Joe’s Notes: How Scottie Scheffler Compares to the Historic Greats

The U.S. Open tees off at Pinehurst tomorrow, 42 minutes after the crack of dawn. Scottie Scheffler is the favorite, as he is every weekend these days, and while he isn’t favored over the field, he’s historically close. As Vik Chokshi shared yesterday, Scheffler is the biggest favorite in a major since Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship in 2009. What that means, given betting markets are often our most efficient barometer, is…

At this moment, Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer we’ve seen since peak Tiger Woods.

Accordingly, it’s time to talk history.

Scheffler is 27 years old, but he turns 28 a week from Friday. In his first 28 years, then, he’ll have competed in 18 majors and won either two or three. How good is that, historically? At the time of their 28^th birthdays, here’s Scheffler’s major track record against those of the greatest modern golfers, the five men from the current (post-1960) Grand Slam era with seven or more major championships:

If Scheffler can win this U.S. Open, he’ll exactly match Tom Watson’s major pace. Three wins in eighteen tries before the age of 28. He’ll also be on pace with Gary Player, though Player had six more chances before that age. This is all anticipatory. It’s still likelier than not that Scheffler won’t win this weekend, and even if he does, Watson and Player won’t be the only men whose pace he’ll have matched. Jordan Spieth won his third major days before his 24^th birthday. Jordan Spieth is only narrowly favored to make the cut at Pinehurst. But, Scheffler’s the favorite, and a big favorite at that. If he can pull off the victory, he’ll indeed be on a path towards greatness.

Here’s the list expanded to include pre-1960 golfers, for those curious:

Miscellany

• Luka Dončić is probable tonight, which doesn’t mean we won’t get a big “injured Luka” narrative after the game, especially if the Mavericks lose. Similarly, there will be a narrative about who the Celtics best player is, especially if the Mavericks lose.
• Aleksander Barkov lives! He skated today in the Panthers’ practice before leaving for Edmonton. I have only a poor idea how much individual injuries matter in hockey, and I suppose the door is open for gamesmanship, but given the injury in question was a suspected concussion and there are strict rules surrounding practicing with concussions, it does seem he’ll be good to go tomorrow in Game 3, and that seems highly important.
• Going off of that: Is it strange that the Panthers are waiting to fly north? I’d assume teams would want to get to the city they’re visiting as early as possible. I guess there isn’t a big elevation concern with Edmonton, though. Mostly, I’m curious what goes into this kind of decision, and what’s normal.
• Indiana State hired a new athletic director, announcing today that Nathan Christensen, currently an associate AD at South Dakota State, will start on July 1^st. Indiana State’s old athletic director, Sherard Clinkscales, resigned in January as part of what’s been officially termed a “mutually agreed”-upon separation, complete with a non-disparagement clause between Clinkscales and ISU’s president, Deborah Curtis. This, two months after Curtis announced her own impending retirement. What was the story? We don’t have any inside information, but the chain of events was decidedly odd and was frequently speculated as a reason behind Josh Schertz leaving Terre Haute for SLU. At a high level, ISU had great baseball and basketball under Clinkscales, but they continued to struggle in football. Now, they’ve got a new president and a new AD, the latter coming from Brookings, where South Dakota State sits atop Indiana State’s football conference, the MVFC, and understands the importance of basketball as well.
• Another sad death in the basketball world, as Jerry West passed away this morning at the age of 86. A beloved figure throughout the game and famously the inspiration for the NBA logo, West leaves a lot of friends behind. Condolences to them, and to his family, and to all who grieve.