NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Aaron Rai is such a fundamentally nice human being that he started half of his PGA Championship press conference answers with, “That’s a great question.” Rai earned the Wanamaker Trophy with a brilliant and complete performance, but I don’t think he would mind if I ask one question about somebody else:
Is the gap between world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and the rest of the field starting to shrink?
The last two players to hold the No. 1 ranking before Scheffler both finished ahead of him this week. Jon Rahm finished at 6 under to tie for second. Rory McIlroy finished at 4 under. Scheffler finished 2 under.
This was one week. Scheffler has had an outrageously successful few years. There is no conversation about the best player in the world right now: It is Scheffler. He won two majors last year, contends in pretty much all of them, and he should be the favorite at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills next month.
But if McIlroy and Rahm keep playing like this, the conversation changes.
What a difference a year makes
Eighteen months ago, McIlroy had a majors-winning problem and Rahm had a major-performance problem. But since the start of 2025, McIlroy has won as many majors as Scheffler (two), and finished ahead of him in three of six majors. Rahm took some time to piece his game back together, but this week, he looked like Rahm again.
It wasn’t just that Rahm almost won. He almost won without really ever looking comfortable on the greens.
“I played really good golf,” Rahm said. “That's the only way to look at it. Just wish I'd have done better with the speed of the greens. Just couldn't seem to get it to the hole, and that's the reason why I didn't hole any more putts.”
Rahm does not need a hot putting week to win a major; even when he blew away the field at the 2023 Masters, his putting was merely very good. McIlroy used to need his A game to win majors (and when he had it, he blew the field away.) But he won the 2025 Masters despite several horrific holes, and he won this year’s Masters without his best ball-striking. This week, McIlroy had one terrible driving day, on Thursday. He shot 74. Yet he was still in serious contention on the back nine on Sunday.
Scheffler’s worst golf is much better than everybody else’s worst. He rarely has a bad round, let alone a bad tournament. Scheffler has made 74 consecutive cuts, 51 more than any other PGA Tour player—and when he has a chance to lift a trophy, he succeeds as often as anybody could reasonably hope.
But McIlroy’s best golf might better than Scheffler’s best. When he is on, he bombs drive after drive in the fairway, farther than just about anybody else, giving himself an enormous advantage. (McIlroy averaged 361 yards off the tee Sunday, best among contenders. Rahm averaged 360.) A few years ago, McIlroy’s wedge game held him back. That is no longer the case.
“I lean on my ability to get the ball in the hole, which is honestly better than it ever has been—my chipping and putting and scrambling,” McIlroy said.
Even though McIlroy did not win this week, he showed the same championship mentality that was so impressive at Augusta National last month. He did not compound mistakes. When he got into trouble, he got out of it. He played like he expected to win—not because he was at his best, but because he realizes now that he doesn’t have to be at his best to win.
McIlroy arrived at the par-5 16th at 4 under par, knowing he needed to get to at least 5 under and probably 6 under to have a chance to win. He hit his drive into the right rough. His second shot curved right. From the ball flight, it looked like there was something under the ball that affected it, but that’s a price you pay for being in the rough.
The PGA Championship was slipping away from McIlroy.
At that moment, a fan yelled “USA!”
McIlroy turned and looked as angry as I have ever seen him.
“Shut the f— up,” McIlroy said through clenched teeth.
He pointed at the fan and had security remove him.
I had no problem with McIlroy doing that. This isn’t an Eagles game or the Ryder Cup. The guy crossed the line. But it was quite a contrast from McIlroy at last year’s PGA. Then, he was still in a celebratory Masters fog. This week, he came to win the Wanamaker, no matter where his drives ended up.
Rahm said Sunday that, “As far as I'm concerned, to be in the mix again and hit it as good as I did and perform as well as I did this weekend, it's been a great week.” I’m sure he believes that. But I don’t think he really felt it.
Rahm seemed annoyed that he didn’t win. Part of what makes him great is belief; even when he was struggling, he fully expected to be the best player in the world again. He is often frustrated but never intimidated.
Rahm was not at his best, but he was almost good enough.
McIlroy was also not at his best, but he was also almost good enough.
Aaron Rai won the week. But the competition to win this era is very much on.
More Golf from Sports Illustrated
- Rory McIlroy Appears to Shout Back at Fan Who Heckled Him Late in PGA Championship
- Inside Aaron Rai’s Unconventional Journey to PGA Championship Glory
- Aronimink Deserves to Get Another PGA Championship As Soon As Possible
- Why PGA Championship Winner Aaron Rai Uses Covers on His Irons
This article was originally published on www.si.com as This PGA Championship Showed That Scottie Scheffler Has Real Rivals Again.
