Scottie Scheffler enters the 2026 PGA Championship with a fire that refuses to be extinguished. The world No. 1 has weathered countless challenges over the past five years, yet he remains standing—firmly atop the golf world.
At the start of the 2026 season, Scheffler stormed out of the gates like a champion reborn. For the first time in his career, he won his opening tournament of the year, kicking off a stretch that draws comparisons to the game's all-time greats. Given his consistent brilliance since 2022, many wondered if this year might surpass even his finest campaigns.
But golf is a game of fine margins, and Scheffler's path to the PGA Championship has been paved with bittersweet near-misses. Twelve months ago, he had played nine tournaments, securing one win and four top-five finishes. This year, the numbers are strikingly similar: nine events, one victory, and six top-five finishes.
The difference? The names challenging his throne. Rory McIlroy at the Masters. Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage. Cameron Young at the Cadillac Championship. Scheffler fell to all of them, becoming the first player in PGA Tour history to finish solo runner-up in three consecutive tournaments.
"I think it was last week my wife was like, 'Hey, Scottie, you're like the first guy in PGA Tour history to have three solo runner-ups in a row,'" Scheffler shared with a wry smile. "I'm like, 'Yeah, it's probably because the guy that was playing that good figured out a way to win one of those; he didn't come second in all three.' A little bit of it is bittersweet."
Yet Scheffler's perspective reveals the mindset of a true competitor. "Finishing second in a golf tournament is not bad… especially in the way I did it in a couple of them," he reflected. "I was spotting guys so many strokes going into the weekend. Mainly the Masters—didn't have a very good chance going into the weekend there. Hilton Head, didn't have a very good chance going into the weekend there. Cadillac, I finished solo second, but really didn't have that good of a chance."
That internal fire—the drive to turn those runner-up finishes into victories—is what makes Scheffler so dangerous. As he prepares for the PGA Championship, he knows the difference between a good season and a great one often comes down to a single stroke. And with his track record, you wouldn't bet against him finding that stroke when it matters most.