HWho would think that the best player this season on the PGA Tour has been Scottie Schefflerbut there will also be those who believe that there is no debate, since Rory McIlroywon the Tour Championship, and therefore the FedEx Cup, and this objectively qualifies him as the best of the course. Also, despite not being noticed in the FedEx playoffs, Cameron Smith deserves to be considered in this fight.
McIlroy
In Rory’s case, he didn’t just stage a comeback on the final day at East Lake. He spent the entire tournament paddling. It should be remembered that started the first round with triple bogey+bogey. Over the past 40 years, he (3 times), Tiger Woods (3 times), Mickelson (3 times), and Davis Love III (2 times) are the players who have won the most times after triple bogeying or worse during a tournament.
The fact that the Northern Irishman has not won a ‘major’ penalizes him in the race for being chosen by his teammates on the circuit as the best. He has two wins (Canadian Open and TC), but he can also say that had options to win the Masters, the British Open and the US Open, and even in the PGA Championship he came close with another great final comeback. Where nobody beats Rory, of course, is charisma, and how he has fought this year is commendable.
Scheffler
By contrast, Scheffler has won more. He was done with Phoenix Open, in the month of February; later would come Arnold Palmer and the Mundial Match Play -after this he became number one in the world-, in March; and his last success happened in the Mastersalready in April.
To understand the magnitude of its rise, it should be explained that reached the world leadership just 42 days after his first victory on the PGA Tour, that is, the fastest rise to the top after a first PGA or DPWT win. The previous record was 252 days, set by Tiger Woods in 1997.
Cam Smith
Cameron Smith, whose future seems linked to LIV although it is not something official, has achieved something impressive this campaign. He started out winning Sentry TOCand then The Players and the 150th edition of the British Open at St Andrews. In addition, he traced back to McIlroy himself on the last day of the Open. At Sawgrass he also took the tournament coming from behind. The Australian has shown that he is already a born winner. Precisely in the Augusta Masters, in which he finished third, he could not finish off.
The three have been the great protagonists of this season on the PGA Tour, accompanied, although behind, by other players such as Will Zalatoris, Matt Fitzpatrick o Justin Thomasand even from Cameron Youngcalled to be the rookie of the year, has left his mark and his climb looks like it will not stop.
