After his resounding Masters victory, bet365 have priced up Scottie Scheffler at 50/1 to win three or more majors in 2022.
It hasn’t been done since Tiger Woods completed the first three legs of the ‘Tiger Slam’ in 2000, with the US Open, The Open and PGA Championship, with him claiming the Masters the following spring.
But with one under his belt, you can’t help but wonder how far the 25-year-old can go.
With the talent pool of professional golf as deep as it is, it’s not uncommon for top players to go an entire season without a win, with three wins often the most any player will record in a year.
Scheffler has already cleared that – with high-profile wins, no less – winning the Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC Match Play and now the Masters.
The inclination is to think that you can’t simply keep winning golf tournaments when there are so many world-class golfers, but that was true before he won the Match Play, and true before he won the Masters. He’s now a WGC and major champion.
Across his last 34 rounds of golf, he’s lost strokes to the field on just four occasions. He’s showing remarkable consistency, and there are no holes in his game.
What’s more impressive is that he can win on big hitters' courses, like Bay Hill, TPC Scottsdale and Augusta National, as well as a shorter hitter’s course, like Austin Country Club.
Next up is the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. The PGA is typically hosted on a long course – making Phil Mickelson’s victory over Brooks Koepka all the more impressive – so Scheffler shouldn’t be fazed.
He’ll then head to Brookline, the host of the 1999 Ryder Cup, perhaps with two majors under his belt, before tackling St Andrews in July.
Scheffler is also 10/3 to repeat the feat of Brooks Koepka in 2018 and Jordan Spieth in 2015 in winning a brace of majors in the year, and is 500/1 for an unprecedented clean sweep.
Briefly in contention over the weekend was Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who proved on Friday why he’s one of the world’s best wind players.
Battling tough conditions, only Scheffler bettered his 68, eventually securing his best finish at the Masters with a tie for third with Cameron Smith.
As former Champion Golfer of the Year he’ll be keen to make amends at the home of golf after missing the cut at St Andrew’s in 2015, and with the next two majors in Oklahoma and the coastal Brookline, he’ll be hoping for more testing conditions in a bid to win a second major, and can be backed as 12/1 to win a major in 2022.
Rory McIlroy will be another player looking to build on his week, recording his best-ever finish at Augusta, after an incredible final-round 64. A slow start - combined with Scheffler's sublime play - meant that McIlroy was never really in contention for the Green Jacket, but he hung around throughout the week, and a terrific final round will give him plenty of optimism in his hunt for a fifth major.
He's 33/1 to finish top five in all four majors this year (including ties).
