Brandel Chamblee Claims Rory McIlroy Cannot Beat Scottie Scheffler if World No.1 Plays at His Best at PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have combined to win 4 of the last 5 major championship events in golf.

Brandel Chamblee Claims Rory McIlroy Cannot Beat Scottie Scheffler if World No.1 Plays at His Best at PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy, Brandel Chamblee and Scottie Scheffler (Image via Imago)

Brandel Chamblee made another big statement on Tuesday. The golf insider claimed that Rory McIlroy cannot beat Scottie Scheffler if the World No.1 plays at his best this week at the PGA Championship.

This week, the 108th edition of the PGA Championship will take place at the Aroniminik Golf Club. In the second major event of the year, the biggest names in golf will once again battle it out for a grand prize.

This will include the top two players in the world, Scheffler and McIlroy. The duo has been on a dominant run in the past couple of years and has remained at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) for a while.

Scheffler, this week, will enter the tournament as the defending champion. Last year, the American international clinched his 3rd major championship by finishing 5-shots ahead of runner-up Harris English.

Scheffler will be aiming to defend his title and go back-to-back in this tournament. To do so, he will have to overcome McIlroy, who comes into this event as the 2026 Masters Tournament champion.

In the final round of the Masters, McIlroy found himself being chased by Scheffler. After a slow start with scores of 70 and 74 in the first and second rounds, respectively, the 4-time major champion carded a low score of 65 on the moving day.

On the Masters Sunday, the 29-year-old fired a round of 67. On the 17th hole, he agonizingly missed a birdie putt, which became the difference. McIlroy went on to clinch the green jacket for a second year in a row as he finished 1-shot ahead of Scheffler.

Despite this result, Chamblee has backed Scheffler over McIlroy. He believes that no one comes close to the World No.1 when he plays at his best.

Well, if Scottie (Scheffler) plays well this week, Rory (McIlroy) can’t beat him. Scottie is so demonstrably better than everybody else. It’s just not close. In Rory’s A-game, Scotty’s A-game, if Scottie plays his best golf, Rory cannot beat him.

Brandel Chamblee said regarding Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy

For the first two rounds, Scheffler has been grouped with World No.4 Matt Fitzpatrick and World No.7 Justin Rose. As for McIlroy, he will tee off in a group of major champions alongside Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth, with the latter hoping this year to be the one where he completes the career grand slam by winning the tournament.

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Rory McIlroy was not present at Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Champions Dinner

Ahead of the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler headlined the PGA Champions Dinner as the reigning champion. While some of the past champions attended the event, Rory McIlroy was one notable absentee from the dinner.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler (Image via PGA Tour)

Former champions who attended the dinner included the likes of Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, and Keegan Bradley. Check out a post regarding this below:

A reason for McIlroy’s absence, though, is due to his toe blister. Last week, at the Truist Championship, the Northern Irish golfer was seen limping.

On Tuesday, he was set to take part in a 9-hole practice round. However, after 3 holes, he cut short his session as the blister continued to bother him. This has left some fans concerned about his playing chances this week.

The big question now is, who will raise the Wanamaker Trophy this coming Sunday? Only time will tell the answer to this. A win for Scheffler would mark his 5th major triumph and see him become just the 7th player to repeat as champion in this prestigious event.

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