Is Rory McIlroy better than Scottie Scheffler? Well, Gabby Herzig thinks he is. The debate between who has had the better season in 2025 has been ongoing ever since the events of Bethpage. Scheffler may have won more individual trophies, but McIlroy achieved bigger career goals. Becoming the Grand Slam champion, winning an away Ryder Cup, and capturing the Amgen Irish Open were some of his incredible achievements. And that’s just one of the reasons Herzig thinks the Irishman is better.

She joined Gary Williams in the latest episode of 5 Clubs on YouTube. During one of the segments, she was asked who she thought was the bigger star among Scheffler & McIlroy. Herzig told Williams, “They’re just in such different places in their careers right now. Scottie Scheffler has been asked before about playing all over the world, playing globally. He’s not really in that place right now. He’s focusing on the PGA Tour and playing in the U.S.”

Scheffler has never been a huge fan of playing international events. Apart from The Open Championship, he usually doesn’t partake in tournaments hosted outside American soil. He even stated, “It would be wonderful to be able to play an international schedule, but right now we play most of our tournaments in the States and I come over here for these few weeks.” In fact, his opinion even riled up Nelly Korda, who expressed her love for playing on links courses. But McIlroy doesn’t hold the same views.

“Rory is going on a global tour right now. He just played in India; he’s in Abu Dhabi. He’s going to play in Australia; he’s committed to playing that for the next two years. I look at Rory as more of a global superstar than Scottie Scheffler. Also, Rory has just been around for much longer in the golf ecosystem.” Ever since the FedEx Cup season ended, the Irishman has been busy traveling the world. He has played in a few DP World Tour events and is currently in Abu Dhabi for the playoffs.

Herzig also shared some interesting information about the popularity of both the stars: “This is very anecdotal evidence, but there was a trend going around on the internet a few weeks ago where people in the golf community asked their significant others, their friends, who didn’t necessarily know golf, to name 30 golfers and see who they could come up with. But anecdotally, I think Rory was at the top of a lot of those lists, and Scottie Scheffler came a little bit downwards. That’s how you see which names are seeping into the general news feeds of your friends and family who don’t necessarily play golf.”

McIlroy is more famous in the golf community despite all the success Scheffler has achieved in the last few years. And there is an interesting reason behind it: “Scottie Scheffler is winning all the time. He’s the most dominant player in golf right now. But Rory has that human element to him where he really wears his heart on his sleeve. He describes himself as an impulsive person, and a lot more people can relate to that in terms of just the two of their personalities.”

Being a more relatable person makes McIlroy more accessible to the fans. They can criticize him, praise him, support him, boo him, and he will react to it all. Scheffler, on the other hand, is driven so much by success that even his emotions are a reflection of his gameplay more than how his supporters behave. Plus, considering the unbelievable run he is on right now, it’s even harder to connect with the world #1 or understand what he’s going through as a fan.

On that note, Williams asked if the Ryder Cup played any role in affecting the perception of McIlroy among the fans. Herzig said, “Absolutely. Especially the way that he reacted to a lot of the Ryder Cup drama around the crowd. He wasn’t shy about responding to the criticism that he was getting out there, the heckling. Some people love it and some people don’t. It has that polarizing aspect.”

“A lot of people have opinions about Rory McIlroy. He drives conversations in the sport, and that adds to the way that he’s become this global superstar. It’s fun to have debates and discuss what Rory is doing, what decisions he’s making, and his opinion on X, Y, & Z that’s happening in the sport. That adds to his status right now in the game.”

Everything Rory McIlroy does is monitored closely by the fans. Not that they don’t do the same for Scottie Scheffler. But because the community has a general understanding that everything the Irishman does is because of a deeper purpose, it makes his actions even more intriguing. For example, his dip in form during the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open was a result of his statement that he would lose purpose after becoming a Grand Slam champion. He only returned to his competitive self when he was playing The Open Championship at home and all the events that followed.

Whatever the case, it’s evident where the pendulum swings when it comes to popularity. But do these aspects also determine who among the two is the better player right now?

Did Rory McIlroy have a better year than Scottie Scheffler?

With the Player of the Year award still up for grabs, both Scottie Scheffler & Rory McIlroy will be gunning for the end-of-the-year title. And both of them have had a fantastic year to show why they are the top contenders for the award. Scheffler won the PGA Championship & The Open Championship. He also grabbed four other PGA Tour titles throughout the season.

However, Rory McIlroy won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The PLAYERS Championship, The Masters Tournament, & the Amgen Irish Open. All four titles added a lot of value to his trophy cabinet. Moreover, the Irishman also helped Team Europe win an away Ryder Cup at Bethpage. Lastly, there is a very good chance that he will also be named the Race to Dubai champion. He also has two DP World Tour playoff events to play. And who can forget the career Grand Slam that he achieved at Augusta National. There can only be one Player of the Year in 2025. It will be interesting to see who wins it in December.