As it turns out, the only thing better than winning is winning a lot.
Tiger Woods knows how that feels. Eighty-two times during his PGA Tour career, he ended a tournament week by raising the trophy – winning at a clip and with a gusto we have rarely seen since.
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Scottie Scheffler might still have some work to do on the “gusto” part of the equation (even now, he carries his success with an understated, almost embarrassed subtlety). But as far as the “winning” part of the equation is concerned? Well, he’s on a historic trajectory.
On Sunday morning, Scheffler will arrive at the American Express as he often does on Sunday mornings during the golf season: As the betting favorite to emerge from Sunday afternoon as the winner. At the 54-hole mark in Palm Springs, Calif., Scheffler is one shot off the mark set by Si Woo Kim, lurking after three days of the brand of boringly spectacular play that has become his trademark. According to the sharps in Vegas, he is (at worst) even money to win the whole tournament.
You don’t have to think hard right now to know how a Scheffler victory would look. Another blemish-free Sunday, another slow-but-deliberate accumulation of pars and birdies, another four or five-shot advantage, another postgame celebration with family.
But the truth is that this victory for Scheffler would be noticeably different from those that came before it – because this victory brings some historical significance. Should Scheffler win on Sunday at the American Express, he would reach 20 PGA Tour wins for his career. And, should he reach 20 PGA Tour wins for his career on Sunday, he would become only the third golfer in history to reach the 20-victory mark before his 30th birthday, behind only Jack Nicklaus and, yes, Tiger Woods. (These stats come to us courtesy of the always-razor-sharp Justin Ray.)
Of course, Scheffler would not quite be in “Woods Territory” with a victory on Sunday. At the time of his 30th birthday, Tiger had already amassed an astonishing 46 professional wins. If Scheffler played in an event every week until his 30th birthday on June 21 and won each, he would only get to 39 victories before his 30th – still seven wins shy of Woods.
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Still, to find yourself in the 20/30 club is to find yourself in rarefied air – up next to arguably the two greatest players ever. Despite his brilliance, Scheffler’s historic trajectory has remained one of the underreported stories in golf over the last several years, a feat likely owed to his low-key style both on the course and off of it.
To reach the 20-win mark before his 30th would redefine that conversation as we know it – and it would start on Sunday at the American Express.
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