Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele? Player of the Year race heats up as pros discuss the great debate

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – Justin Thomas has had the debate in a couple different group text chains that he’s on:

Who’s year would you rather have, Xander Schauffele with the silver trophies of the PGA Championship and British Open on his mantle or Scottie Scheffler,

who is sporting the Masters green jacket again and also claimed the Players Championship, a gold medal and four more signature events among his seven victories this season?

“It’s tough,” Thomas said. “I think it’s very situational of where you are in your career. For me personally, two majors sounds a lot cooler than one. But then again, winning six times, all of which being elevated events and Players and a gold medal sounds nice, too. Might be better to answer that question if something were to happen the next couple weeks.”

Indeed, it is tough and this week’s BMW Championship and the FedEx Cup, which will be determined next week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, could still sway some opinions. But the Scheffler-Schauffele decision likely comes down to what you value more: majors or quantity of wins (and bundles of cash as Scheffler has banked $29M+ to Schauffele’s $17M+).

“For me, personally,” Thomas concluded, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I would take Xander’s just because of two majors. But yeah, talk about a no-lose situation, those are two pretty good ones.”

Majors are the currency that matters the most. To be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and receive golf’s highest honor, the major total is the biggest determining factor. Players with just one major such as Davis Love III and Fred Couples overcame their low total and even Colin Montgomerie got in without one due largely to his Ryder Cup record and dominance on the European Tour.

More: Scottie Scheffler vs. Xander Schauffele. Here’s how they matchup
“I’m definitely not knocking Scottie’s year because it’s tremendous, it’s phenomenal, I think he is the Player of the Year currently right now, even though Xander has won two majors,” Jason Day, a former world No. 1 and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship, said.

But.“I would probably go more towards the majors just because I want to add more majors to my career,” Day explained.

Scottie Scheffler’s scenario to clinch No. 1 spot @TOURChamp in Starting Strokes format: solo fourth or better @BMWchamps @XSchauffele would assume No. 1 spot with a win IF Scheffler finishes no better than two-way T4.https://t.co/Lodgfxo4sZ

— Kevin Prise (@PGATOURKevin) August 20, 2024

Viktor Hovland is still seeking his first major but the Norwegian already is measuring a career by majors just as Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15) did before him and set the bar high.

“Twenty years in the future, looking back at the year, I think I’d rather have won two majors, just personally,” Hovland said.

Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, took the easy way out.

“I’m going to be that guy and say I’ll take both of them because I don’t have a major. I don’t have a gold medal. I don’t have a Players Championship, so either one of them works for me,” he said.

But in a matter of a little over a week, he and the rest of the PGA Tour membership will have to determine who had the better year when voting opens for the Jack Nicklaus Award, the trophy awarded for the Tour’s Player of the Year as voted on by the players. So how will Horschel choose between this year’s two studs?

“I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t always voted for Player of the Year sometimes because I just think it’s too tough to make a decision,” he said. “Maybe that’s a bad thing and probably shouldn’t say that, but there’s a couple times I haven’t voted for Player of the Year because I couldn’t make a decision who I thought had the better season, so I just let it go.”

Gun to the head, Horschel said he’d side with Scheffler in part because he considers the Players a fifth major.

“I would say Scottie has had the better year, and Scottie would be my pick for Player of the Year,” Horschel said.

Scheffler said he typically votes for the award but in the last few years, knowing that he’s been in contention, he’s elected to sit it out.

“I think since I’m in the running I probably would just refrain from voting. I think it would be a bit weird to vote for myself,” Scheffler said.

Justin Thomas, who was waiting for Scheffler to finish his press conference so his own could begin, heard this and told Scheffler, “I will write myself in before I don’t vote for myself.”