With the last leg of the major golf tournaments finally in swing, the debates have taken over on social media. Everyone has a take, particularly Brandel Chamblee, who is never the one to hold back his opinions. And with his recent tweet, he has now landed himself at the center of the latest storm surrounding the sport’s biggest honor: Player of the Year.

In a moment of candor, Chamblee remarked that it’s likely that Rory McIlroy, who has won two major championships this season —The PLAYERS Championship and the Masters, completing his long-awaited career Grand Slam — will NOT be rewarded the Player of the Year crown. This was a nod towards Scottie Scheffler — the likely winner — whose dominance has been overwhelmingly undeniable. He himself won two majors this year, the PGA Championship and The Open Championship, and currently sits atop the FedExCup standings, after winning the BMW Championship this week.

Brandel Chamblee’s analysis drew echoes on social media, bringing into conversation Phil Mickelson. A user replied under Chamblee’s post: “Was Phil’s take on Scottie this year arguably the worst golf take of all time? Can’t think of a worse one.” The comment referred to Mickelson’s bold prediction earlier this season that Scheffler wouldn’t win a tournament until after the Ryder Cup in September. His prediction came at a time when the American was going through a winless drought. But that claim aged poorly — Scheffler went on a tear, piling up victories and cementing his place as the game’s most dominant force. When the jab at Mickelson appeared under his tweet, Chamblee simply replied, “Phil was always bold.“

Now, in hindsight, this might appear as Chamblee siding with Mickelson for once. But anyone familiar with their history would know that it was nothing but a jibe at Lefty, who has built a reputation for provocative, often unconventional claims. Just earlier this year, he declared that LIV’s Joaquin Niemann was currently the best player in the world. When someone called Niemann one of the top 5, Mickelson was quick to respond with, “Top 5, Try #1.” Although, golf insider said this was more about promoting LIV players than with an objective ranking.

Chamblee, by contrast, has never shied away from pushing back on Mickelson’s rhetoric, especially on his association with LIV. “The only time anyone seems to pay any attention to LIV is when [Phil] Mickelson…make insanely idiotic comments about the skill of LIV players,” he once commented. So yeah, his tweet doesn’t sound supportive of Mickelson, if one looks close enough.

He had even made some strong claims as to how LIV is meant to succeed, with its ability to attract a younger audience. So yeah, Phil’s takes are by no means surprising to the golf world now, but they are definitely interesting and spark some intense debates.

Coming onto the larger debate, who deserves to be the Player of the Year? While McIlroy certainly achieved a historic feat, the stats affirm Brandel Chamblee’s take. Let’s have a look at that.

Scottie Scheffler’s season outshines Rory’s Grand Slam

The 2025 Player of the Year (POY) debate is unlike anything golf has seen in years because both Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler built resumes that would normally stand alone in any other season. McIlroy finally delivered the Masters win that had eluded him for a decade, completing the career Grand Slam and becoming just the sixth player in the modern era to do it. That alone would typically cement POY, but he also paired it with a playoff triumph at THE PLAYERS and a victory at Pebble Beach.

Scheffler, though, rewrote the record books in the same window. He claimed the PGA Championship by five shots, the largest margin at that event since McIlroy’s own in 2012, and blitzed the field at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a record-tying 72-hole score. He also added to his cabinet the Claret Jug. Add to that several other PGA Tour wins, and you get a campaign that rivals Tiger Woods‘s peak years. Statistically, he was untouchable: leading the Tour in Strokes Gained: Total, off the Tee, and Approach, while finishing inside the top-10 in over 80% of his starts. He broke the mark for most PGA Tour wins before turning 29, outside of Woods and Jack Nicklaus, reinforcing his status as the sport’s dominant force.

Additionally, there’s the fact that both of these champions have each won the award three times. Rory McIlroy won it in 2012, 2104, and 2019, while Scheffler received it consecutively from 2022 to 2024.

So here’s the dilemma: Rory McIlroy’s season gave golf a landmark moment that will be replayed for decades, while Scottie Scheffler’s season represented a level of dominance rarely sustained in the modern era. McIlroy’s Grand Slam would have been an automatic POY in any other season, but Scheffler’s relentless machine-like success made it look almost secondary.