They are the two players that everyone is talking about. Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. Off the ropes, it seems, DeChambeau currently has no rival. He has taken on the role of showman like no one else and has won over the fans. He has internalised that he is at tournaments for more than just trying to play golf very well, as he himself has explained. And it is appreciated.
In addition, within the ropes, his excellent performance in the three Majors that have been played this year (he was 6th in the Masters, 2nd in the PGA and winner of the US Open), also places us in front of a player with extraordinary abilities.
The charisma of Scottie Scheffler is more prosaic, let’s say. It mainly focuses on his powerful sporting performance, on his average strokes per round, in fact. Then, in addition, there are those of us who argue that he has a much more interesting (and imitable) personality than it might seem. Because of his naturalness. And because of a bonhomie that no one disputes in the professional golf circus. He is simply a good guy. Listen, it is also appreciated.
Now, having made the introductions, let’s get to the point and entertain ourselves with the debate: who is better of the two currently, as of June 25, 2024? Here is an answer: Scheffler, indisputably. Let’s try to argue it.
Fortunately or unfortunately, in sport in general, and even more so in high competition, there is a very reliable and, of course, reasonable and objective thermometer: the results. Okay, it’s obvious, but as sometimes we get lost in a thousand intangible labyrinths, it’s worth remembering.
The formidable fact that DeChambeau contested the PGA until the 72nd hole and won the US Open in a dramatic final weighs a lot, but it can also distort the reality of some numbers.
DeChambeau has been better in the three Majors played. Both have won one this year, but Bryson also boasts a second and a sixth place, compared to an eighth and a forty-first for Scottie. In world ranking points, in this majors section, the Californian has added 179 points, compared to the Texan’s 117.50 (Xander Schauffele, with his victory in the PGA, his seventh place in the Masters and his eighth in the US Open, would currently be second in this section, with 133 points, just behind DeChambeau and ahead of Scheffler, who is third).
From here the comparison gets complicated, since DeChambeau has only faced Scheffler in the Majors, but it would not be rigorous (or fair) to stop at this point. And Bryson’s results in LIV Golf, while certainly good and solid, are not outstanding. Let’s do an experiment, taking the test to the extreme, and grant each of the nine LIV Golf tournaments that have already been played… the same world ranking points that the Majors distribute! That’s a lot to grant.
DeChambeau’s results in the nine LIV tournaments have been: 25th, 9th, 4th, 6th, 7th, 26th, 27th, 18th and 3rd. These records would lead us to a sum of no more than 160 world ranking points, according to what is distributed in the Majors. Well, this sum would not even exceed the actual number of points that Scheffler has won in the world ranking only in his last three appearances, beyond the Majors, that is, his victories in the Travelers (66 points) and the Memorial (70 points) and his second place in the Charles Schwab Challenge (26 points).
We won’t even mention his victories in the Arnold Palmer, THE PLAYERS or RBC Heritage; nor his third place in Phoenix or his second in Houston…
It is not necessary to point out that in no case could a LIV Golf tournament ever distribute even half the points that a Major distributes.
As you can see, a thorough and detailed analysis was not necessary to establish who is better of the two as of June 25, 2024… It was enough to unfold Bryson DeChambeau’s score sheet in LIV Golf this year to close the debate in a more than reasonable way. This does not mean, of course, that you may like DeChambeau much more. Subjectivity and individual tastes are sacred territory, but the objectivity of certain numbers cannot be disputed. It can be explained in another way: Scheffler’s commitment to excellence has been permanent in 2024 and not so much DeChambeau’s.
FINAL NOTE: the argument that victories in LIV are more expensive and therefore DeChambeau has not been able to shine as much in his regular circuit is as ridiculous as it is hasty or childish, because, given Bryson’s results, it would be the same as saying that the average level in LIV is higher than in the MAJORS. We could go that far. Not even Greg Norman would dare to go that far…
