The two players do it so differently, and yet they have gotten to — and stayed at — the same place.
The top.
The ingredients creating their stark contrast make watching Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy fascinating and draw you to them.
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Today’s “Big Two’’ in golf — Scheffler, ranked No. 1 in the world, and No. 2 McIlroy — own the sport right now. Between the two of them, they’ve accounted for five of the past 10 major championships, including four of the last six entering this week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock.
In golf, there has been a good share of eras with two or three players dominating the sport at different times. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were the most famous duo. More recently, it was Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Now, the separation is clear-cut: It’s Scottie and Rory — and then the rest.
“Those guys are at the top of the game at the moment, at the pinnacle, and it’s up to the rest of us to look at and pull ourselves forward,” Tommy Fleetwood told The Post recently. “It’s an amazing time and opportunity to be at this point in the game — whether you’re world No. 3 or No. 50 or No. 100.’’
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Ben Griffin, who’s emerged as one of the best players in the game the past two years, said Scheffler “seems to have a massive gap and Rory’s getting his gap even bigger’’ in relation to the rest of the field.
“Scottie right now is doing exactly what Tiger did in his career,’’ Griffin told The Post. “Scottie has a longer career ahead of him. I’m sure he’s going to be right there with the same kind of numbers as Tiger.
“With Scottie, his competitive drive is what impresses me most, and what impresses me most about Rory is how physically talented he is. They’re different. Scottie doesn’t necessarily have the golf swing that everyone admires and wants to replicate. Rory kind of does. Rory is able to use that when he’s playing really well to just overpower golf courses, be super aggressive, reach all the par 5s, and beat other guys when he’s really on.
“Scottie is more of a competitor. He has that competitive edge where it doesn’t matter what type of game he brings to the course, he’s gonna figure it out and make do with what he’s got and just try to get it in the hole. His competitive edge kind of belies the outward personality we see in him, because he’s just a flatline, chill guy.”
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Fleetwood and other players speak of “superpowers” possessed by Scheffler, still just 29, and McIlroy, 37.
“For Rory, it’s his longevity and his power,’’ Fleetwood said. “For Scottie, it’s his relentlessness in the way he plays and his attitude. He can play just beautiful golf — the best golf you can imagine. But his relentlessness to continue to find different ways, all the time, to be right there at the very end of a tournament. He’s always there.’’
Scottie Scheffler hits a tee shot on sixth hole during his U.S. Open practice round at Shinnecock Golf Course on June 16, 2026. Getty Images
Another player who has great perspective on the “Big Two’’ and who’s been on a bender the past year and a half is Chris Gotterup.
He stared down McIlroy to win the Scottish Open last July and, in February, he outplayed Scheffler while paired with him and won the WM Phoenix Open.
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“I played with Scottie in Phoenix this year, and in the first round he’d probably say he did not play good,’’ Gotterup told The Post. “And then you look up on Sunday and he’s tied for second. His ability to kind of dig it out of the ground each week is amazing. We all don’t have our best weeks, but his worst weeks tend to be pretty good — better than most. His worst weeks tend to be other people’s good weeks. I think that’s something all of us kind of appreciate.
“He doesn’t miss cuts, and when he makes the cut he finishes top 10. He’s just so consistent. And I appreciate his off-the-course stuff, too — he’s very diligent in his routine. He knows what he knows, and he sticks to it, and it’s gotten him to where he is. And he’s a great guy to hang out with. You’ve got to be a bit of a maniac and super competitive to be out here and to be the best in the world, but he’s very good at turning it off and turning it on. It’s very cool to be around him and to see it up close.’’
Like most, Gotterup marvels at McIlroy’s physical talent. Having moved to South Florida and joined The Bear’s Club, where McIlroy plays, he’s gotten a close-up view of him.
Rory McIlroy hits a tee shot on the first hole of his U.S. Open practice round at Shinnecock Golf Course on June 16, 2026. ill Streicher-Imagn Images
“He just does stuff with a golf ball that not a lot of people can do,’’ Gotterup said. “He’s one of the guys that, when he’s on, he seems unbeatable. Getting up close in person — in Scotland last year — the way he drives it and the way he hits his irons, it just looks like nothing is ever going to touch it. It’s impressive. And it’s impressive to do it for as long as he’s done it.’’
Sean Foley, one of the most prominent swing coaches in the game who once coached Tiger Woods, paid high compliments to Scheffler because his run of dominance has been taking place against a deeper pool of talent than the greats before him.
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“When Tiger hit the tour in ’97 outworking everybody, he was just so seismically different, better at every skill set,’’ Foley told The Post. “How many people could beat Jack in his prime? Maybe five, seven? Certainly, under 10. Tiger? Maybe 12 legitimately. Scottie now? Probably 40 or 50.
“No one, to me, is more gifted or more impressive to watch than Rory when he’s on. But Scottie just showing up every day and never messing up, it’s so clinical. It’s like Nicklaus how Scottie plays. He’s as long as almost anybody, a super-straight iron play. Elite. But he’s so not flashy. Nobody would think he’s that long off the tee unless you’re in the game and watching it. And, to be the best iron player of his generation, but keep it in play so often at, like, 180 (mph) ball speed … that’s extraordinary. …
“With Rory, he physically just looks different. He looks like he’s mashing. Rory at 5-foot-9 is just mind-boggling. As soon as you get taller, you have more time to create speed.
A smiling Scottie Scheffler talks to reporters after his U.S. Open practice round on June 16, 2026. Getty Images
“Rory is like a wide receiver running a 4.2 [in the 40] with great hands. You can play in the NFL if you run a 4.5 with great hands and perfect routes. But if you’ve got 4.2 with great hands, you can always have a job. Rory is physically just on another level. He’s one of the greatest drivers ever. It’s because he generates elite speed in a body you wouldn’t expect it from.”
Lucas Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, is a veteran whose career has bridged the gap from Woods late in his career to Scheffler and McIlroy now.
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“For a long time with Tiger, if he was in the field everybody was playing for second,’’ Glover told The Post. “That’s how we felt. Especially me as a 24-, 25-, 26-year-old when he was doing his thing. Scottie, the run he’s on, and Rory, the run he’s on, they’re playing some unbelievable golf. I don’t know that we’ll see a run like Tiger made ever again. But Scottie’s right there.”
Glover, like most everyone else who speaks about Scheffler, gushed about him.
Rory McIlroy (left) talks with Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood during their U.S. Open practice round on June 16, 2026. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
“I’ve said this for a couple of years now, that I am so impressed with his humility,’’ Glover said. “All he cares about is playing good golf and taking care of his family. He’s an awesome dad. He’s an awesome guy. But when it’s time to play, he wants to beat everybody by 20 [shots]. And he does it in the most humble, chill way.“There’s a drive there that I don’t think you can compare. He’s extremely driven to just get better, play better, be better. His humility and the way he handles himself is so attractive.’’
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Glover called McIlroy “physically a beast,’’ and praised him because he’s “changed with the times — hitting it farther, reshaping his body, doing all the things that need to be done now so he can play until he’s old, like me.
“His putting has obviously improved immensely. His short game around the greens is so underrated. Nobody ever talks about how good he is around the greens. They’ll talk about his driving. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does around the greens.’’
Glover offered a keen perspective explaining the difference between the Woods era of dominance and what we’re experiencing with Scheffler and McIlroy.
“Scottie and Rory know it, but they don’t play into it,’’ Glover said of how good they are. “Tiger knew it. Jack knew it. Those guys knew it and they used it. Scottie and Rory are just good dudes. Really good dudes. There was an intensity around Tiger, and almost everybody was intimidated. He liked it that way.”
Scottie Scheffler hits a ball out of the bunker during his U.S. Open practice round on June 16, 2026. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open winner, plays a lot of practice rounds with Scheffler and has become close friends with him. He said he gleans everything he can from him “and I don’t take it for granted.’’
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“His bad days are great days,’’ Woodland told The Post. “That’s what Tiger was so good at, too. When Tiger played bad, he still played well. And that’s hard to do. You look up and down this range and there are a lot of studs out here.
“Scottie does it week in and week out. What impresses me the most is he does it on every type of golf course. … How hard is it to follow up good rounds? He’s following up wins with wins.
“But he doesn’t do it in the dominating, flashy way Tiger did. I’m not comparing the two. It’s completely different. Tiger made it look awesome. Scottie probably gets taken for granted sometimes because he’s not flashy, he’s just right there in front of you, doing it the way you’re supposed to do it. You could almost say he bores you to death with how well he plays.’’
Woodland, like many players, has an appreciation for McIlroy’s staying power.
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“I appreciate the longevity of how Rory’s done it,’’ Woodland said. “He came out so quickly at a young age and dominated in a fashion where we all thought he was going to win 100 majors. And then he had his little dry spell. And to live with that every day. You saw the relief when he won last year at Augusta. He just went down to the ground in pure relief. You felt that. And then to follow it up this year with winning the Masters again … ’’
Jordan Spieth is a Texan like Scheffler, having played with him since they were young, and he knows him as well as anyone outside of Scheffler’s family.
“I think it’s two things with Scottie,’’ Spieth told The Post. “One, it’s a level of consistency. Doing what he does over and over again, how similar he does it, how well he does it as a ball-striker. You can’t teach how he does it. You obviously couldn’t really teach Rory’s either. But Rory’s swing is a little closer to being technically sound.
“Scottie knows what he does well and doesn’t try to change it based on what anybody says. He has full control of his swing and his game. It’s that thing some of these legends talk about: ‘When you swing your swing, you own your swing.’ When you get to that, you can push it to that level. That’s what he’s done. Both of them have done that, but they’re so different.
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“The other thing with Scottie is that mentally, he seems unflappable. Whether we’re playing at home or on the road or he’s in the Sunday of a major, he’s the same. The only difference in his measured heart rate is that he’s just a little chirpier. He doesn’t show that side [in public]. Nothing seems to change, which means mentally he’s got to be so sound. He doesn’t walk faster, his mannerisms aren’t different.’’
Rory McIlroy acknowledges the fans during his U.S. Open practice round on June 16, 2026. Getty Images
Spieth noted the contrast in McIlroy’ personality on the golf course, saying, “You can tell if Rory is playing well because he’s got the stride, right?
“With Scottie, you wouldn’t know if he was shooting a million. And how often is he ever shooting a million?’’
Keegan Bradley, as the 2025 Ryder Cup captain, has gotten to know Scheffler well.
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“What’s different about Scottie is he’s a really normal guy,’’ Bradley told The Post. “Most of the time when I’ve met dominant athletes, they have a very dominant personality. Scottie certainly has that inside the ropes, but when he leaves the ropes, he’s a normal guy, genuinely a great person. He’s somebody I’d love my boys to grow up to be like.
“At the Ryder Cup, he obviously didn’t have his best week, but he cared more about how the other guys were doing than anything else. When the weight of the world was on his shoulders, he was only asking, ‘What can I do to help the other guys?’’’
Rory?
“The shots he hits are the best things I’ve ever seen,’’ Bradley said. “It seems like something out of an AI simulator. When he’s walking down the fairway with that rhythm and balance, he’s just really tough to beat.
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“For me, it’s been really cool being in Rory’s generation — having a player in my generation winning the Grand Slam. With Tiger, though, it was different — bigger and grander. He had an aura. He transcended golf into something different entirely.
“Playing with Tiger in the final group when he had that red and black on … that was different. These guys are the closest to that of anybody else, but it’s not quite the same.’’
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