Scottie Scheffler's Dominance Continues With 2024 RBC Heritage ...

8 days ago

Forbes

Scottie Scheffler reacts after a putt on the ninth hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage ... [+] golf tournament, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Associated Press

The world’s top-ranked golfer is dominating the PGA Tour. Scottie Scheffler won the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Monday morning following a weather delay and restart late Sunday - his fourth win in his last five starts. He added a tartan plaid jacket to his second green jacket at The Masters, which followed wins at The Players Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Scheffler carded an 8-under par 63 on Saturday to take a 1-stroke lead over Sepp Straka and 2-strokes ahead of his final round playing partner at The Masters, Collin Morikwa. Both those players shot a 1-over par 72 in the final round to fall back.

Scheffler entered Sunday’s final round as the -165 favorite on FanDuel Sportsbook to win the tournament with Straka and Morikawa both +650 and Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg +1100 sitting 3-shots behind. Scottie was +450 to win at the start of the RBC Heritage.

Golf’s 27-year-old superstar was 3-under par through 11 holes Sunday and 19-under-par with a 4-shot lead over six players when play was suspended before resuming 2 1/2 hours later at 7 p.m. ET. Scheffler played three more holes and took a 5-stroke lead into Sunday evening as play was suspended for darkness.

Early Monday he finished off the $20 million signature event with a 3-shot victory at 19-under-par to earn another $3.6 million and take his season total to over $18 million. His bogey on the 18th hole ended a streak of 68 consecutive holes at par or better. Sahith Theegala finished second while Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark T3 and Justin Thomas part of a 4-way tie for fifth.

Justin Ray, golf Lead Data Analyst, added a number of posts on X to show Scheffler’s run of dominance. Beyond Scottie being the last player since Tiger Woods in 2008 to win 4 times in a 5-start stretch on the PGA Tour, this post on Scheffer holding the lead following a round 31 times on Tour the past three seasons speaks to Scottie’s spectacular play and dominance. The next closes player to have led or co-led following a round is 16 times.

Scheffler ramains the No. 1 ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings for the 49th consecutive week. His win at Harbour Town was also the 10th of his career on Tour. It took him 51 tournaments to win his 10th PGA Tour title following his first win. Tiger Woods did it in 59 events with David Duval the fastest from wins 1 to 10 at 33 starts.

Scheffler’s strokes gained stats are simply staggering. Scheffler ranks No. 1 in SG: Total, Tee to Green, Approach, No. 2 Off the Tee and top-10 Around the Green. He’s continued to win despite ranking outside the top 150 in SG: Putting. Scheffler gained more than a stroke both off the tee and on approach shots in his first three rounds at Harbour Town. He has done this in 27.2% of his rounds over the last three seasons. The rest of the PGA Tour has done it 4.7% of the time.

Scheffler then finished off another victory with a strong performance on Sunday at Harbour Town that included this chip-in for eagle from 53 feet off the front right short rough on the Par 5 at hole No. 2.

He’s now played 40 rounds in 2024 and has yet to shoot a round over par. It’s 44 in a row dating back to last year’s Tour Championship in August. Tiger Woods currently holds the Tour record at 52 rounds shooting par or better, which he set during the 2000-01 season.

Scheffler’s desire to win and determination to be the best is shining through despite any pressure that may mount. He’s nearly locked up 2024 PGA Tour Player of the Year honors before the end of April, and commented on his play and performances following rounds 3 and 4 while dealing with any added pressure.

Internally do you feel less pressure compared to a few months ago when you're out there playing?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It's tough to answer. I mean, I talked about it a bit at the end of last week. I really love winning, and I don't really like losing at all. It's one of those things where I try to manage the expectations of myself, kind of get that stuff out of the way and then go out there and compete.

Scheffler also added 700 FedEx Cup Playoffs Points to his total by winning the Signature Event at the RBC Heritage. He tops the points list with 3,915 - more than double Wyndham Clark with Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele next at more than 1,500 points.

Scheffler is scheduled to compete in the Wells Fargo Championship May 9-12 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC - another $20 million Signature Event. He should be a first-time father by then with wife Meredith expecting their child very soon.

“I definitely will enjoy the birth of my first child, and my priorities will change very soon, so golf will be fourth in line, but I still love competing,” he said last Sunday in the Butler Cabin at The Masters.

He competed at the highest level again without a letdown to win the RBC Heritage. Scheffler will enter the next major as the +450 favorite at the PGA Championship May 16-19 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, KY. FanDuel Sportsbook also has Scheffler at +6500 odds to win the Grand Slam and all four majors this year.

Scottie Scheffler is showing no signs of letdown and fans and bettors continue to support him despite ultra-low odds to win not seen since Tiger Wood’s dominance.

You can bet on it.