Tiger Woods’ ex-coach defends Scottie Scheffler after Viktor Hovland's comments on the Olympic gold medalist's year

Viktor Hovland recently made headlines by picking Xander Schauffele’s 2024 season over Scottie Scheffler’s. The Norwegian golfer chimed in on the Scottie - Xander debate and stated that he’d ‘rather have won two majors’ like the latter.

While many agreed with the comment, some others pointed out that the PGA Tour star was downplaying the World No.1 player’s Olympic gold medal. Interestingly, Tiger Woods’ former coach Hank Haney is one of them. The veteran instructor has now come out to defend Scottie Scheffler after Hovland’s comments.

The 68-year-old backed the golfer while replying to a tweet carrying the comments made by Hovland ahead of the FedExCup Playoffs’ start at the FedEx St.Jude Championship in TPC Southwind.

Hank Haney wrote on X:

“That Gold Medal that Scottie got wasn’t bad either.”

He commented while retweeting the post carrying Viktor Hovland’s earlier words, which read:

“I think in 20 years' time, I would probably rather have two majors, what Xander had, and obviously Scottie winning THE PLAYERS and the Masters is pretty good, too. With some of the other wins as well, he's definitely had the better season… But I think in like 20 years back -- 20 years in the future, looking back at the year, I think I'd rather have won two majors, just personally.”

The star coach doubled down on the comment by slamming a fan's comment calling THE PLAYERS Championship a major.

Replying to a fan who backed Scottie Scheffler by commenting - "The Players is effectively a major. I will take those two and the gold and all the wins and cash," Haney wrote:

"They’ve stopped with the non sense of trying to make you even think that."

It is pertinent to note that Hovland picking Schauffele’s year had earlier made some heads turn as many of his fellow stars opted to back Scheffler. PGA Tour stars including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas think the World No.1 had the better year as he won the Masters and the Olympic gold.

Scottie Scheffler’s season so far

Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are almost neck and neck in the Player of the Year competition this year. Many back Schauffele to have the more impactful season as he won both The PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Meanwhile, Scheffler bagged the Masters and the Olympic Gold medal.

Apart from the two big achievements, Scheffler led the FedExCup Playoffs points list with 14 top-10 finishes from 16 PGA Tour events. The 28-year-old golfer, who had an eventful year with having his first child and a visit to the police station, won five regular events including THE PLAYERS Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the RBC Heritage and the Travelers Championship. He earned a whopping $29,108,691 from the 2024 season alone.

Listed below is the complete breakdown of Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Tour season (Event-finish-earning):

The Sentry - T5 - $690,500
The American Express - T17 - $132,300
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - T6 - $642,500
WM Phoenix Open - T3 - $519,200
The Genesis Invitational - T10 - $455,000
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard - 1 - $4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship - 1 - $4,500,000
Texas Children's Houston Open - T2 - $553,735
Masters Tournament - 1 - $3,600,000
RBC Heritage - 1 - $3,600,000
PGA Championship - T8 - $521,417
Charles Schwab Challenge - T2 - $809,900
the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday - 1 - $4,000,000
U.S. Open - T41 - $72,305
Travelers Championship - 1 - $3,600,000
The Open Championship - T7 - $451,833
Men’s Olympic Golf Competition - 1 - (No earnings listed)
FedEx St. Jude Championship - 4 - $960,000

It’ll be interesting to see if Scottie Scheffler manages to win the BMW Championship or the Tour Championship and bag the Player of the Year title.