HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | At this point, it’s fair to wonder not who but – Mother Nature aside – what might stop Scottie Scheffler.
The same goes for Nelly Korda who, were it not for a T16 in her first start this year, would be undefeated this LPGA season.
At a time when the conversation around professional golf seems to be about everything but the competition, Scheffler and Korda have redirected the focus with their sustained excellence.
They are touching the proverbial sky.
Feel free to debate who is the best player between the two. There is no wrong answer at the moment.
All Scheffler has done at the weather-delayed RBC Heritage is shake off any potential post-Masters comedown while knowing that his wife, Meredith, is just days away from delivering their first child. He also shanked a shot in the first round and just laughed it off.
That’s a precious place to be.
Korda, meanwhile, arrived at the women’s first major championship with the weight of a sport on her slender shoulders. She wrapped herself in all of that as if it were a blanket on a chilly night.
That’s what the special ones do.
Sports, whether they involve teams or individuals, tend to be defined by dominance. It’s why we remember the great ones: the New York Yankees dynasty, the Brady-Belichick Patriots, Jack and Tiger.
They set standards that few can reach. A person or a team might do it in short bursts, but consistent, sustained excellence is rare.
If this isn’t an inflection point in professional golf, it’s certainly an exceptional moment when the best men’s and women’s players are operating at the height of their powers.
It’s as if Scheffler and Korda are in their own Age of Aquarius.
Consider that in their last 10 combined events, Scheffler (assuming he closes out the RBC Heritage this morning) and Korda have nine wins, including two majors. The one tournament that Scheffler didn’t win, in Houston, he missed a 7-foot putt on the 72nd hole that would have put him in a playoff with eventual winner Stephan Jaeger.
While Korda could celebrate winning the Chevron Championship on Sunday, Scheffler was forced to sleep on a five-stroke lead with three holes remaining because the PGA Tour decided to gamble, knowing that rain and storms were in the Sunday afternoon forecast.
Rather than play early Sunday, nine players were unable to finish, necessitating a Monday conclusion after a two-hour, 32-minute weather delay during the afternoon TV window that won’t help the tour’s sagging viewership ratings.
Other than feeling the disappointment of not getting back to Dallas on Sunday night, Scheffler is not likely to be fazed. He seems to be unruffled by most things.
Consider where and how Scheffler has won during this run:
After 51 weeks without a victory, Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five strokes, shooting 66 in the final round March 10 when the narrative surrounding him was about how he supposedly couldn’t putt.
A week later, he became the first back-to-back winner of the Players Championship despite a nagging pain in the neck that seemed beautifully ironic considering how his competitors must now feel about one of the game’s genuinely good guys.
Scheffler missed winning the Texas Children’s Houston Open by one stroke, then he won his second Masters in three years, taking the classic path of allowing his challengers to play themselves out of contention while he turned in a major-championship master class.
That brought Scheffler to Hilton Head, where he almost certainly would not have been had it not been a signature event. His wife is days away from giving birth to their first child and, as much fun as winning may be, Scheffler was dragging when he arrived on the island late Tuesday.
By Saturday afternoon, Scheffler had become Mr. Inevitable again. His third-round 63 was as pretty as a Lowcountry sunset over a tidal marsh. Though several dangerous players were stacked behind him on the overnight leaderboard, Scheffler needed two holes Sunday to drop the hammer.
Until Scheffler parred the 15th hole near sundown Sunday (with a ball in the water), he had played 53 consecutive holes without making higher than a 4 on any of them.
From behind the par-5 second green, Scheffler bumped a pitch shot into a knob and watched it slow-roll left into the cup for an eagle that somehow didn’t surprise anyone.
Here’s another one: Until Scheffler parred the 15th hole near sundown Sunday (with a ball in the water), he had played 53 consecutive holes without making higher than a 4 on any of them.
What’s chasing Scheffler like from inside the ropes? Here’s how Sahith Theegala described what’s happening:
“I grew up watching the end of Tiger, got to see Rory, DJ, Jordan, like all these guys kind of dominate for a period of time, and I was like, we could be in the midst of something really, really special.”
Very special and very cool.
It’s no secret that the PGA Tour needs more from its star players as TV ratings have declined and fan interest has been sapped by the big-money bickering that has engulfed the game.
The LPGA Tour needs a face, too, and Korda has arrived at the right time when women’s sports is having an overdue moment. It can’t, however, tolerate any more six-hour rounds like the one Korda played Sunday. It’s inexcusable.
Like Scheffler, Korda has changed her place in the game. She has now done what Nancy Lopez and Annika Sörenstam did, and Korda has given the LPGA a Caitlin Clark-like performer.
When asked last week about how she can bring more attention to the LPGA, Korda said, “I think everything comes with results.”
Korda has Scheffler’s attention.
“She finished T16 in her first event, and the other five she’s won,” Scheffler said. “I don’t know if I can quite relate to that. That’s pretty serious golf. That’s pretty special stuff.”
He would know.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Scottie Scheffler holds a five-stroke lead when the suspended RBC Heritage resumes this morning.
Jared C. Tilton, GETTY IMAGES