Scottie Scheffler, A very special Masters... It just seems right!

As many of you know who have read my

columns over the years, I like to compare

historical tournament information with

current tournament statistics and trivia

to determine if there are any similarities

or differences between todays PGA Tour

players to the greats of the past. I found a few

I hope you will enjoy.

For starters...

* There have been only three golfers in

history to win THE MASTERS “twice”, at a

younger age than Scottie Scheffler (27)...Jack

Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Steve Ballesteros.

* Including Scheffler, there is only one other

golfer to win multiple Masters titles while

ranked No.1 in the World...Tiger Woods.

* From his 1st tournament of the 2024

PGA Tour season, Scottie Scheffler has not

shot a score over “even par”.

If that’s not enough bamboozlement to

comprehend, add this...

* He averaged 305.7 yards with his drives.

* He played the par fours...even par.

* He was two-under on the par 3’s.

* He shot nine-under on the par 4’s.

* He made nine birdies on the par 5’s.

* He hit 79% of the fairways.

* He hit 70% of his greens in regulation.

* He only putted 109 times in four

rounds...average of 1.5 putts per hole...27

per round.

When you begin to combine all of Scottie’s

stats and trivia over the last three years, it is

easy to start comparing him to more than

just a few current and past greats of the

game. And when he readily admitted after his

Masters victory that, “The game of golf is not

my first priority, it’s 4th after our first child

that we are expecting in a few weeks, my wife

and my faith”, you begin to realize this young

man does have his life and priorities in the

the proper order.

Refreshing, I would add.

I have been waiting a long time for someone

like Scottie Scheffler to play on the PGA

Tour. His character, integrity, temperament

and constitution are being well received, not

only by the players on Tour, but by his new

fans around the world. I started talking about

him in glowing terms last fall when he was

the PGA Tour Money Winner for the second

consecutive year, the ESPY Award winner

for Best Golfer, the Byron Nelson Award

recipient and the Vardon Trophy winner for

lowest scoring average. Add the PGA Tour

Rookie of the Year in 2019 and you have the

makings of a true “Superstar” for the game

of golf that I believe is desperately needed at

this time. Hopefully, he will continue to keep

his “Top Three Priorities” in life true to his

faith.

Here is what Martin Conway, professor at

Georgetown University Sports Management

has to say about Schleffer...” Scottie Schleffer

is now equated to performance. Ultimately,

he’s dependable and reliable. Performance

day in and day out. He is a business machine

and it is hard to overstate his dominance on

the PGA Tour”.

The facts are mind boggling and clear. It

is certainly a great time to be a good golfer.

Over the past decade, the on course average

for PGA Tour players has grown 57% to

$1.6 million. That figure is pumped-up to an

astounding 4,094% when compared to 1980,

which was the first publicly available data

from the PGA Tour.

What Conway is saying is that the potential

money for golfers at the top of their game to

earn is astonishing and if Scottie continues to

win at his present pace, he will shatter every

career money record by the time he retires.

Scottie Scheffler is in the right place, at the

right time in history to make a significant

impact on the game of golf that is worthy of

attention.

CONGRATULATIONS SCOTTIE...WELL DONE.

Perry Noun is the former executive director of the Northeastern NY PGA as well as a competitive amateur golfer and winner of the New York State Super Senior Amateur Championship. Perry Noun can be heard on “Tee Time With The Pro-noun” on... News Radio 570 WSYR and 106.9FM.