Following his Masters and Open Championship victories in 2024, Scottie Scheffler enjoyed his first PGA Tour win of the year in Texas at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Having spent most of his childhood in Texas after moving from New Jersey at the age of 6, Scheffler clearly felt at home and romped to a confident victory.
In his post-tournament press conference, he was happy to reciprocate on McIlroy’s previous comments about Scheffler being an inspiration. The Holywood star was not present at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, choosing to rest for a week before the Truist Championship, where he is the 4/1 favourite among licensed and non GamStop betting sites.
His absence would have given the field a lot more hope of victory, but Scheffler was in scintillating form and gave nobody a chance.
2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Scheffler finished an incredible -31, 8 shots ahead of second-placed Erik Van Rooyen. The current world number 1 also equalled the PGA Tour record for the lowest 72-hole finish on 253 across the four-day event to win his 14th career PGA Tour title. While he didn’t come out and say that McIlroy was the inspiration for his victory, he did say that seeing him perform so well helped to fire him up and five everything.
While McIlroy sat out the tournament, Scheffler has decided to do something similar and will not take part in the Truist Championship. Fans had hoped for a showdown between the two golfing giants, but Scheffler has decided to take it easy for the week leading up to the PGA Championship instead.
Scheffler will hope to derail McIlroy’s attempts to achieve the calendar Grand Slam after he finally secured his green jacket to complete his career Grand Slam. Nobody has been able to achieve this feat during the Masters era, but Scheffler will be hoping to go one better than his runner-up position in 2023.
At just 28, Scott Scheffler still has a lot of years ahead of him and has already notched up some impressive titles, bursting onto the scene with a Rookie of the Year award in 2020. Since 2021, he has won the PGA Tour money list three times, the PGA Tour Player of the Year three times, the Byron Nelson Award twice, the ESPY Best Golfer award twice, and the PGA Tour FedEx Cup once.
His success also saw him appear in the 2025 sequel to Happy Gilmore, Happy Gilmore 2, and he has invested in the Texas Ranchers pickleball team. His 19 career wins include 2 Majors, the 2022 and 2024 Masters, and there is undoubtedly more to come from the big American.
McIlroy’s Praise of Scottie Scheffler
Rory McIlroy had named Scheffler as an inspiration after securing his career Grand Slam. Scheffler’s impressive performances in recent years had impressed McIlroy, and he wanted to incorporate some of the American’s skills into his own game. In particular, McIlroy was complimentary about Scheffler’s conservative style and short game.
By focusing on how the other top pros were performing, McIlroy has been able to enjoy an impressive start to 2025 by winning the Masters and the Players Championship. The mutual respect shown by two of golf’s biggest stars is refreshing and a great example for younger players who want to emulate their success.
McIlroy’s Major championship victories started in 2011 when he won the US Open, beating Jason Day by 8 strokes. He followed this up a year later by beating David Lynn by 8 strokes for the PGA Championship before scooping both the Open Championship and PGA Championship, for the second time, in 2014.
It took him 11 years to finally complete his Grand Slam by beating Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff, taking his total professional wins to 44 for the 36-year-old from County Down.
Conclusion
McIlroy and Scheffler’s friendly rivalry has been great for the game, and fans will be looking forward to the next time the two face off against each other. Barring any injuries, this will be at the PGA Championship, which begins on May 15th, with not much between them according to bookmakers.
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