Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are the two professional golfers whom fans, fellow pros, and golf analysts usually compare to determine who is at the epitome of the game currently. They are separated by margins so slim that the debate often feels academic. They dominate leaderboards, pile up wins, and make courses look defenseless. However, it is their golf handicaps that tell a nuanced story about just how far ahead of scratch golf they really sit, and the difference between them.

Rory McIlroy’s golf handicap

Most household names in the golf world don’t track their handicap. That’s what makes many fans wonder what their handicap would be if they kept their GHIN scores. But unlike many, Rory McIlroy did. He tracked every competitive round via the USGA GHIN system and shared his official handicap score. The USGA GHIN system shows it to be +8.7 after the strong 2025 season. This included two wins, which came at The Players Championship and the Masters.

The Players Championship was a 12-under-par after a playoff. Then the Northern Irishman defeated Justin Rose in a playoff after finishing the regulation rounds at 11 under par for an emotional win at the Masters 2025. Besides the two wins, he had a 15-under T5 finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, along with T12 at the Zurich Classic, T7 at the Truist Championship, T47 at the PGA Championship, T12 at the BMW PGA Championship, and T23 at the TOUR Championship. These scores reflect sustained low scoring.

This means that Rory McIlroy is nearly nine shots better than scratch.

Scottie Scheffler’s golf handicap

Unlike Rory McIlroy, Scheffler has not tracked his handicap score. Therefore, his handicap scores range from +5 to over +10. But the World No. 1 revealed what handicap he uses when he is playing with his friends back in Dallas. Scheffler carries a +7 index at his Dallas home club, the Royal Oaks Country Club.

The 2025 PGA Championship winner revealed this in 2024, ahead of the Tour Championship. He said that to make things interesting, he usually gives up to 20 strokes to his friends and still ends up winning in most cases.

“I think that’s one of the great parts about our game, is I can go out there with whoever it is and we can come up with some sort of a fair match just based on the handicap system,” Scottie Scheffler said. “Depends on the game, but at home I’m typically playing to a plus seven. I used to be a plus five. They moved me to a plus seven.”

However, Scottie Scheffler also admitted that he didn’t have a clue what his actual Handicap Index would be. But just for context, he leads the 2025 scoring average on the PGA Tour with 67.99. This means that he could be around +3-4 strokes under par every time he tees it up.

Taken at face value, Rory McIlroy holds the edge with a +8.7 handicap. This means that he is 1.7 strokes ahead of Scottie Scheffler’s reported +7 from home-course play. However, it is worth considering that Scottie Scheffler’s handicap score is just based on his games with his friends, and it goes up to 20 as well. Still, both numbers underline the same reality that they operate on a level far removed from scratch golf.