation in 2035.
Just for argument’s sake though, if you’re trying to compare the two and put Scottie down a peg, don’t use Tiger’s full body of work. How do they stack up at the same age, length of career, etc. I’m sure Tiger still has him at that too.
Edit: I had ChatGPT do it for me. Scottie has 17 Wins and 4 Majors to Tigers 46 and 10 through age 29. That’s just absurd. The only hope that Scottie has in this is staying healthy and not falling apart like Tiger did. But even then he’s got to just obliterate golf for the foreseeable future.
Such a stupid argument. It’s like comparing Gretzky to McDavid. No one will ever touch Gretzky’s records. Different era. Different players. Different rules. CURRENTLY Scottie is the best player by a mile right now. It’s hard to compare the two when they played in such different times. Courses are a lot harder now. Players are a lot better.
Incredible that during that reign of athleticism we had Tiger (debatably the best of the 3), Michael Jordan (no doubt seen as the GOAT), and Tom Brady (The Goat when it comes to Super bowl wins). What my generation, 36M, got to see as a kid growing up, was the best athletes of their generation all at the same time.
https://preview.redd.it/5azsujhu56ef1.png?width=1043&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd28eb675748d3ed8bb94bf0c1ff4645d03d690a
No Laying Up pod guys showed this career comparison generated by DataGolf of Scottie (green) vs Tiger (blue) which shows succinctly, and most importantly OBJECTIVELY, how two players seasons stack up so far.
This is simply overall Strokes Gained year on year. A player’s Strokes Gained number how much better or worse a player is vs the average player in the dataset.
In short, Scottie’s absolute best vs the field he is playing is not yet as good Tiger’s was compared to the fields he played (so far)…but he’s in LOFTY territory.
So you acknowledge the fields way better but only use stats that are skewed by the difficulty of the field?
Scottie is nothing like Tiger. When Tiger came on Tour it was a very different place, for example, Nick Faldo’s average drive in 1996 (the year he won the masters) was 265 yards.
Tiger was a bomber when he came on tour and hit incredible iron shots – shots that no one else would take on or even be able to hit. 2 irons into par 5s from 280 yards. Towering long irons which stopped on a dime. Driver-wedge to par 5s that others were hitting woods into. He over-powered golf courses with skill and finesse we had never seen AND he was a great putter. He had a killer instinct and hit the crucial shots at the crucial moments to win.
Scottie is obviously very good but he is mister consistent. A good driver, excellent iron player and very good putter. He doesn’t over power the golf course, he doesn’t hit shots which are unfathomable for anyone else to hit, he just doesn’t get into trouble and makes a lot of birdies. The fact that he is winning so much is testament to the rest of the field and the fact that one of the most exciting golfers out there and world #2 has been a pro for nearly 18 years. Where are the next batch of exciting young golfers? We’ve had a number of exciting prospect rise and fall dramatically but the depth isn’t there right now.
Look at the top 10 in the world right now.
Scottie
Rory – been a pro for 18 years
Xander – Fantastic last year, out of form this year
Justin Thomas – 1 win this year, last win was 2022
Russel Henley – 1 win this year, last win was 2022
Collin Morikawa – last won in 2023 and before that in 2021
Keegan Bradley – He’s 39 and was made Ryder cup captain because we thought his career was nearing its end
Harris English – 1 win this year, last win was 2021
JJ Spaun – Having the year of his life
Sepp Straka – (I was very surprised he was top 10)
So golf is in a poor state right now without much star power playing great golf so no wonder Scottie is cleaning up. If you win a tournament on the PGA tour and have a good run for a few weeks you have a good chance to get into the top 10 in the world. Its not helped by the fact that Bryson and Rahm are playing on LIV
If in 10 years it comes out Scottie was banging waitresses too, then I will say he is comparable to Tiger.
Scottie is a better human.
How many prompts to chat gpt did this take?
We comparing his current run. Not in totality. Of course Tiger is da man. But this run of Scheffler is Tiger level dominance. For a much shorter duration over time of course. Not nearly as charismatic. No where close to Tigers global impact and $$$$$$$! But strictly golf results. Dude is on a Tiger like run.
My guy, relax. The argument isn’t that Scottie is as good as Tiger right now. It’s that if he continues this type of dominance, he has a chance to be, which is exciting considering we thought it would never happen. And realistically, it probably won’t. But it’s fun right now. Enjoy the greatness while it lasts because golf is better when there’s a dude like this dominating.
Nobody is saying he is as good as Tiger was. What they are saying is he’s playing as good as Tiger did at his best. But Tiger did it for a MUCH longer stretch. Only time will tell if Scottie can keep it up long enough to be considered as good. What Scottie has done is win 4 majors in exactly the same amount of time it took Tiger.
2 majors a year for the next five years he’ll be 1 behind Tiger and 4 behind Jack . Only thing I’ll say is the competition is better now and it’s not even close
Agreed, Tiger was a better golf. Scottie is the better human being.
Why are we comparing Tiger’s full career to anyone playing right now? I swear someone plays well and immediately it gets ruined because someone says “well it’s not as good as Tiger.” Yea, no shit, thanks. It’s the laziest form of golf analysis.
Having watched both eras I will say Scottie has the same aura of when he’s leading there’s zero chance someone can catch him, which is exactly what it was like with Tiger. Looking forward to seeing how his career progresses because this dude is special.
This post and sub… Just lol
Sports fans are so weird. No reasonable person is saying Scottie is as good as Tiger. At the same time, we’ve not seen anything like this since Tiger. We’re running out of stats and accomplishments that aren’t just a comparison to Tiger which is pretty amazing in and of itself. I didn’t think we’d see anything like this in golf for a long time. A lot of people might be watching the second best player of their lifetime but so many are just like “well whatever, he’s not as good as Tiger. Come talk to me when he gets to 10 majors”. You’re missing out on something crazy just because it’s not the greatest thing ever in the sport? Ok, I guess. It seems way more fun to marvel at it and enjoy rather than shitting on it.
this is stupid. you’re putting TW’s career stats against Scottie’s. what the point? Scottie is pretty much just starting.
i saw a stat yesterday during the broadcast where they each took the exact amount of days to reach 4 majors. that is a more telling comparison
How hard is it to breathe with Tigers dick down your throat? Who gives a shit bud
People are just saying the run Scottie is on is as close to Tiger as we have seen.
He is on pace and closer to matching his greatness than anyone else we have seen in the last decade. Whether you grew up watching Tiger or not, his excellence isn’t unattainable. It should be fun to watch.
People are so obnoxious. Trying to compare anyone to Tiger is like trying to compare Michael Jordan to anyone currently in the nba (looking at you LeBron lovers). Tiger hasn’t been the r best golfer in the world long enough that an entire generation of golfers barely remember his dominance if at all other than the “stories” so let them enjoy the fact that the throne has been vacant since tiger vacated it and now it is finally being assumed by a new generational golfer in Scotty. We don’t need to compare Kings, just appreciate we finally have another.
Obviously Tiger was more fun to watch and is the best golfer to ever play but it wouldn’t surprise if Scotty has 20+ years of elite golf ahead of him. He seems to have his priorities and life straight unlike Tiger. I have a feeling this will be like comparing Julius Caesar (Tiger) to the much longer but more boring reign of August (Scotty).
13 yrs at #1 pERioD