Rory McIlroy has been watching Scottie Scheffler dominate professional golf for nearly four years now. Ahead of the 2026 PGA Championship, he finally put the full explanation behind his dominance into words.

Ahead of the 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink, McIlroy identified Scheffler's mental strength and ability to do the basics right as his ultimate competitive advantage.

"I think it is, it's his relentlessness. It's his -- the comfort in which he does the same things over and over. It's the little -- it's not flashy, but he dots his Is and crosses his Ts and does all the right things," McIlroy said during a press conference.

According to McIlroy, this consistency stems from the fact that the World No. 1 golfer enjoys inner stability and is able to achieve incredible harmony regardless of his results.

"He just doesn't seem -- there's not a lot of volatility there in his life and in his game, and I think that sets him up so well for the future," he added. 

With such a solid base, the world number one golfer has an obvious advantage when it comes to handling the pressure associated with major tournaments.

Having won the 2025 PGA Championship, Scheffler aims to clinch the fifth major tournament in his career, while Rory McIlroy heads into the event after winning the Masters two times in a row.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler to renew rivalry at Aronimink

Having won the 2025 PGA Championship, Scheffler now aims to clinch the fifth major tournament in his career, while Rory McIlroy heads into the event after winning the Masters two times in a row.

Scheffler boasts a brilliant statistical performance where he has managed to record finishes within the top-10 for 17 out of 26 major events played, illustrating the extreme level of consistency.

His unique philosophy of putting in the hard work regardless of the result is based on the discipline associated with focusing on the process.

"I've said, again, I think his faith has a big part to do with how comfortable he is with doing that because he accepts whatever happens, whatever comes his way, and he moves on," remarked Rory.

Meantime, McIlroy, who won the 2026 Masters, completing his career Grand Slam, returned to form after a slow period to arrive at the PGA Championship. He will be another genuine contender to lift the Championship.

Just like his counterpart, Scheffler has been equally vocal in discussing the major attributes McIlroy possesses.

"His ability to drive the ball is the best I've seen, not only with his speed but how accurate he is as well," Scheffler said.

With both of them coming with a major win this calendar year, the PGA Championship at Aronimink will see the rivalry between two of the world's best reach its peak.

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Written by

Abhishek Sharma

Edited by

Koushik Biswas