Rory McIlroy Has Referenced Scottie Scheffler So Often In Recent Months… Is He Now Finally Ready To Surpass Him?

Ironically, it all started after Rory McIlroy offered out a friendly piece of advice to Scottie Scheffler at the Genesis Invitational in 2024. The Northern Irishman - himself the victim of the occasional putting woe - suggested on commentary duties that Scheffler could benefit from trying a mallet-style putter in a bid to solve his own issues with the flatstick.

At the time, it was the only problem in a game which was otherwise pretty much flawless for the American.

Coincidentally, the World No.1 rocked up to his next competitive appearance - at the Arnold Palmer Invitational - with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X after toying with the idea of moving over to a new style of putter for a while beforehand. He won by five.

That victory sparked a run of success rarely witnessed since Tiger Woods, with Scheffler carving open almost every field he teed it up in and winning nine times in total - including a second Masters title and a first Olympic gold medal.

As Scheffler enjoyed a well-earned rest, McIlroy headed back to Europe and the Middle East to try and seal a sixth Race To Dubai crown. In the build-up to his emotional DP World Tour Championship triumph, McIlroy revealed that he was planning on trying to "be more like Scottie" in 2025 in a bid to fulfil his enormous potential.

Referencing Scheffler and Xander Schauffele - who won two of the other three Majors last term - McIlroy said: "They certainly separated themselves from the pack this year. I'm obviously very aware of that, and it only makes me more motivated to try to emulate what they did this year."

Exactly what imitating Scheffler looked like to McIlroy was made more apparent ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. The current World No.2 would go on to win pretty comfortably in California, days after he had explained how his plan of attack would be modified moving forward.

On the Wednesday, McIlroy said: "In the history of golf, I don't think I've ever seen a golfer play as many bogey-free rounds as Scottie. He just doesn't make mistakes. It's so impressive. He plays the right shot at the right time over and over and over again.

"You obviously need the technical ability to be able to do that, but he doesn't make mistakes. And when you don't make mistakes on the golf course, the game can become pretty easy. So super impressive."

The Northern Irishman elaborated on his answer after putting his tweaked game-plan into action by reaching the top of the leaderboard prior to the final round via a bogey-free seven-under 65.

McIlroy said: "I played well. I didn't make any mistakes. One of the things I really want to do this year is try to limit my mistakes and play bogey-free. Three of my last four rounds have been that way, last round in Dubai, first round here and now this round. Just really try to limit the mistakes and play smart golf and be a little more like Scottie Scheffler, basically."

In his post-tournament press conference, the 28-time PGA Tour winner shared another answer on a similar theme. He said: “There's impulses that I have on the golf course that it looks like Scottie doesn't have and I have to rein those in.”

Further praise was directed the World No.1's way before The Players Championship, which McIlroy went on to win for the second time in his career via a playoff against JJ Spaun.

On this occasion, the 35-year-old praised Scheffler's commitment to remaining the de facto best male player on the planet for such a long period of time as well as his methods.

McIlroy said: "It's one thing to get to the No.1 spot in the world, and then it's another to stay there. I think to stay there almost requires more commitment.

"I think that's what Scottie does so well. He's so committed to his craft, and he's always working. He's always trying to get better, and we're all trying to get better to keep up with him.

"But he's obviously handled it amazingly well. He seems like he doesn't really care about anything else apart from just trying to be a good golfer and doing the best that he can. He's got a great attitude towards it."

Heading into The Masters this week - a little over 12 months after Scheffler began to put the hammer down on his rivals with one of the best seasons in modern history - it was McIlroy who was being backed for his best chance to date at completing the career Grand Slam after winning twice in confident style on the PGA Tour in 2025.

The four-time Major champion - now 35 years old - had watched and learned from Scheffler in 2024, in particular how he nonchalantly picked apart Augusta National with the minimum of fuss last April, and began plotting his way around in more disciplined fashion than he ever had before.

While there was a slight stumble towards the end of round one, Thursday still featured plenty of Rory McIlroy 2.0. Then, a scintillating second day exhibited how McIlroy's new-found blend of skill, aggression and patience could result in relentless progress.

An outrageous beginning to round three - with six threes in a row to start - set up another chance to go low, and despite a mini stumble around the turn, it was one that McIlroy did not pass up courtesy of a sublime six-under 66.

With just 18 holes to play, a rejuvenated McIlroy has a golden chance to not only replicate Scheffler's extraordinary 2024 but also surpass it while achieving arguably his biggest career aspiration at the same time.