Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner join Golf Today to discuss the possibility of Scottie Scheffler setting the modern standard for wins in a PGA Tour season. #GolfChannel #golfcentral #ScottieScheffler
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Putting Scottie Scheffler’s historic season in context | Golf Today | Golf Channel
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we’re going to welcome in the wit and wisdom of golf channel in Rex hogard and Ryan lavner although we’re never quite sure on any given day who’s got the wit and who’s got the wisdom but I guess we’re about to find out Rex I want to start with you is there any scenario as a cre creative writing exercise for you here any scenario where Scotty Sheffer is not the PGA Tour Player of the Year by the time the FedEx Cup playoffs end I’m going to go with wit here and just say no there’s absolutely no way of doing this that being said I do think there could possibly be a conversation if and only if Bryce and D Shambo were able to win the Open Championship in two weeks when we get to Royal tro because that would give him two major championships versus one major championship for Scotty sheffler Scotty also has the PLAYERS Championship so at that point it becomes a bit of a conversation about quality over quantity because certainly it’s not going to be able to Bryce is not going to be able to match up with what Scotty has done on the PGA tour and it’s really important to point out this is a membership vote so even if Bryson were to win the Open Championship I wouldn’t imagine that would sway too many votes but at least then I think it would become a conversation I think there’s a possibility Rex if it’s not going to be Bryon a shamble which obviously would not be a PG Tour player of the year award but I do think Xander schofl if he gets close to running the table over these past two months he’s going to have to put together a stretch that at least Rivals what Scotty Sheffer has done over these past couple months because think about it right now Scotty sheffler has nearly a stroke better scoring average his stroke scan numbers are nearly a half shot better uh you look at the number number of Victories it’s five more than Xander shof the number of top 10 it’s two more than Xander shof so how would Xander chof do this at the at the bare minimum he needs to win the Open Championship for a second major championship this season I think he needs to win at least two of the three fedus Cup playoff events including the FedEx Cup title and he probably needs to win again the Olympic gold medal which although it’s not an official PJ Tour event keep in mind the PJ tour membership is voting for that I do think that could hold a lot of sway that’s a lot of ifs uh that’s a of possibilities uh but to me Xander schafle is the only player who can potentially threaten and it’s going to take an absolutely historic stretch over these next two months Rex let’s talk some history here as we make the Scotty and tiger comparisons all the time and as we look in the modern era the most single season wins in a hor season no surprise tiger in 2000 notched nine VJ in 2004 had nine Scotty sits at six we don’t know how many more events he’s going to play in this season but he’ll have enough to chase that number nine can he get to nine or possibly Eclipse it recks he certainly can if you look at the clip he’s on right now he’s won six times as you pointed out in 15 starts and if my math is right here that’s a 40% winning clip and you’re right we don’t know exactly what his schedule is going to look like but you would assume safely that he’s going to play the Open Championship he’s going to take a week off or so and then get ready for the playoffs so that’s four events assuming he plays all three of the playoff events and then I’m going to throw the Olympics in there as Ryan just pointed out not an official event but it’s probably going to weigh in to this equation one way or the other let’s say he can win at least two of those going into East Lake the Tour Championship I do think you could have an interesting conversation about the idea that okay maybe he could reach that number where this gets a little weird and we pointed this out time and time again Scotty has never won a PGA Tour event in either July or August so it seems like the deck to sacked against him but when it comes to Scotty and the clip he’s on right now I’m not voting against him doing anything Rex I think you’d have to put the over underline at what and a half overall season victories for Scotty sheffler if you’re looking at this practically the Open Championship has been Scotty’s worst major in what is a pretty limited sample size with three starts just have three top 25 finishes uh the Olympics that’s going to be the weakest field that he’s going to be facing all year long you have to like him at the golf National how about uh Memphis he does not have a top 30 finish there in his past two starts Castle pin is a new venue form I do like him at East Lake as well look at his scoring average there uh in his career 60 8.44 you would think even though he’s had the incredibly historic season he has it’s wild to think that he could not be the fatex Cup champion since he’s starting that week with just a two- shot Advantage so I do think it’s realistic he can pick off two more I think the line’s probably set at seven and a half just for practical reasons Ryan is there any kind of Taylor G asterisk in any of this in terms of this phenomenal season he’s putting together because of the division in the game that he isn’t actually beating all of the best players in the world you know John Ram obviously isn’t there cam Smith isn’t there I remember asking Podrick Harrington years ago did it bother him that tiger wasn’t in the field and two of his majors and podrick’s answer was well you can only beat those who show up so there there is a valid defense to that but does it in any way diminish the Scotty shefer season because of the division in this game no I don’t think so aan I mean it wasn’t until recently that all of the best players in the world were playing together on the PJ tour uh tournament we week in and week out you think back to the strength of the European tour 20 30 years ago like I don’t think anyone looks back to the accomplishments of the players in the in the ’90s and early 2000s and think that those were diminished because not all the best players were there I do understand the discourse at this moment because when you look at head-to-head between Scotty sheffler and Bryson to Shambo Bryson has beaten Scotty in two of the three like tournaments that they have played in but I do think Scotty’s resume this season stands on its own the Masters The Players Championship four signature wins against the best PJ tour players that they have to offer Strokes numbers we haven’t seen in more than a decade he’s emphatically beating the players that are in front of him I do think to your point though aan that in 5 to 10 years from now this era is going to be viewed as one of uh bifurcated Talent you know so I don’t think that’s necessarily an Ask risk I I just think it’s additional context for what we’re viewing it’s a small sample size but I think it’s an important sample size and I’m talking about the major championships here where he has gone head-to-head with the players who join Liv goof and we’ve seen him have success obviously winning the Masters you go back to the PGA Championship and whatever happened on that Friday morning between he and detective Brian Gillis of the of the bahala Louisville Police Department we’ll never know on that front but if you look at what he’s done head-to-head against these players specifically Bryson D Shambo I think it proves the point he is by far the best player in the game right now and even though the world rankings probably aren’t going to be a very fair comparison on there if you look at data golf which does include finishes in live golf events Scotty still has a sizable advantage on that front maybe as Ryan pointed out 10 years from now we’re having a different conversation but I believe that data set sort of that window that we can see them going head to-head is enough to show that Scotty would beat anyone you put in front of him I guess my only issue with it guys is the fact with and lav you tell me but I I feel like you watch a guy like Bryson pop up and see what he did at Pinehurst you see other guys step in and apply some pressure but then they disappear there’s something about in any sport an omni present pressure of a presence of somebody and if you don’t have that necessarily alongside you you don’t feel the pressure to perform week in we week out because you know hey when some of those bigger names that I’m not seeing until the majors aren’t there well I’m I’m amassing numbers to put together historic season because they’re not there for the others it’s fair to say certainly when you look at last year on the on the PGA tour you look at what John ROM and and Scotty Sheffer were having the debate on who the PJ Tour player of the year was going to be you had John ROM kind of pop up and he was he had four four wins in very short order but Scotty sheffler was consistently excellent week in and week out again you did not have some of the players who had defected to live you didn’t have the Cameron Smiths you didn’t have uh the The Bryson a Shambo the Brooks kkas the Dustin Johnson’s at least uh this time around you do not have the John ROM competing against him week in and week out on the PJ tour I think anyone regardless of your affiliation or which which tour you’re a fan of PG tour or live golf I think it is indisputable that skot sheffler is the best player in the world I think it’s just a bummer for golf fans that we only really get to see all the best players together four times a year Rex this was the last of the signature events that we just saw uh Scotty Sheffer win at The Travelers Championship there’s been a lot of debate over a lot of issues whether it’s the Cadence of the schedule the size of the fields the FedEx Cup point allocations the sponsor exemptions there’s a lot for head quarters to chew on over this which one of those issues do you think needs to be if any of them need to be addressed at all in your mind which one needs to be addressed most urgently amen I’m going to be a little selfish here and actually pick two talking with players I think field size is an issue and certainly the PGA Tour policy board addressed that last week they sort of set the ceiling or or the floor I should say at 72 players is going to be an alternate list going forward and I think that’s important because we ended up with some weird Fields this week this at this year because you ended up having guys having to play as onom the entire week you had 68 and 60 man fields that doesn’t work out for anyone however if you talk to players I think most will tell you that something closer to 80 maybe even 90 players is going to be a better representation going forward for no other reason than it just creates a better product and you’re also creating more playing opportunities for the rank and file and the other half of that I I think when you look at the Cadence of the schedule and I think this is really important what they were trying to do was create sort of two two three full field events going into two to three major championship SL Signature Events they did that the first year around but what we ended up with is what we saw over these last three weeks when you had the memorial tournament which was brutally hard going into the US Open which was equally brutally hard and then the Travelers Championship on the back end you had tired players who didn’t feel like being out there playing during this particular window so I think the tour is going to have to take a really hard look at the schedule and just create a better Cadence so you don’t end up putting these players these top players through this grind that they’re not playing their best golf yeah Rex I am agreeing with you on on this one I’m not as offended by the field size or the amount of churn that we are or aren’t seeing in the Signature Events but I’m I’m really like you kind of honing in on the timing of these you know you had the kick of event at capala and then you lost any sort of momentum that was built off because you didn’t have one again uh for four weeks time then you crammed four in an 8-week stretch you had two before a major championship well that was too hard of a test and you had sort of everyone on site and and golf fans at home looking ahead to the next week’s major championship you had two of those Signature Events after a major championship which felt like a letdown I understand why they’re doing it the PJ tours because you have this Aon uh swing five in next 10 but I don’t think it’s the right move for the PJ tour if you’re compromising the events that you have your biggest and best Fields sort of to try and get this Cadence of Signature Events and full field events I don’t think it quite worked in 2024 where those Signature Events were really highlighted like they should have Rex and lav both providing wit and wisdom I think amen we appreciate the time fellas look forward to speaking soon sounds good guys
