Scottie Scheffler’s win at Royal Portrush for The Open Championship not only made him the first World No. 1 golfer to hold a 36-hole lead at The Open since Tiger Woods but also sparked another major comparison between the two. According to NBC, there was exactly a gap of 1197 days between Scheffler’s first Masters win in 2022 and his first The Open win in 2025  – the same number of days between Tiger Woods’ 1997 Masters win and his 2000 Open victory. A coincidence? Likely, but that didn’t stop the golf world from comparing them.

And that’s exactly what Rich Lerner, a television producer, can’t wrap his head around. Sure, he agrees that you can stack their numbers against each other, but it’s still not enough. And, yes, that works even when you point out that Scottie Scheffler is the first golfer since Tiger Woods to clinch back-to-back Memorial Tournament wins.

On his recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Lerner replied to the question of “At what point do we dip our toe into the Scottie-Tiger early comparisons?” with “Yeah, I think we need to back off. Tiger was one of one. I mean, let’s just step back for a second.” To back up his statements, Lener provides some stats.

Tiger Woods has a total of 15 major championships compared to Scheffler’s four. By age 29, Woods had already secured 40 PGA Tour victories and eight major titles, ultimately achieving 82 wins throughout his career. Scottie Scheffler, who turned 29 in June, celebrated his 17th career win on Sunday at Royal Portrush, which includes four majors. Aside from that, Scheffler has now achieved 10 consecutive wins when leading after 54 holes, while Woods accomplished this feat 36 times, making it nearly impossible for competitors to catch him once he took the lead.

Despite these stark differences, Lerner is still hopeful, “Um, now I will say, um, if you game this out, you can begin to convince yourself that he could crawl into Tiger major championship territory someday. And that’s predicated on staying healthy and all of that.” But Lerner believes that Scheffler’s future success hinges on “his health and motivation.”

But he still entertains the idea of Scheffler reaching Woods’s feat: Scheffler will need to clinch one major win each between the ages of 29 and 35 to reach 10 major wins; between 35 and 38, Learner suggested, Scheffler could grab a few more and, in his 40s, maybe another few. Then, maybe, Learner says, he could reach Tiger Woods’s level, “We’d be in serious discussions about getting to 15. And that’s where Tiger’s at.” 

He isn’t the only one to dismiss Scheffler-Woods comparisons, however. Former pro, Robert Lee, said about these comparisons: “I don’t think we’ll ever see the entire package like Tiger again. I don’t think we’ll ever see it.” Indeed, that is exactly what the man of the hour thinks as well.

Scottie Scheffler couldn’t care less about Tiger Woods’s comparisons

Scottie Scheffler’s dismissal of comparisons to Tiger Woods at a pivotal moment: when his fellow pros began drawing parallels to the legend. And the pros’ stance makes sense. Xander Schauffele, for instance, believes Scheffler is taking the throne of dominance. Following Scheffler’s The Open win, Schauffele said, “I don’t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here’s Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance.” However, Scheffler remains humble in the face of such praise.

When asked about the comparisons to Woods, Scheffler downplayed them, saying, “I still think they’re a bit silly. Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there… I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy.”

Despite his humility, Scheffler’s trophy cabinet is growing at an impressive rate. He’s now the third-youngest player to win 15 PGA Tour events and four majors, making him part of an elite group, inclusive of Woods and Jack Nicklaus. He’s also one of four players in history to win the Masters, The Open Championship, and PGA Championship before turning 30, and one of four players over the last 50 years to win four or more majors in his first 25 major starts, alongside Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka.

The conclusion? Sure, Scottie Scheffler may never win as many majors as Tiger Woods did, but he’s already a brilliant player in his own right.