Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are in the identical group on the Masters.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — What’s your favourite a part of Scottie Scheffler’s recreation?
Is it the way in which he drives it? (Long, and really straight.) Is it the way in which he hits his irons? (Also very straight — and statistically No. 1 on Tour.) Is it the way in which he scrambles? (When he does often miss a inexperienced it’s no drawback; he’s top-five in strokes gained across the inexperienced, too.) Or is it the way in which he does all of it with out falling down? (His footwork is a key piece of his success nevertheless it’s exceptional to look at, too.)
Better but — what’s Rory McIlroy’s favourite half?
It’s considerably that McIlroy is requested about another person’s recreation; he’s the World No. 2 and among the many winningest main champs of this era. But Scheffler has opened up a big hole between himself and the remainder of the world — the chasm between Scheffler at World No. 1 and McIlroy at World No. 2 is bigger than the hole between McIlroy and World No. 13 Tommy Fleetwood — which suggests it’s honest recreation.
It was particularly honest recreation after Thursday’s opening spherical on the Masters, when McIlroy shot a good one-under 71 however Scheffler opened with a glowing six-under 66.
After his spherical McIlroy was requested whether or not the high-powered grouping he’d been part of — Scheffler plus World No. 5 Xander Schauffele — provides strain to his efficiency. He mentioned it doesn’t however went out of his option to pay his respect to the highest canine nonetheless.
“You just focus on your own game,” he mentioned. “It’s nice to play alongside Scottie, who’s the very best participant on the earth proper now, and to see how he’s getting himself across the golf course.
“In that way, it’s a good thing. When I saw the draw, playing with Xander and Scottie, two of the best players in the world, it was a nice draw, and looking forward to being out there with them again tomorrow.”
Still, McIlroy admitted that there’s no ignoring it when somebody’s going low — particularly when it’s Scheffler.
“I think when they’re playing with you it’s hard not to notice,” he mentioned. “Scottie does such a good job of — it doesn’t look like it’s six under par, and then at the end of the day it’s six under par. He’s just so efficient with everything.”
As for that favourite half? The facet McIlroy admires the most? It’s not the highlights as a lot as it’s the consistency.
“If you look at Scottie compared to the rest of the field, the amount of bogey-free rounds he plays and he shoots is phenomenal,” McIlroy mentioned. “And that’s the secret to winning major championships and winning big-time golf tournaments — it’s more limiting the mistakes rather than making a ton of birdies.”
Thursday’s spherical illustrated McIlroy’s level. Scheffler had simply completed off the one bogey-free spherical of the day whereas McIlroy had made three, together with a very disappointing 6 on the scoreable par-5 2nd.
“Just need to tidy it up a little bit to try to keep up with him,” McIlroy mentioned.
I used to be curious to see whether or not the stats backed up McIlroy’s notion. Is it his bogey-avoiding somewhat than his birdie-making that has helped him to big-time current wins? But with Scheffler it’s robust to parse as a result of all of the numbers are so good.
On the PGA Tour in 2024 Scheffler is first in bogey avoidance, making bogey or worse on simply 8.24% of his holes. So McIlroy’s proper; he’s wonderful at staying out of bother.
But Scheffler can also be by far the Tour’s chief in birdies per spherical; he’s made 5.48 per spherical this 12 months whereas no person else averages greater than 5. He’s the very best at the good things and the very best at avoiding the unhealthy stuff, too. That’s a robust mixture.
If McIlroy appears extra enamored with the latter, that is sensible. While he’s No. 12 on Tour in birdie common, he’s simply 69th in bogey avoidance. He makes bogey or worse on 14.25% of his holes. Compared with Scheffler, that’s 13 extra bogeys in 144 fewer holes.
So what did Scheffler consider McIlroy’s remarks?
“I mean, I think in terms of these tournaments, yeah, I think limiting your mistakes, obviously a lot easier said than done,” Scheffler mentioned. By “these tournaments” he meant the majors, that are performed on harder golf programs in harder situations underneath better strain. He’s accomplished nicely in these; he has a win plus three further top-threes in his eight most current main begins.
“But yeah, limiting your mistakes is important,” he continued. “It’s important to kind of keep that momentum of the round going.”
As Scheffler completed his press convention, McIlroy was on the vary. Keeping up with the World No. 1 will take some work.
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