Scheffler Is ‘Inevitable’ at the Open Championship

Scottie Scheffler won golf’s Open Championship by four shots to capture his fourth major overall and second of 2025 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland this weekend.

Only Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player have won the Open, Masters and PGA Championship before age 30. On Sunday, Scheffler, 29, joined them.

It was 1,197 days between Woods’ first and fourth major wins, notes Gabby Herzig at The Athletic. It was 1,197 for Scheffler as well.

As Scheffler stormed to his four-shot 54-hole lead by making almost every putt within 10 feet and salvaging pars from places others would consider difficult-to-impossible, he made the championship feel like it was already over. It was, says Herzig.

Scheffler’s chasers did what they could to make up ground. The entire course and country pulled for this year’s Masters champion Rory McIlroy, their hometown hero, one pairing ahead.

Chants for McIlroy echoed throughout the Royal Portrush property, several directed at Scheffler himself. But they did not propel the Northern Irishman as he would have liked.

McIlroy shot 69, and finished seven strokes behind Scheffler. American Ryder Cup hopeful Harris English, for the second time this year, finished second to Scheffler in a major, behind by six strokes at the PGA and four at the Open.

In 2024, Scheffler won seven PGA Tour tournaments, including the Masters, Players Championship, Tour Championship and four signature events. He also claimed the Olympic gold medal in Paris.

Perhaps that’s why his restless and defensive edge revealed itself this winter, when a hand injury stalled his return to the PGA Tour and his intended results weren’t transpiring, says Herzig. Scheffler missed all of January and went without a win in February, March or April.

Scheffler’s frustrations boiled over at the Players. When asked about those emotions becoming visible, Scheffler retorted: “You’ve played golf before, right?”

It didn’t take very long for the tone of Scheffler’s voice to subdue with three victories in four starts in May and June, however, according to Herzig. Including Scheffler’s third major victory at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and a hometown win at the Byron Nelson by eight shots.

The intensity of Scheffler’s competitive fire is one of his more underreported attributes, Herzig says. And is what makes him a constant threat.

If Scheffler isn’t hitting the ball how he wants to, he figures out a way to get it into the hole. If he’s missing putts, his ball-striking makes up for it. He always finds a way, and his competitors know that.

McIlroy on Sunday even called him not just a “complete player,” but “inevitable.”