“Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson are borderline top-10” – Analyst doubts Scottie Scheffler’s place on all-time list despite potential Open win

Golf journalist and analyst Kyle Porter feels Scottie Scheffler is still not a top-10 all-time player. However, he has placed Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson in the borderline top-10 list.

On Saturday, July 19, Scottie Scheffler shot a 4-under 67 in the third round of The Open Championship 2025 to take the 54-hole lead. Following his round, Kyle Porter shared a post on X that stirred a new debate about the World No. 1 golfer’s place on the all-time list.

"This time four years ago, Scottie had 0 PGA Tour wins and there was talk about whether he could close out a tournament. Four years later, and he’s two rounds from being probably one of the 20 best players in the history of golf."

When one fan countered that Scheffler was among the top 10, Porter didn’t seem to agree.

"No. Rory and Phil are borderline top 10. Scottie’s not to them yet. Even with a win this weekend," he replied.

For the uninitiated, Phil Mickelson has claimed 45 titles on the PGA Tour and is eighth on the all-time list. Speaking of the majors, he has six major championship wins and is T12 on the list.

Similarly, Rory McIlroy has won 29 times on the PGA Tour and is T18 on the list, while he jumped to T15 in the majors list with his win at the Masters Tournament earlier this year. The five-time major champion is also one of only six players to complete the modern career Grand Slam.

As for Scheffler, he is joint 30th in major wins and currently outside the top 50 in PGA Tour wins. However, with 149 weeks and counting as World No. 1, he has surpassed Rory McIlroy and is now only behind Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. Mickelson, on the other hand, never reached the No. 1 ranking.

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When will Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson tee off at the Open Championship 2025, Round 4?

Rory McIlroy will tee off on Sunday, July 20, at 9:20 a.m. ET for the final round of the Open Championship 2025. He is grouped with Matt Fitzpatrick for the final-day action at Royal Portrush. He is six strokes behind Scheffler, ahead of the final round.

Phil Mickelson is paired with Dean Burmester and will tee off at 3:40 a.m. ET on Sunday. Scottie Scheffler will start at 9:30 p.m. ET from the first hole alongside Haotong Li.

The final round of the Open Championship will begin at 3:30 a.m. ET with Matti Schmid and Riki Kawamoto teeing off from the first hole.

Edited by Shobhit Kukreti