Tranlate this title Scottie Scheffler compared to Tiger Woods as Rory McIlroy difference is explained in spanish

Scottie Scheffler has spent the last few years making winning look almost normal, and golf writer Jaime Diaz believes one particular ability separates the world No. 1 from Rory McIlroy at this stage of their careers.

Scheffler ended the 2026 PGA Tour season with another victory at the Tour Championship, closing with a 66 at East Lake and winning by three shots over Viktor Hovland. It was his third victory of the year, his 22nd PGA Tour title and his second FedEx Cup, another step in a career that has moved very quickly since his first Tour win in 2022.

McIlroy still owns the better major record. The 37-year-old has six major championships and completed the Career Grand Slam in 2025, while Scheffler has four majors and still needs the US Open to complete the same achievement.

Both players have already created careers that many golfers can only dream about, but their stories are still far from finished.

Diaz, however, believes Scheffler has already developed something McIlroy needed much longer to learn.

Diaz compares Scheffler with McIlroy and Woods

Speaking on Five Clubs, Diaz said that if both careers ended today, he would still put McIlroy slightly ahead because of the Northern Irishman’s six majors and long list of tournament victories.

“I’d qualify it by saying if you ended it right now, you’d have to say six majors and all the tournament wins, you’d have to kind of say that’s the end product of a slightly superior career,” Diaz said.

However, his view changes when looking at their level and how Scheffler wins.

“To me, he’s been the second best player of this century, in terms of his level of play, his standard of play. And it’s because he’s so well-rounded. He’s so complete. He can do it so many different ways. He can not play his best and win tournaments. You don’t see that too often. Rory’s learning to do it, but he’s already 37. Scottie seemed to have it innately, and Tiger always did that.”

Diaz even described the 30-year-old as “Tiger-lite,” although he did not claim Scheffler is already equal to Tiger Woods overall.

“He’s a Tiger-lite slightly. There’s certain things he does maybe as well or even better than Tiger. His iron play is pretty darn close. Tiger was longer, Tiger’s a better putter. Scottie in every other area, you could say is almost Tiger’s equal which is just incredible.”

Scheffler’s consistency gives Diaz a lot of material for that argument. The American finished 2026 with 13 top-10 results in 20 PGA Tour starts and reached the top five at three of the four majors. He was runner-up to McIlroy at the Masters and tied fourth at both the US Open and The Open.

Scheffler keeps adding to his career

The world No. 1 did not have the kind of dominant regular season he produced in 2024 or 2025, but he still found a way to finish with three victories. He opened the year by winning The American Express, then took the FedEx St. Jude Championship by eight shots before finishing the season with the Tour Championship.

That final victory moved Scheffler to 22 PGA Tour wins and made him only the third player to win multiple FedEx Cups, joining Woods and McIlroy. He also moved past Woods to the top of the PGA Tour’s all-time official money list.

McIlroy had his own big moment in 2026. The Northern Irishman successfully defended the Masters and beat Scheffler by one shot, taking his sixth major championship and 30th PGA Tour victory.

The difference between their careers is therefore still clear on paper. McIlroy has played at the highest level for much longer and owns more victories and more majors, while Scheffler is seven years younger and already has a large number of wins.

Scheffler also still has one obvious target. The US Open remains the only major he has not won. He entered the final round at Shinnecock Hills this year six shots behind Wyndham Clark and finished tied fourth, meaning his Career Grand Slam attempt will continue in 2027.

Diaz believes Scheffler has time on his side and expects his career total to continue moving closer to McIlroy’s.

“I do think because of that, if you’re talking about what was the most memorable play to this point, 2026, in this century, I would say it is the Scottie era because it looks like it’s moving forward,” he said.

McIlroy still has years left to add more titles as well, so the comparison is far from finished. For now, the 37-year-old owns the bigger major total, while Scheffler continues to show why many believe he can eventually catch him.