Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele have separated from FedExCup pack

The first tee at the BMW Championship at Castle Pines sits at an elevation of some 6,400 feet, so when four F-16 fighter jets from the Colorado Air National Guard ripped a hole in the sky, the flyover was so low and loud that for a nanosecond the over part seemed thrillingly in doubt.

Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, separated by only Ludvig Åberg as they warmed up on the driving range before Round 1, faced one another and laughed like they were on top of the world.

Which, of course, they are.

Scheffler and Schauffele, who have left everyone else in their jetwash, will be wingmen, again, at this week’s TOUR Championship at restored East Lake Golf Club. Under the Starting Strokes format, FedExCup No. 1 Scheffler will begin at 10-under, two strokes up on No. 2 Schauffele.

“I want every stroke that I can get this week,” Scheffler said Tuesday. “I've experienced it on the other side, and I would much rather start a tournament with a lead than start it behind.”

He’s certainly no stranger to being out front.

He and Schauffele won three of this season’s four majors (Scheffler at the Masters; Schauffele at the PGA Championship and The Open) and eight times on the PGA TOUR (Scheffler 6, Schauffele 2). They’ve combined for 29 top-10s (Scheffler 15, Schauffele 14), and won the last two Olympic gold medals in men’s golf, Scheffler in ’24, Schauffele in ’21.

Oh, and yes, their last names are remarkably similar, alphabetically, but don’t be deceived. The two alpha dogs of men’s professional golf are in many ways quite different.

Similar results, different styles

Scheffler, 28, is from Dallas, Texas, where he still lives. He and wife Meredith recently had a baby boy, Bennett. Scheffler is listed at 6 feet, 3 inches but looks bigger in person.

Schauffele, 30, is from San Diego but lives in Jupiter, Florida. He and wife Maya have two dogs, Chewie and Momo. Schauffele is 5 feet, 10 inches, but often outdrives taller players.

“I think they're known for different things,” said Justin Thomas, the 2017 FedExCup winner who was the 30th and last man into this week’s TOUR Championship. “I've always said if you could choose any player on TOUR to have a putt on your line that you can get a read from, I think Xander is No. 1, how well he rolls it and he lines it up and the ball rolls end over end every time. It's very, very impressive watching him go around a course.

“Both of them are so good at minimizing mistakes,” Thomas added.

It’s true that Schauffele is seventh in Strokes Gained: Putting, while Scheffler is 87th.

Scheffler, though, is No. 1 in approaches from 50-125 yards, 100-125 yards and 150-175 yards.

“Scottie is just an unbelievable iron player,” said FedExCup No. 21 Billy Horschel. “His consistency ball-striking day-in and day-out is unreal. I've never seen anything like that.”

Not surprisingly, Scheffler is first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.

Schauffele is second.

“You've seen what Xander has done over the last couple years,” Horschel continued, “changed his coach to Chris Como and made a swing change and what he's done in the gym being able to hit the ball even farther now, which we all know in today's game and age is a huge advantage.”

Neither Scheffler nor Schauffele is in the top 20 in driving distance, but both move it plenty far and spend a lot of time in the fairway. Here, they are separated by the thinnest of margins, with Scheffler fourth in total driving, Schauffele fifth.

It’s one of many categories in which Nos. 1 and 2 can seem as similar as their last names, which are almost a perfect anagram and present a bit of a tongue-twister. Ask other TOUR pros about Scheffler and Schauffele and you’re likely to hear a lot of the same adjectives: hard-working, relentless, unflappable.

“Really good guys that go about the game the right way,” Horschel said. “That respect the game, that respect the players. They work hard and listen – what they've achieved recently in the game, they deserve because of what they put into it.”

Added Thomas: “Both of them are so good at minimizing mistakes. I think that's why they've found themselves in contention so often, because they make so few bogeys that as many birdie chances as they give themselves, it's kind of hard not to.”

Game recognizes game

In a tournament, this can manifest as it did at the recent Playoffs opener, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. After playing together the first two days and matching each other nearly shot for shot, Schauffele shot a final-round 63 to finish 15-under and tied for second, while Scheffler shot 66 to finish 14-under, solo fourth.

On the season, they were the only two players to surpass 5,000 FedExCup points, or 4,000, for that matter, with Scheffler topping out at 6,615 and Schauffele at 5,422.

Ask their peers which season they would rather have, and they say, in essence, either would be great, thank you.

“Xander has got one more major than Scottie, but I consider THE PLAYERS Championship a major,” Horschel said. “So, Scottie has got two majors, Xander has got two majors, Scottie has got a gold medal.

“They've had unbelievable years,” he added.

Said Thomas, “I've had this conversation with a couple different group texts. It's tough. I think it's very situational of where you are in your career. 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.”

(Jason Day and Viktor Hovland said the same, while allowing that Scheffler’s year was better.)

“Talk about a no-lose situation,” Thomas continued. “Those are two pretty good ones.”

Scheffler does not compare any of his trophies, let alone his season with Schauffele’s season.

“I think it's one of those things where we should just sit back and enjoy it,” Scheffler said Tuesday. “And I'm just grateful for the year that I've had. I'm grateful for Xander's year.

“I'm looking forward to competing for the FedExCup with 28 other guys,” he added. “I think it's something that we should just enjoy instead of focusing on the comparisons all the time.”

As they have been since the FedEx St. Jude, Scheffler and Schauffele will be paired together in the first round of the TOUR Championship. Schauffele won the 2017 TOUR Championship at East Lake while Scheffler goes into the tournament with a two-shot lead for the third straight year and is still chasing his first win.

“He's never really out of a hole,” Scheffler said of Schauffele. “Sometimes throughout the course of a round you feel like he's going to make a mistake, and he bounces back really quickly, and he's also a tremendously hard worker, so you like seeing guys like that have success.”

Schauffele on Scheffler: “He really doesn't miss a shot often. His golf ball is either, like, perfect or it's like a three- or four-yard pull or three- or four-yard push. If he's got good sight lines with (caddie Ted Scott), it seems like he's always in the fairway and always in the hole.”

Game recognizes game.

Scheffler and Schauffele tee off at 2 p.m. ET Thursday.