Golf Fans: Scottie Scheffler is the New Tiger Woods

No doubt about it we are in the Scottie Scheffler era of the game of golf. The final chapter of the Tiger Woods era is finished. That has been proof enough over the last few years. Between injuries and age it's clear that Tiger's legendary time has come and gone.

It wasn't immediate, but an heir has risen above the rest. Over the last decade the torch has been tossed and dropped by a handful of players, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, John Rahm, Justin Thomas, etc. These guys all have had runs of great play and winning tournaments, but nobody could sustain the consistent winning over extended periods like Tiger Woods. That has changed in the last 2 years. Scottie Scheffler has taken up the title and gained plenty of ground between himself and the field.

Scheffler is the new Tiger Woods. He's so good and seems to be in complete control at all times on the course. When other players see his name at the top of the leaderboard, or in the hunt things start to get tight. Does doubt start to creep in or are they thinking, "oh no, here he comes." So far, both of those seem to be happening.

The thing about his era is, the other golfers will most likely stay closer to Scottie than they did against Tiger. There is a reason for that Tiger Woods changed how golfers practice, train and play the game. Everyone on tour now has a workout regimen, trainers, teams, etc. Because the players in the PGA now, grew up idolizing Tiger. They saw how he did it, so they have that as their baseline. For the most part those players will stay closer to the top than others did in the early 00's.

Scottie is not in Tiger's league (yet), but it is clear that he is the big thing on the PGA Tour. Not totally sure? Since his first win at the 2022 Waste Management Open in Phoenix the floodgates have opened on his winning. He defended that WM title, while also winning and then becoming the first person to defend the Players Championship. That's ever. Jack, Tiger, Rory, Phil, none of them has ever won that in back to back years. He's a 2x  Masters Champion in four attempts.

His dominance started to show in 2023 when he finished top 10 in three of the four majors. 10th at the Masters, second at the PGA Championship and tied for third at the U.S. Open. To really hammer the point home so far in 2024 he has played in 10 tournaments. Here are his finishes, in order from start of the year to present day:

T5th

T17th

T6th

T3rd

T10th

Winner

Winner

T2

Winner

Winner

He has won 4 of his last 5 while finishing in the top 10 nine times. He's only played 10 tournaments this year! That's Tiger Woods stuff. Hop on the bandwagon, because it's going to be a fun ride. He's an easy player to cheer for too. Good on Scheffler. Now the hard part, keeping that #1 golf ranking. He's currently been #1 for 49 weeks straight. Woods had a run of 264 straight weeks from 1999-2004 and a record setting 281 straight weeks from 2005-2010. Long way to go for Scheffler, but he seems to have the best chance to do it since Tiger.

Get excited South Jersey, a brand new state of the art golf course is coming, all thanks to a Major League Baseball Superstar and Tiger Woods! He grew up and still lives in Millville in the off-season so that's why it's here.

The brand new golf course in Vineland will be designed by Tiger Woods' golf course architecture firm, TGR Design, which will clearly add a much higher profile to the new golf course. No word on if Tiger is going to show up to christen it, but regardless, it's still pretty cool.

The Tri-State Area is very familiar with very fancy and exclusive golf courses. In fact, one of the most expensive and exclusive golf courses in the entire country is also in South Jersey. Pine Valley is so old that it just removed all of it's gender restrictions in 2021! Pine Valley secured the number one ranking in Golf Digest's biennial America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses 2019–20 and 2021-22. There are about 930 members spread throughout the world, and the list is a closely guarded secret. A few years ago a caller told me that his uncle used to be a security guard at Pine Valley. He said these super rich and famous people would fly their helicopters in to play.

Golf in general has become super popular for famous athletes of other sports so this new partnership doesn't seem to far fetched. I remember when he signed his new contract with the Los Angles Angels for $450 Million, I said, he could literally buy Millville with that money. Obviously he didn't buy the city, but building his new golf course is definitely a start. Maybe he can help fix the Cumberland Mall next!

He might not be on the Phillies, but he's good friends with Bryce Harper.

[Source: nbcphiladelphia.com]

Aka Preston from Preston and Steve on 993WMMR

He's working in Cobbs Creek to help inner city kids get access to golf.

Love that the Trout's live in Millville still.

With Big Papi at the World Baseball Championships!

Mike Trout who was born in Cumberland County, announced Monday he's building a brand-new golf course and club called named "Trout National - The Reserve" in Vineland. The course and club are expected to break ground this year and be open by 2025, according to a release.

The course will be designed by Tiger Woods' golf course architecture firm, TGR Design, adding a little more name recognition to the project.

"I'm so excited to finally officially announce that we’re doing this project, and doing it in a community that means so much to me," Trout said Monday in a release. "I was born in Vineland and raised in Millville. I met my wife, Jessica, in Millville, and my parents and siblings and in-laws still live in the area. I could put down roots anywhere in the country, but Jessica and I make south Jersey our off-season home and always cherish the time we get to spend there."