Scheffler’s dominance, the ‘stupid’ format of the Playoffs

Sign up every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in sports and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss the tournament’s championship format, Scottie Scheffler’s dominance and the USA Presidents Cup team picks.

1. A couple of weeks after he called “taken” FedEx Cup Playoff format World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler benefited from his head start and sailed on the Eastern Lake, finishing 30 under to win by four from Collin Morikawa. It was the third year in a row that he entered the tournament leading the FedEx Cup standings, but his first victory. Did Scheffler’s away win prove that the format is anticlimactic and in need of an overhaul, or did it properly reward him for starting the tournament with a start, having been the best player all year?

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): I think Scheffler wins this 33.3 percent of the time he enters the tournament as the FedEx Cup leader proves it’s random enough to work and the math sort of checks out — but that still doesn’t mean it’s a system. good. The format remains odd and needlessly complicated. I know the hurdle of including match play at all means that some big names could miss the weekend and hurt ratings, but would it really be worse than a year-end event that takes place with irregular starts? Final point: Match play is great theater, and golf fans already get very little of it at the professional level.

Jack Hirsh, assistant editor (@JR_HIRSHey): I wrote about the format last year a few times and I think we have to look at the champions and ask ourselves, are the right people winning this thing? The answer is 100% yes. There has yet to be an undeserving champion who made the tournament championship their only win of the year, despite it almost happening a few times. Each of the six winners of this format has been a multi-season winner. Last year, Rory McIlroy compared it to how the 73-9 Golden State Warriors team didn’t win the NBA Finals. A playoff is a playoff, and Josh is right that Scheffler only wins it one out of three times holding a two-shot lead makes it random enough to be interesting. But I wholeheartedly disagree that it is hard to follow. It’s much better than tracking points down to fractions in real time. Nobody likes math. Match play would be great, but having a “seasonal competition” decided by a format that isn’t used that often in professional golf seems a little wrong.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): The current format is more about appeasing the players than pleasing the fans. Professional golf already cares enough about its stars. I’m with Berhow. Switch to match play. The staggered start is funny. If match play introduces any perceived ‘unfairness’ or randomness, so be it. The priority should be to provide good entertainment. Not just to further line the pockets of already highly compensated players.

2. Scheffler became the first person on Tour to win seven or more times in a season since Tiger Woods did it in 2007 (not counting Scheffler’s gold medal). Woods has reached at least seven wins in a season several times, but can Scheffler? A decade from now, will something like a seven-win season for him seem more like the norm, or an oddity?

Berhow: To say someone is going to win seven times in a season is crazy… but for Scheffler, I don’t think it will be a stretch. That doesn’t mean I think he’ll make it six or seven more times, but once or twice? I think he can.

Meaning: So many factors make these kinds of predictions difficult. Will he stay healthy? Will the demons of suffering return? But I doubt this will be the last time we see this kind of season from Scheffler. However, the most important figure will be the degree.

Hirsh: We’ll see a lot of comparisons between Tiger and Scheffler over the next few years (see question below as well), but I’ve yet to see anything that suggests Schefler can match the consistent level of dominance that Tiger did. I’d say maybe one more time, but if he does it again next season, I’ll be singing a different tune.

3. Speaking of Tiger, when Scheffler is at his best, it’s his skill the closest thing to Woods have we seen over the past two decades?

Berhow: Tiger’s 2006 season remains the best SG:tee to green (+2.98) since it was tracked starting in 2004, but second and third on that list are Scheffler’s last two seasons. Tiger in his prime was so complete that it’s hard to say anyone matched that skill set, and while we’ve tried to make comparisons before, this one might be the most accurate yet, especially with Scottie doing well. I’m not sure if Scheffler can ever match his batting or clutch play under pressure, but a good start to earn more comparisons to the Tigers should earn more degrees.

Meaning: We’ve seen a few other dominant stretches that drew comparisons to Tiger—peak Rahm, peak Rory, and peak DJ among them. But nothing more prolific or consistent than what we saw from Scheffler this year, who won in so many venues it’s hard to keep track, and that gave them all a gold medal. Peak Tiger remains a different animal. But for all-around play, Scheffler definitely takes the prize. What was amazing was how he got himself into the mix so consistently, even when his pitcher was out cold or he was being sent to the freezer for a traffic violation.

Hirsh: I think the Sens hit the nail on the head here, not only was Tiger’s peak a different animal, but he was a different animal for longer. All Scheffler lacked last year was wins, now he’s winning at a similar rate, but let’s see how long he can keep it up. We have to remember that Tiger did most of his damage between 1996 and 2013. Basically he racked up 79 wins in about 17 seasons, which means he won more than four and a half times a year. Scheffler has won four and a third times a year for the past three seasons. If he keeps this up for another 10 years, then we’re on to something.

4. Did Scheffler’s FedEx Cup title also solidify his Player of the Year title? Or is there still a chance for Xander Schauffele and his two major championships?

Berhow: Justin Thomas recently said he actually would on the contrary we have Xander’s season (two majors for one), which I think many pros would agree with. But that said, Scottie is the easy winner right now.

Meaning: Case closed. The honor goes to Scheffler. I doubt Schauffele would say the same.

Hirsh: No player in the past 34 years has won two majors and won Player of the Year … until this year. I’m sorry, Xander.

5. Last week we learned six auto qualifiers for US and International Presidents Cup teamsbut both lists will be finalized with six captain choices on Tuesday. Who are your six picks to fill out the US team?

Berhow: Sam Burns and Tony Finau were already in, and Russell Henley should definitely be in now following his Sunday 62 and T4 finish at East Lake. I’m also taking Keegan Bradley – we can’t turn this guy down two years in a row! – to round the four simple choices. After that? Max Homa finished 12th in the standings and has proven to be a dynamite game competitor. He is inside. I think Brian Harman (11th in the rankings) losing the Tour Championship will hurt his case, so I’d move down the list and look for Justin Thomas for my final pick. He finished 19th in the standings and was 14th in the tournament championship, but he’s the kind of player I want for events like this.

Meaning: These are solid picks, but based on recent form, I might swap the Homa for the Horschel. And I’d have no problem subbing in on Denny McCarthy for his dead-eyed placement.

Hirsh: You absolutely cannot leave Homa out of the Cup teams. He wasn’t 2023-JT level bad last year. I’d go to Burns, Finau, Bradley, Homa, Akshay Bhatia and … sorry … JT I think the only name I really have to argue for is Bhatia, but he really showed this year that will be on the big stage for years to come. So it’s best to give him some President’s Cup experience before he goes to the Ryder Cup, you know what really matters. As for Thomas, he struggled enough last year to get the nod given his match play record, but that absolutely does not justify his selection to the Ryder Cup last year. But he is in a better way than a year ago. How strange is it that Jordan Spieth will be missing from this team again?