Rory: Scheffler should win PGA Tour's top honor

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  Mark SchlabachAug 19, 2026, 03:39 PM ET

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  • Senior college football writer
  • Author of seven books on college football
  • Graduate of the University of Georgia

ST. LOUIS -- Rory McIlroy could add the season-ending Tour Championship to his Masters green jacket and his seven top-25 finishes this season, and he believes his resume still wouldn't be good enough to be the PGA Tour player of the year.

"No, I'm not the player of the year," McIlroy said Wednesday at Bellerive Country Club, the site of this week's BMW Championship. "No chance. Scottie is."

McIlroy is referring to Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 who picked up his second victory -- by a whopping eight strokes -- in last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

"I firsthand watched him for the first two days last week, and if he keeps playing like that, [and] if he gains nine strokes on the greens every week, we're all f'd," said McIlroy, who tied for 66th at 8 over at TPC Southwind, 25 strokes behind Scheffler.

After winning seven times in 2024 and six more times last season, Scheffler hadn't finished first since his first start this season in the American Express on Jan. 25.

While Scheffler, the defending BMW Championship winner, went through one of the longest winless droughts of his career, he had been the tour's most consistent golfer in 2026. He finished in the top 25 in all but one of his 18 starts, including five runner-up finishes and two thirds.

"I talk a lot about how hard it is and difficult it is to win out here on tour," Scheffler said. "The best way to win tournaments is to give yourself as many opportunities as you can. So, that is nice for me to have some numbers where I'm giving myself opportunities to win. I think that's most important. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue to do that going forward."

Scheffler leads the tour in strokes gained: total (2.374), tee to green (1.694) and is third in putting (.680). He's also tops in greens in regulation (72.9%), scrambling (67.5%) and scoring average (67.9).

"He's just so consistent," Viktor Hovland said. "He hits the ball so well. I think in 2023 he was maybe struggling -- if you can use that word -- on the greens. He seems to have rectified that problem. Now, it seems like putting and the rest of the game, like it doesn't have a weakness."

Remarkably, in only his seventh season, Scheffler is on the verge of becoming the PGA Tour's all-time leader in on-course earnings. He has won about $119.9 million, which is about $1 million behind Tiger Woods, who has held the record since 2000.

"I mean, that has a lot to do with the purses and all that," Scheffler said. "I'm not really too close to him in terms of career wins, so ... Tiger did a lot for the game of golf and he put us in a position where we're able to earn some pretty good stuff financially, so that's something we're very grateful for."