We had a feeling. In our ‘Ranking possible College GameDay guest pickers‘ article, we ranked former Texas Longhorns golfer Scottie Scheffler as the No. 1 candidate.
Now we know. Scheffler will indeed act as the College GameDay guest picker. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit announced Thursday on the Pat McAfee Show that Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, will get the honors.
Scheffler has had one of the best and one of the craziest years in golf history. Maybe sports history.
This all happened in 2024:
March 10: Won Arnold Palmer Invitational
March 17: Won The Players Championship
April 14: Won The Masters
April 22: Won the RBC Heritage
May 8: First child is born — a son named Bennett
May 17: Arrested outside of the PGA Championship
May 17: Made Tee Time and shot a 5-under 66
May 19: Finished 8th at the PGA Championship
May 29: Charges against Scheffler dropped
June 9: Won Memorial Tournament
June 23: Won the Travelers Championship
July 11: Won the ESPY for Best Golfer
Aug. 4: Won Olympic Gold Medal at the 2024 Paris Games
Sept. 1: Won the Tour Championship
Sept. 1: Won the 2024 FedEx Cup
Sept. 1: Total earnings $64,228,357
Oct. 17: Named ESPN College GameDay guest picker
https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1846994976023978101
If it was a movie script it’d be rejected as absurdly unrealistic. He won his second Players. He won his second Masters. He had a kid. Arrested nine days later outside the gates of a major championship … that he was playing in. Still played well. Charges dropped then a hot run that saw four more wins, the Tour Championship and the FedEx cup all in one day.
Nine wins, one major, one baby, one arrest, the FedEx cup and $62 million … in winnings. Oh, and a gold medal. Only the third American to do it. Oh, and an ESPY. That doesn’t count what he’s made on endorsements. Or, for that matter, what he’s lost in attorney fees.
Scheffler became the only golfer in history to win the The Players Championship, the Masters Tournament and the Tour Championship in the same season this year. Tiger never did it. Jack never did it.
Now he comes home to Austin as the celebrity face of the University, which is kind of what the guest picker has become.
https://twitter.com/TexasMGolf/status/1847048570899140730
If Tiger Woods had ever had the year Scottie just had we’d still be talking about it. But Scheffler’s calm ‘every-man’ demeanor and look probably hurts in the Q-Rating. But it does help win golf tournaments. It will be great to see Scheffler in this kind of fun setting and getting rewarded for making history.
Texas has had a lot of incredible golfers. Crenshaw, Kite, Leonard, Spieth. But this mild mannered guy might be the best of the bunch.
Scheffler has been on ESPN College GameDay in the past. The Texas golf team presented him with the Jack Nicklaus Award. Glen Powell was the guest picker that day. Texas lost to Alabama 20-19 after Quinn Ewers was injured.Â