“Both of them are so good at minimizing mistakes,” said Justin Thomas on Wednesday at the Castle Pines. As you can pretty much guess, the question was about Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, of course. As the BMW Champion is all set to kickstart in just a few hours, it is not just the fans who cannot control their excitement. But all the players are practicing in full swing. However, the neck-to-neck competition between No. 1 and No. 2 is pretty much the talk of the golf town at this moment.
Xander Schauffele is currently just 1496 points behind Scottie Scheffler in the FedEx Cup standings. Any moment now, a victory for him and a bad game for Scheffler can swap the positions. Given the season that the two have been laying off, pretty much all the players are being asked the same question: Who would they choose as ‘The Player of the Year?” Justin Thomas was asked a similar question that has been asked of almost every player on the field. And well, despite being 28 years ahead of Schauffele, it looks like JT’s preference lies with the latter.
Justin Thomas chooses to have Xander Schauffele’s career
At the preview presser for the BMW Championship on Wednesday, Justin Thomas was asked whose career he would choose. To this, he started with, “I’ve had this conversation with a couple of different group texts. It’s tough.” While Xander Schauffele has only won two events this season, it is noteworthy that both of them were majors.
He won the PGA Championship in May and the Open Championship in July. On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler has had six wins in the 2024 season. Starting from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March to his last victory at the Paris Olympics earlier this month. This indeed calls for one of the most decorated runs so far.JT adds that if something more exciting were to happen in the next couple of weeks at the Playoffs, the question would get easier to attempt.
However, for JT, winning two majors in one season is more prestigious. Clearing out his choice, the 31-year-old sheepishly said, “For me personally, I would — 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.”
Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schuaffele equally fueled up to win the title this year at the Tour Championship. However, it looks like Xander Schauffele has the extra motivation to push ahead—he’s determined to fulfill one last goal this season.
Xander Schauffele wants to take the No. 1 position from Scottie Scheffler
Xander Schauffele finished the St. Jude Championship at T2 with Viktor Hovland last weekend. After that, he admitted how badly he wanted to grab the No. 1 position. He has been aiming for it for so long, but that has been pretty much out of his reach. But this time, he is extremely close to the milestone. He has pretty much blind-sighted every other goal for the next two weeks.
Well, maybe the dream is not that far away after all. Xander Schauffele stands out as the only potential player who has the chance of overtaking Scheffler in the standings and clinching the No. 1 spot at the last moment before the top-30 players head to the Tour Championship. “But it’s not good enough, is it? That doesn’t take away from what I’ve done or how I feel. I’m proud of the work that I’ve put in and of the people that are around me and that have helped me…. I’m just going to keep knocking. That’s what I do,” he said.
Who do you think will ultimately take away the title this year? Let us know in the comments section below!
