It’s no secret that Jack Nicklaus is a huge admirer of Scottie Scheffler. The G.O.A.T. has often compared the world #1 to himself, as both practice a very similar style of strokeplay. In his prime, Nicklaus was a master of fade shots, and Scheffler is dominating the fairway with the same style at present. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that the 73-time PGA Tour champion had nothing but positive things to say about Mr. Inevitable after his successful defence in the Memorial Tournament. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of degrading Ben Griffin & Co.

Scottie Scheffler beat Griffin, Sepp Straka, and Nick Taylor by 4 strokes to capture the 2025 Memorial Tournament victory. Talking about what the leaderboard looked like after the conclusion of the Signature event, Nicklaus said, “I think that great players are ones who rise to the occasion. And ones who know how to play are coming down the stretch for important events. Looking at the leaderboard today… I mean, Ben Griffin’s a nice player, Sepp Straka is a nice player, Nick Taylor is a nice player. Those are all the guys that were there, basically coming down the stretch. But he [Scottie Scheffler] knows those guys are not in his league. Now, if he would have had somebody else at the top… Maybe Xander or someone like that would have been there; that might be a little tougher. I might have to do something here. He didn’t have to.”

The 18-time major winner made a clear distinction between golfers like Griffin, Straka, and Taylor as compared to top players like Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. He believes that the former group can’t challenge in-form elite golfers who have found their rhythm going into the final round.

Though Scheffler was shaky early, missing the first four greens but his short game was what kept bailing him out. Griffin’s three-putt bogey at the fourth stretched Scheffler’s lead to two. The 28-year-old then tacked on a birdie at the par-5 seventh to improve to 9 under. But it wasn’t long before Scheffler dominated with a birdie at 11, pouring in a 14-foot birdie putt. Griffin then missed a birdie try from 4 feet and further added to his errors with bogeys on the following two holes. The result? All of Scheffler’s closest opponents were in the distance.

Unfortunately, the fans were not pleased with what Jack Nicklaus had to say, especially after the kind of efforts Ben Griffin, Sepp Straka, and Nick Taylor have put in this season. And they expressed their frustration with the legend’s comments. After all, Griffin managed to can a 12-foot eagle at 15 and sank a 28-foot birdie at 16 to cut his deficit to two shots. In all, he shot 73 to bag the runner-up finish at the Memorial and a T08 at the PGA Championship in his last six starts.

Netizens stand up against Jack Nicklaus’ elitist mentality

There were quite a few mixed reactions to Jack Nicklaus’ claims about Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. Most of them shared their frustration about the absurd comments, while others ridiculed the G.O.A.T. One of the fans laughed it off with a comment that read, “😂😂. Old people just seem to loose their filter.” Considering Nicklaus’ advanced age, there is no question that he is a lot more outspoken than most who were born in later generations. But at least his comments made one of the fans get a good laugh.

There were others who thought that having such thoughts was fine, but sharing them with others was absurd. They commented, “Jack saying the quiet part out loud. 🤣,” suggesting that Nicklaus should have kept his thoughts to himself. They believe that such things are not meant to be spoken “out loud.”

Showing support for the in-form Austrian golfer, someone also mentioned, “I don’t like this. Sepp has been ELITE this year. One of few who have won multiple this year.” Straka has been extremely elite as well this season. He has had two wins in 5 top-10 finishes as he beat top golfers like Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy to win his second title for the season.

Speaking of McIlroy, another fan also threw shade at Nicklaus by stating, “He didn’t say Rory… you know he thought it.” He might still be bitter about the Irishman’s decision to skip the 2025 Memorial Tournament in favor of the RBC Canadian Open. For him to mention the world #1 and then skip to the #3 just showed how he wanted to avoid presenting the 36-year-old in good light.

Nicklaus was known for being a gentleman on the course. Hence, his comments this evening surprised a fan as they wrote, “For a guy who made a career being mostly all class, this stinks. Needlessly belittling guys that are really damn good. We all know it, Jack doesn’t need to say it.” While there might be a distinction between the group of golfers Jack Nicklaus mentioned, for him to bluntly express his opinion in public didn’t sit well with the fans. That was the general opinion of many others who responded to Golf.com’s tweet.