In 2024, Scottie Scheffler achieved nine wins and claimed the Jack Nicklaus PGA Tour Player of the Year Award for the third consecutive year, the first to do so since Tiger Woods from 2005 to 2007. Six months later, he won the Memorial Tournament for the second straight time. An impressed Jack Nicklaus, who said at the Sunday press conference at the Memorial Tournament, “Ben Griffin’s a nice player. Sepp Straka is a nice player. Nick Taylor is a nice player. [Scottie] knows that those guys are not in his league.” The result? A heavy backlash from the fans. However, now, a respected golf insider has given Nicklaus a nod of approval, given the statistics.
At the 2025 Memorial Tournament, Scheffler shot 10-under 268 on one of the PGA TOUR’s toughest courses, and he received another handshake from Nicklaus by the iconic 18th green at Muirfield Village. Scheffler, 28, joins an elite group of players who have won 16 PGA TOUR titles, including multiple majors by age 32, alongside legends like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas. Notably, he also became the first to win back-to-back Memorial Tournaments since Tiger Woods, prompting Gary Williams to defend Nicklaus’s statement.
On the latest episode of 5 Clubs, Gary Williams begins, “What exactly are we watching here? I tell you what we’re watching. Greatness.” Williams mentions Nicklaus’s aforementioned comment and states that “Jack said something yesterday, which was by no means intended to be disparaging to the players that he said this about. And he went through the guys who were right behind Scottie Scheffler on the leaderboard. He said, “Ben Griffin, he’s a nice player,” and “Sepp Straka, he’s a nice player,” and “Nick Taylor, he’s a nice player.” But he said this for Scottie Scheffler. Whether Scottie feels this, thinks this, I don’t know. Says it out loud? Highly doubt it. He’s not in his class. He said they’re not in his class. And he’s right.”
Interestingly, Nicklaus added to his comment about Scheffler at the Memorial Tournament, “He reminds me so much of the way I like to play. I don’t think I played nearly as well as he played. He’s playing better than I played and more consistent. He’s just been playing fantastic, and I love watching him.” Scheffler has triumphed in three of his last four Tour starts, each by four strokes or more. He has already amassed 16 PGA Tour victories, with 10 wins since early 2024, including three major championships, one of which he won last month at the PGA Championship.
When Scheffler heard Nicklaus’ praises for him, how did he feel? “It’s really hard to put into words what it’s like sitting up here with arguably the greatest player of all time and we’re sitting here talking about stuff that I did today on the golf course. It’s a pretty weird feeling,” Scheffler said at the Memorial Tournament. As iconic as these interactions and numbers are, Nicklaus still has one particular worry when it comes to Scottie Scheffler.
Jack Nicklaus issues a warning to Scottie Scheffler, who stays “in the present”
Jack Nicklaus indeed heaped praises upon praises onto Scottie Scheffler, but he still had a warning for the Texan at the Memorial Tournament press conference. “If he is thinking about being the best and starts believing he’s the best, pretty soon he starts scratching his ears out here like this, and that’s death. Once you start to get a big head and you believe you’re too good, then you will get beat,” Nicklaus said at Muirfield Village. Thankfully, though, there is no reason for worry about something like that. The confidence stems from Scottie Scheffler’s stance on his professional and private lives.
“I think when you’re thinking about what you’re doing. I think that’s when you’re living,” said Scottie Scheffler Sunday at the Memorial Tournament. It connects to that crucial discussion he had with his college coach. “When I first got to college, I was trying to date this girl whose name was Meredith, and I would come out to the course, and if she shot me a text or gave me a phone call, I would pick it up,” he explained. He admitted that he got a little distracted during practice. His coach eventually sat him down and said, “Hey listen, when you’re at the golf course, you need to be focused on what you’re doing at the golf course. When you’re in class, you need to be paying attention in class. And when you get to do your social stuff, you need to be present where you are.”
“My wife is my biggest supporter. She’s my best friend.” pic.twitter.com/2K265LPude
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 1, 2025
Scheffler emphasized that being present is essential for enjoying life. “If I can be present where I am, like if I’m at home thinking about golf, am I going to be fully enjoying the time I get to spend with Meredith and Bennett? Probably not. And if I’m at the golf course thinking about being at home, I’m probably not going to be focused in my practice, not going to get the most out of it.” Even his rival at the Memorial Tournament seemed impressed with him. Sunday, Sepp Straka said, “It’s a long list, a long list of things that makes him impressive. That’s why he’s as good as he is.”
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