Why Rory McIlroy and Cam Young should be worried about what Scottie Scheffler has done this season

Meanwhile, Cam Young has only really emerged onto the scene as a genuine challenger to Scheffler’s crown over the past year or so.

Scheffler and McIlroy are two of the hardest workers in the game, while Young’s emergence on the scene over the past year has made the American and the Northern Irishman raise their games.

Rory McIlroy and Cam Young should be worried about Scottie Scheffler this season

McIlroy and Young are obviously both exceptional golfers in their own right.

However, Scheffler is proving once again this season that he is the very best golfer on the planet.

As mentioned above, he is sitting at the top of the FedEx Cup standings and the points gap between him and second-place Rory McIlroy is bigger than the gap between the Northern Irishman and 27th ranked Min Woo Lee.

Worryingly for McIlroy and Young, all the signs are there that the current gap could be set to get even larger.

That’s because Scheffler has already usurped what he was doing last year – a season that ended up being a historical one for him.

Incredibly, the 20-time PGA Tour winner has gained 2.97 strokes on the field per round in total so far in 2026, a 0.1 increase on his efforts last year.

He has the same amount of top-10 finishes to his name this year as he did in 2025, but he has two more top-fives under his belt.

The next few months could be the summer of Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler has one win to his name in nine starts on the PGA Tour this season. He has made every cut and still hasn’t finished outside the top-25 in any event since August 2024.

As well as his win this season, he has recorded three runner-up finishes, with all of those coming in his last three tournaments, as well as six top-fives.

Anyone who has watched the 29-year-old world number one this season will surely agree that he has been nowhere near his best.

However, the fact that he has gained more strokes on the field per round than he had this time last season is ominous for his rivals.

Scheffler went on to win five of his next 11 PGA Tour starts from this point onwards last season, and judging by the numbers he has been producing, he could be set to replicate that kind of form this year.

McIlroy and Young may well have their work cut out if the Dallas native ramps up his opening-round form from here on out.