Is Scottie Scheffler the Greatest Golfer of All Time Over the Last Two Years?

Scottie Scheffler has won a lot of golf tournaments and has been a great golfer these last 2 years, and now people are starting to ask the question: “Is Scottie Scheffler the best golfer of all time (if we only consider the last two years)”?

Titleist, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons/Sports Gutter Studios

With another win this past weekend at the Olympics, Scottie Scheffler has officially entered the greatest golfer of all time conversation, if that conversation is limited to the last 2 years only. Let’s look at the numbers:

In the last 2 years, Scottie Scheffler has won about a dozen or so times, including several majors and a gold medal representing his country (USA) on the biggest stage in all of Sport. When you compare what he has done over these last two years to what some of the other “greats” of the game have done, it’s not even close.

For example, Tiger Woods is a very good golfer and has won a lot of golf tournaments over his career. Some people may even say he’s their favorite golfer ever or that he’s one of the best golfers to ever do it, and that’s fine for them to say those things. But what has he done over the last two years? Not a damn thing.

What about another “great” - Jack Nicklaus? Sure, he was good in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, but greatness, true greatness, is about longevity in all decades (and, specifically for this article I am writing right now, it’s about the last 2 years only), and, well, Jack just ain’t getting it done anymore. Same with his “buddies” Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and I think Sam Snead is dead.

What about Tom Watson? He is considered to be “great” but remember a few years ago or maybe it was twenty years ago he was leading The British Open but then choked it away on the last hole? He hasn’t done dick since.

And then there’s other “greats” from the early 2000’s like Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, and Padraig Harrington. You just don’t really hear of these guys anymore and no one really knows why. Probably because during the time period I am writing about—the last two years only—these guys haven’t done jack.

And then some new guys like BDC, Xander Schauffele, and Brooks Koepka? Except for BDC and Xander these guys have just been okay over the last two years and aren’t really in the greatest-of-all-time-over-the-last-two-years conversation.

So that leaves one man, and one man only, who can claim to be the Greatest Golfer of All Time when only measured within the last two years: Scottie Scheffler.