“Top 5? Try #1.”, said Phil Mickelson, claiming that Joaquin Niemann was the best golfer in the world and not Scottie Scheffler. He doubled down on it by further stating that the real world No. 1 won’t win any titles before the 2025 Ryder Cup. His exact words were, “Here’s a hot take. Does Scottie win in 2025 before the Ryder Cup? I don’t think so.” He was confident that Scheffler was out of form and wouldn’t be able to recover for most of the season.
On the other end, Mr. Inevitable pushed himself to the limits. Scheffler is not the person you would want your kids to watch when he’s not winning because he throws temper tantrums and causes a scene on camera. It might be good for the ratings, but it isn’t good for the sport as its best player has anger issues. But at times, it felt like his frustration was justified. He had a runner-up finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, a T3 at The Genesis Invitational, and a 4th place at Augusta National. Yet, what broke him was his abysmal run at the WM Phoenix Open, where he finished at T25. Things looked grim for Scheffler and Mickelson’s prediction was turning into reality, until today!
In a delay-ridden CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the drama slayer took on the field at TPC Craig Ranch. And he did so in a convincing fashion. Matching the course record score of Justin Thomas from his efforts in the 2017 Sony Open, Scheffler won the event in his hometown with a 31-under par 253. 8 strokes separated him from the rest of the field. Having finally broken the curse, the 28-year-old made Mickelson eat his own words. And lefty responded to the same with a tweet that read, “So I might of been off on that one Congrats to Scottie on a great performance .” What a way to make the legend pay for the absurd prediction he made back in March 2025. As if the man who is chasing Tiger Woods’ records is suddenly going to stop winning.
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