Join the Club by John Patrick: Scheffler’s year to remember

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The PGA Tour season begins in January, on the side of a mountain in Hawaii. It ends before Patrick Mahomes throws his first behind-the-back pass, on the grounds where Bobby Jones grew up learning the game.

We learned this season just how much Tiger Woods spoiled us. The year that Scottie Scheffler had was one for the record books yes, but wait…

We’ve seen Tiger Woods win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, like nine times.

We’ve seen Tiger Woods beat The Players.

We’ve seen Tiger Woods win The Masters five times.

We’ve even seen Tiger Woods win the Tour Championship at Eastlake.

But what we need to remember is we NEVER saw Tiger do all those things in the same season.

One more thing - Tiger will never win the gold medal at the Olympics.

This was an incredible season of golf, the likes of which we may never see again. That is the same thing we used to say about some of Tiger’s years.

Sheffler won seven times this year. One major, the gold medal, and the Fed Ex Cup.

Here’s another number Tiger didn’t approach - $62.5 million dollars. That’s how much Sheffler won this year.

This year’s winnings alone would place him ninth on the career money list, just behind Jordan Speith and just ahead of Jason Day.

To put it into further perspective, Scottie’s caddy, Ted Scott, took home enough money this year to pass Jack Nicklaus on that list.

By the way, and just for the record, Scottie made just under $30 million dollars winning tournaments this year. He’s already third on the career money list. His tournament take puts him $50 million dollars behind Tiger and $20 million behind Rory McIlroy.

I first met Scottie ten years ago, when he was winning the Sage Valley Junior Invitational. There was no way to know at that time that he would go on to make history. He was special, but no one saw this coming.

So, let’s pause for a moment, and revel in what we saw. He did things no one has ever done in the game. He led in 40 statistical categories. 40! He is also as gracious as he is determined. He’s a man of faith and quiet confidence.

He also knows that even with all his accomplishments on the golf course, his greatest accomplishment this year, the one that will mean the most to him as the years go by, is his newborn son Bennett.

So, here’s to Scottie Scheffler. Just as it was with Tiger, it has been a pure joy to watch him play a game with such grace and talent.

And here’s what we know about 2025: He’ll be playing a lot of golf and, when he does, he will be the defending champion just about everywhere.

John Patrick’s radio career began in Virginia in 1977 and over the course of nearly 50 years he has received numerous awards and nationwide recognition. To date, he has covered more than 40 Masters Tournaments and his Augusta Golf Show with John Patrick has been named the best radio golf show in the country on three different occasions. John is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America.