Major championships have always carried the most weight, meaning more to professional golfers than any other tournament. This is why people refer to Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, who won 18 and 15 majors, respectively, as the two greatest players of all time.
The four majors—the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and The Open—mean everything in this sport. They define legacies and captivate audiences. They are held on the most historic and challenging courses, and nowadays, they are the only tournaments in which PGA Tour and LIV Golf stars compete side by side.
So, since Xander Schauffele won both the PGA and the Open earlier this year, numerous PGA Tour stars admitted they would rather have his season than Scottie Scheffler’s. Scheffler, of course, is the best player in the world and has has one of the greatest seasons of all-time. He has won seven events in 2024, including at Augusta and TPC Sawgrass. He most recently won the gold medal at the Olympics in Paris, firing a 9-under 62 during the final round to soar to the top of the podium at Le Golf National.
Yet, numerous players lean towards Schauffele. Two majors carries a lot of weight.
“I think in 20 years’ time, I would probably rather have two majors, what Xander had, and obviously Scottie winning The Players and The Masters is pretty good, too,” said Viktor Hovland at the BMW Championship, the tournament he won last year.
“With some of the other wins, as well, he’s definitely had the better season. But I think 20 years in the future, looking back at the year, I think I’d rather have won two majors, just personally.”
Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland at the 2024 Memorial Tournament.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Jason Day, who won the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, agrees.
“Once you reach a certain point, you start thinking about major championships. It would be nice for me to be able to cap off a few more majors,” Day said.
“I’m definitely not knocking Scottie’s year because it’s tremendous, it’s phenomenal. I think he is the Player of the Year right now. Even though Xander has won two majors, I would probably go more towards the majors just because I want to add more majors to my career.”
It’s all about the majors.
“I’ve had this conversation with a couple of different group texts. It’s tough. I think it’s very situational of where you are in your career. For me personally, two majors sounds a lot cooler than one,” said Justin Thomas, who won a pair of PGA Championships in 2017 and 2022.
“But then again, winning six times, all of which were elevated events, The Players, and a gold medal sound nice, too. It might be better to answer that question if something happens in the next couple of weeks. Personally, I would — I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I would take Xander’s just because of two majors. But yeah, talk about a no-lose situation. Those are two pretty good ones.”
And then there is Billy Horschel, who held the 54-hole lead at Royal Troon in July and disagrees with Hovland, Day, and Thomas.
“Which season would I rather have? I’m going to be that guy and say I’ll take both of them because I don’t have a major. I don’t have a gold medal. I don’t have a Players Championship, so either one of them works for me,” Horschel said.
“It’s literally comparing apples to apples. Xander has got one more major than Scottie, but I consider The Players Championship a major. So Scottie has got two majors, Xander has got two majors, and Scottie has got a gold medal. They’ve had unbelievable years. They’re great players. They go about it I think a little bit differently but very similar. I respect guys out here who work really hard. I respect guys who are always checking all the boxes and trying to continuously just get better. They do that.”
Wyndham Clark echoes a similar sentiment to Horschel.
“They both are so good,” Clark said.
“It’s hard to argue with how good Scottie is playing right now and what he’s done this year. I know Xander has had an amazing year, and most years that’s the best year anyone will ever have, but Scottie is on a run that we haven’t seen since Tiger. I don’t know if that answers your question, but I would choose both of them if I could.”
You cannot go wrong with either season, as both have reached epic proportions of historic significance. But majors mean more, and the players lean more towards Schauffele, a testament to what is most important in this game.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
https://www.sbnation.com/golf/2024/8/22/24225975/pga-tour-xander-schauffele-over-scottie-scheffler
