Some might be afraid to say it, but Ernie Els isn’t.
Scottie Scheffler’s run of dominance over the past 13 months has drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods. With his emphatic win at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club, Scheffler joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players since World War II to have 15 wins and three majors before turning 29. Woods, Scheffler and Nicklaus are also the only three players to have multiple Masters wins, multiple Players Championship wins and a PGA Championship title.
Woods’ presence on major championship leaderboards put his rivals under added pressure. It made them feel like they had to play near-perfect golf to beat him, knowing he wouldn’t beat himself. Scheffler has the same effect, as was evidenced last week at Quail Hollow.
To Els, who won four major championships in the Woods era, that’s a good place for the comparisons to start.
“I see the similarities now with Scheffler [and Woods],” Els said ahead of the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional. “Seems like he plays his best golf under the most extreme pressure, and that’s a hallmark of a champion. There’s more confidence that he’s getting by winning these tournaments. It’s only going to get tougher for the group following to try and get into that kind of mindset that he’s in. I think Tiger brought that intensity.
“You had your work cut out for you. I won four majors in his era, and there was a lot of other guys that won majors in that era, but we never got to the six, seven, eight. Mickelson did eventually; he got to six majors. But he had a hold on us. You knew you were in for a tough tournament when he was around, and I think that’s happening now with Scheffler.”
On Sunday at Quail Hollow, Scheffler entered the final round with a three-shot lead over Alex Noren. He had a five-shot lead over Jon Rahm and a six-shot edge over Bryson DeChambeau. With Scheffler out in front, the major champions behind him felt they had to execute perfectly to give themselves a chance to catch him.
“There were times where I feel like I pressed,” DeChambeau said after a T2 finish. “Green Mile did it to me [Saturday] and kind of did it to me again today, and that’s golf, man. I’ve got to be more precise and fix what I can fix to make myself more consistent and get up there, the likes of what Scottie is doing right now.”
That’s the kind of pressure Scheffler puts on a tournament. Tiger had a similar effect, but multiplied.
“I was always a scoreboard watcher, especially after [the 1994 U.S. Open],” Els said. “If I saw his name on the leaderboard, obviously, he’s playing well, and he’s not going to go away. So you knew you were in for a long haul.”
