For all that Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have achieved, all the brilliance they have flashed and trophies they have hoisted, they are linked more by their world rankings – Nos. 1 and 2, respectively – than perhaps by anything else.
They are the dominant golfers of their time but they aren’t yet bigger-than-life characters with bigger-than-life records like Tiger and Phil, who stamped their pseudo-rivalry into the game’s storyline.
McIlroy is golf’s star of stars (so long as Tiger stays sidelined) and Scheffler has the earnestness of a Tom Hanks, though his humor is more subtle with an amusing dash of sarcasm that has begun to show.
But their achievements have been built independent of the other, not because of and rarely at a cost to the other.
There is no McIlroy-Scheffler rivalry, at least not yet, and not the way Jack had Arnie and Faldo had Norman.
The McIlroy/Scheffler era hasn’t yet earned its own moniker like “the Big Five” that comprised Woods, Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen for a short but dynamic time in the early 2000s.
It’s just Rory and Scottie, which is enough.
What Scheffler and McIlroy have built has happened gently, like the transition from winter to spring. After weeks of seeing winter’s gray palette, suddenly there are leaves on the trees and the grass has turned green, like moving from black and white to color in “The Wizard of Oz.”
That’s where we are with Scheffler and McIlroy.
Want to answer the TV ratings question once and for all? Scheffler and McIlroy could do it in one super-charged weekend.
We are witnessing the prime of two players who have separated themselves from everyone else, though Xander Schauffele seems intent on joining them if he can get past his nagging rib injury.
It’s possible this spring is when they finally engage in a head-to-head battle for a major championship, adding a so far missing element to their shared stories.
To this point anyway, they have rarely stared each other down on a Sunday afternoon.
Scheffler and McIlroy finished 1-2 at the 2022 Masters but Rory started the final round 10 strokes behind Scheffler and his closing 64 still left him three strokes shy and without the attendant drama.
The most notable duel came when McIlroy overcame a six-shot Scheffler lead on Sunday to win the 2022 Tour Championship and FedEx Cup. Afterward, McIlroy almost apologized for beating Scheffler.
“He deserves this maybe more than I deserve it. He played an unbelievable season. He didn't have his best stuff today, and I played well and took advantage of that,” McIlroy said that day.
“Hell of a player, hell of a competitor. Even better person. Love his family.”
That hints at the nature of the two players – admiration trumps antagonism.
The Masters is less than three weeks away and fuels imaginations the way Christmas Eve sends kids’ minds racing. What if this is the year when Scheffler and McIlroy wind up in the final pairing on Sunday, McIlroy close enough to touch that elusive green jacket and Scheffler, already a two-time champion, doing what he does best, methodically demonstrating his superiority?
It has been an admittedly slow start for Scheffler this year and he acknowledged last week the hand injury he suffered around Christmas has required more recovery time than he anticipated, leaving a ragged edge on his perpetually sharp game – though he does have two top-10 finishes and hasn’t been outside the top 25 in five starts.
The frustration was evident in Scheffler’s body language at the Players Championship when his game was like a lawn mower that would start then cut off. Scheffler hides his intense competitiveness well but after winning nine times last year, it was apparent at TPC Sawgrass that his patience was wearing thin.
Scheffler and McIlroy are in the field this week at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, intent on some fine tuning before the Masters. It is a week where both will go there expecting to win while working with a greater goal.
Scheffler’s style and his record are not unlike the menu he will serve at the Champions Dinner at Augusta – cheeseburger sliders, chili, ribeye steaks and hot chocolate chip cookies with ice cream. There is nothing not to like.
Whether McIlroy ever serves a Champions Dinner is the greatest will he-won’t he question in the game. If sentiment mattered, McIlroy would have multiple green jackets in his closet.
As McIlroy worked his way through his Monday morning playoff with J.J. Spaun at the Players, a crowd three-deep gathered outside a busy airport restaurant to watch. The crowd cheered when McIlroy birdied the first extra hole to grab the lead and, meaning no disrespect toward Spaun, erupted in excitement when it became clear at the 17th hole McIlroy would win.
He’s the most popular player in the game with 28 PGA Tour victories, four majors and two Players titles – and McIlroy still gets painted as an underachiever of sorts. It’s hard place to survive, being judged as much for the ones he didn’t win as the ones he did.
Even as McIlroy was winning the Players last week, a few fans chirped reminders of his near misses. It said more about the fans than about McIlroy but the reminders are there, not that he needs reminding.
Scheffler doesn’t operate under such scrutiny and he will go to Augusta burdened more by his own expectations than by those of others. The pressure will be on McIlroy and both of them know it.
The most memorable rivalries are built on competition and, to a degree, conflict. To this point, Scheffler and McIlroy have been more of a mutual appreciation society, which is a nice change of pace in today’s world.
But they both want the same thing. Watching them chase it is our good fortune.
E-MAIL RON
TOP PHOTO: KEYUR KHAMAR, GETTY IMAGES