Jordan Spieth is a reminder of how quickly golf careers can shift. In 2015, he burst onto the scene with a Master’s and US Open win before turning 22, five PGA Tour titles, and a FedEx Cup victory, looking destined for greatness. While his path since then has had ups and downs, his journey highlights both the brilliance and challenges of sustained success — a perspective now shaping how fans view Scottie Scheffler’s rapid rise.

ESPN analyst Michael Collins said on a Yahoo! Sports podcast that, how quickly golf fans compare one player to another. Discussing an edited picture of Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods walking side by side with the caption, “Scottie Scheffler is the first player since Tiger Woods to record five or more wins in back-to-back seasons,” Collins presented the absurdity of such distinctions. “As fans and in the media, we wanted to make someone the next Michael Jordan. There’s no next Michael Jordan. Right? So think about golf. It’s fun to do that, and it can be entertaining, but the truth is, there’s no more Tiger Woods.” Time and again, Scottie Scheffler has been compared to Woods. While he has consistently downplayed those parallels, his dominance on the Tour continues to fuel them. “It’s very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods. “I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will,” he recently said.

Collins frames the conversation with perspective. “What he did from winning that Masters and 2000, I mean 2000 Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach, he beat the game of golf. Have we seen Scottie do that? No. Right.”

That distinction is key because Tiger Woods didn’t just dominate — he transformed the sport. From his 1997 Masters breakthrough at 21 to the legendary “Tiger Slam” in 2000–01, Woods built a resume that remains unmatched: 15 major championships, 82 PGA Tour victories, and 683 weeks as world No. 1. Simply put, Tiger did “beat the game of golf.” Scheffler, by contrast, is still building his legacy. Since 2022, he’s collected four majors — including back-to-back Masters plus the 2025 Open and PGA Championship — and a total of 18 PGA Tour wins. He’s the only player since Woods to sustain that level of performance, which is why so many are tempted to place him alongside the Big Cat. But as Collins points out, history has warned us before.

“It’s fun to do stuff like that. But is it a fair comparison, necessarily? No, not really. It’s fun to watch. And what’s cool about what Scottie’s doing is think about all the guys who had runs. Go way back. Start with Jordan Spieth. Remember him in 2015, when everybody looked at him and was like, ‘Yo, Jordan is the next one.’ And that lasted what—a year, maybe?”

Spieth’s rise in 2015 bore an eerily similar resemblance to the hype surrounding Scheffler today. Analysts praised his mental toughness; his putting stroke was considered the best on Tour, and he briefly reached world No.1. For a time, he was the heir apparent. “I don’t think it’s fair. What Tiger has done for the game of golf, I don’t know if it can or will be matched ever,” Spieth had once said on his comparison with Woods. Then came the 2016 Masters, where a five-shot lead evaporated in nine holes. From that collapse forward, Spieth never looked the same. He went through a lot to achieve his lost sheen.

He changed his swings, lost his putting edge, and battled a chronic wrist injury that eventually required surgery in 2024. Now, he has only had two wins in his last 146 starts, no majors since 2017, and a fall from consistent top-10 status. Some days, his wrists still trouble him, but he boldly fights back. Hence, Collins is right here. Spieth’s career is the prime example of why the sport punishes premature coronations.

That’s not to say Scheffler is destined to follow the same path. If anything, his steady temperament and complete game suggest a long career. “Golf has its ebbs and flows, except for what Tiger did. And now it’s cool to see Scottie, his eb and flow is lasting so much longer than everybody else’s. That’s why we want to make these comparisons because we’re like, ‘Yeah, we ain’t seen nobody do this since Tiger,’” Collins concluded.

Jordan Spieth through Tiger’s eyes

When Spieth first burst onto the scene, even Tiger Woods took notice. After the Texan’s Rookie of the Year run in 2013, Woods praised his “inner belief,” the kind that fuels consistency and momentum. He pointed to Spieth’s rapid rise from college standout to Tour winner, calling that confidence the snowball effect every great player needs. “I think the inner belief in one’s self is certainly key, and I think Jordan demonstrates that.”

Years later, Woods’s assessment of Spieth shifted with time and struggle. Speaking during The Match in March, he admitted they once nicknamed him “the golden child” because of how effortlessly he climbed. “But if you play this game long enough you are going to go through slumps and times when things are tough. He has fought back and ground his way back into this position and he has earned it. It is one of the things we all respect about him.“