Scottie Scheffler has been widely recognised as the best golfer in the world for a good while now, and that shows no signs of changing anytime soon.
His rise to the top started with his first PGA Tour win back in February 2022. Since then, he’s won four major championships and claimed a total of 19 PGA Tour titles. He’s also spent 138 consecutive weeks as the world’s number one player, holding the top spot for 173 weeks overall.
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Scheffler is set to return to the PGA Tour in two weeks at the American Express. Even with golf filled with great talent, there are plenty of reasons to believe he’ll stay on top of those rankings by season’s end.
Smylie Kaufman believes Scheffler will be even better next year than he was this season, predicting that he could win at least six PGA Tour tournaments in 2026.
How Scottie Scheffler reacted after first hitting the TaylorMade Qi4D driver
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
The TaylorMade Qi4D is the latest addition to their lineup, packed with technology designed to help players gain distance without altering their swings.
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That seemed to be exactly what happened for Scottie Scheffler during a recent test of the new club.
Scheffler noticed a clear jump in both ball speed and carry distance, and these weren’t just small improvements either.
A 3.3 mph bump in ball speed is significant. If he holds onto those gains, it could add about six more yards of carry to his game. But there’s still a potential issue facing the world number one.
Is the new version of Scottie Scheffler even better?
There’s a well-documented link between increased ball speed off the tee and losing some control with irons.
In 2025, Scheffler was clocking in around 177 mph and still managed to lead the tour in strokes gained approach.
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But in that same year, only Nicolai Hojgaard and Xander Schauffele were inside the top 30 for strokes gained approach while averaging more than 180 mph.
If he does push his average up to 180 mph, it’ll be worth watching to see if he can keep the same touch with his irons.
The good news for Scheffler is that TaylorMade’s Qi4D driver has helped him gain distance without any real changes to his swing.
If those early numbers hold up during competition, it could give him another edge over an already wide gap at the top of world golf rankings.
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