Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have the ultimate respect for one another. That's exactly how it came across when the golfing superstars discussed one another ahead of the BMW Championship earlier this week.
Scheffler's Dominant Season
At the second tournament of three in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the American world No. 1 will hope to follow up his victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week by defending his crown at Bellerive Country Club.
Scheffler, 30, has two PGA Tour wins and five runners-up finishes to his name this year and is the runaway leader in the FedExCup Playoffs, as he's 1,447 points ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick in second. The sustained excellence of the four-time major champion has resulted in his four-year consecutive dominance of the PGA Tour Player of the Year award.
McIlroy's Verdict
According to McIlroy, 37, his reign of the honour should stretch to five this year. The Northern Irishman shut down his own argument for winning the award, instead unofficially crowning his rival as the sport's leading star... again.
The reigning Masters champion said: "I'm not the Player of the Year. No chance. Scottie is." He added: "Well, sorry, there's two weeks to go.
"But I firsthand watched him for the first two days last week, and if he keeps playing like that, we're - you know, if he gains nine strokes on the greens every week, we're all f****d."
Scheffler's Praise for McIlroy
Scheffler was equally complimentary of McIlroy this week, as he showered praise on his consistency for the past 15 years. He said of the world No. 2: "He's competed at a high level for such a long time.
"Rory's a guy that when you look at when he won his first tournament to where he is now, he's a guy that's just been one of the best players in the world and sustained it for a really, really long time."
McIlroy endured a nightmare week at TPC Southwind, finishing 66th. But his fortunes turned in Thursday's opening round of the BMW Championship, finishing the day as joint leader on six under, while Scheffler was down in joint 44th in an uncharacteristically poor early showing after posting a score of two over.
