Scottie Scheffler’s rise to the top of golf has been remarkable. At just 29 years old, the world No. 1 has racked up 17 career PGA Tour wins, including four in 2025 alone, and an incredible 14 top-10 finishes this season. His consistency and ability to deliver under pressure have made him a dominant force on tour. While his achievements are well known, the key turning point that set him on this path is a story that isn’t told as often.

During a recent episode of On the Bag on Skratch Golf’s YouTube channel, Daniel Berger joined Dan Rapaport for a round at his home course, Dye Preserve Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida. While they touched on several topics, it was Berger’s insights into Scottie Scheffler’s evolution that stood out. Having seen Scottie up close in his early years, Daniel Berger noted that the talent was always there, but something intangible changed after the 2021 Ryder Cup.

“So obviously, like I played with Scottie his first couple years on tour a few times, and I was like, ‘man, this guy’s incredible!’ But he kind of went… what was on that like he was always up there, but he never won, and then Stricker took him in the Ryder Cup, and he played incredible, and like after that it was over,” Berger recalled. “He stomped Ram I remember him saying,” Dan Rapaport quickly added, who was on Berger’s bag for nine holes. The moment Daniel Berger referenced was Scheffler’s dominant 4 & 3 win over then World No. 1 Jon Rahm in the 2021 Ryder Cup singles.

It was a bold pairing decision by then Team U.S.A. captain Steve Stricker, and the match turned into a showcase for Scheffler’s fearlessness. He birdied the first five of six holes and never let Rahm in the match — a performance that made everyone take notice of Scottie Scheffler. In typical fashion, Scheffler downplayed the moment after the round — “I played very solid today. Definitely some confidence going forward.” But the truth is that the match was a pivotal moment that turned things around for Scheffler. Since then, Scheffler has managed to gather 17 wins under his belt.“I don’t know if it was like this confidence that he had, like ‘Oh, I can do this,’ but I mean, he was like a different person,” Berger added.

That moment became the launchpad for a player who, in the years since, has been almost impossible to beat — even on his so-called “bad days.” It’s a trait Daniel Berger emphasized when asked about the changes he’s seen. “Yeah. I mean, he’s just so consistent. It’s like he just… his bad days are still good days, and that’s the difference, right? It’s like, you know, a guy that’s 100 in the world has a bad day, shoots 73. Scottie Scheffler has a bad day, shoots 69. That’s the difference between staying in the golf tournament and finishing 30th,” Berger said in awe.

The stats bear this out. This season, Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in scoring average at 68.24, but it’s not just about the low numbers — it’s about damage control. Over the last three years, he’s had multiple events where a round that would knock most players out of contention still ended with him near the top of the leaderboard or even holding a trophy. In 2025, he shot a third-round 72 at the Masters and still finished 4th, and a 73 at Pebble Beach but ended up T9. In 2024, he posted a 73 on Saturday at the PGA Championship and still finished T8, shot 72 in the second round of the Masters and won, and even carded a 74 at the Memorial before going on to win the event.

As Berger pointed out, “You’re never going to have four perfect rounds. I mean, I’m sure if you asked him, you know, ‘how many tournaments have you played where you played four perfect rounds?’ I mean, he would say never. It was just that the bad days were better, right?” That ability to turn average rounds into top finishes is one of the biggest reasons Scheffler has dominated in the years since that Ryder Cup spark.

 This trait of Scottie Scheffler didn’t just give him confidence, but it laid the foundation for a level of dominance the golf world hadn’t seen in years.

Scottie Scheffler’s dominant rise

Since that pivotal Ryder Cup victory over Jon Rahm in 2021, Scottie Scheffler has elevated his game to a level of dominance rarely seen since the Tiger Woods era. That pivotal moment was a foundation for Scheffler’s 17 wins on the PGA Tour. In 2022, Scottie Scheffler not only had four wins on the tour but also claimed his first major victory at the 2022 Masters. He beat Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy by three shots. While 2023 seemed to be a little less extravagant than the previous year, with only 2 wins, 2024 was a phenomenal year for Scheffler.

Not only did he have seven wins on the PGA Tour, but he also won the Olympic Gold in Paris. Now, Scheffler has four major titles under his belt and signature titles like the Players Championship and the Memorial— all while rarely finishing outside the top 10. More impressively, he’s done it with a level of consistency that separates him from even his elite peers like Rory McIlroy. Out of the 147 events he’s played since joining the tour in 2020, he has had 53 top-five finishes. That is almost 6% more than what McIlroy has had in his 15 years of being on the PGA Tour. There’s no doubt that Scheffler’s ability to stay in contention, week after week, regardless of course conditions or field strength, has made him the undisputed world No. 1.