Scottie Scheffler vs Xander Schauffele: Whose Season Would You Rather Have?

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Scottie Scheffler is having a historic year in professional golf. He’s boasting five PGA Tour wins, a win at the Masters, and a Gold Medal win at the Olympics in Paris, earning nearly $ 30 million in the process. It would be nearly impossible to argue that he isn’t the best golfer in the world right now. That being said, other professional golfers may happily trade those seven wins from Scottie for the two major wins for Xander Schauffele. 

Xander Schauffele finally got over the majors win hurdle this year when he won his first ever major at the PGA Championship this year at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky. As if that win wasn’t enough to change the narrative of his career, Xander doubled down and won his second major of the year and his career at the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland. Two major wins in a season should be considered a historic year in golf and, if it weren’t for Scottie Scheffler’s presence, would be a shoe in for golf’s player of the year. So the question becomes, whose season would you rather have?

I think the answer to that is going to vary, depending on who you ask. If you ask some of the rising stars like Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala, or Min Woo Lee, they may likely say they would take the historic year from Scottie Scheffler. Seven wins, including a major, to go along with life-changing money, is something every up and coming professional golfer dreams of. It’s resume-building. 

Asking some of the more seasoned golfers who already have multiple wins on tour, like Rory McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major in over 10 years, or Tiger Woods, who needs three more majors to catch Jack Nicklaus for most majors of all time, it would likely generate a different answer. One can even throw LIV Player Brooks Koepka into that list. He even once famously stated that it’s harder for him to focus when it’s a non-major event. This group of players already have resumes that so many professional golfers strive for. What these players are looking for now isn’t resume building. They’re looking for what Xander Schauffele’s year did for him. It’s legacy building. 

In the end, as a professional golfer, when choosing between the years from Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, you just have to consider where you are in your career. Both put you into golf’s history books. Both look great on your career resume. Both can alter the narrative of your career. It all really depends on how you value those wins. Just ask yourself this, “How many major wins does one tour win equal?”