Scottie Scheffler does not think it is fair to compare him with Tiger Woods. The record, however, suggests otherwise, as he finished in the top 10 for 18 straight events. No player in the modern era has had a longer top-10 streak than Woods or Vijay Singh. Then came Riviera, Woods’ own $20 million event, which finally halted the run.

That streak of 18 consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour is the longest run in the modern era, surpassing Vijay Singh’s 12 and Tiger Woods’ 11, a run Woods produced during his dominant 2007–08 season, when he won five times and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Scottie Scheffler built his streak across 11 months of elite, unrelenting golf. He entered Riviera as the world No. 1, fresh off his The American Express win to open 2026. In 2025, he won six times, including the PGA Championship and The Open Championship, while posting a scoring average of 68.13.

For the world No. 1, Riviera was the one course that did not play along.

He openly admitted having a “weird relationship” with the course, a place where he felt he belonged but had never backed it up. He shot 3-over in Round 1 and had to grind just to make the cut. He later recovered over the next two rounds but finished tied for 12th at 11-under. With that, the streak came to an end.

But one missed top-10 does not erase 18.

In fact, Tiger Woods had already made his position on Scheffler clear months before Riviera. In December 2025, before the Hero World Challenge, Woods broke down exactly what made Scheffler different from everyone else on Tour:

“Well, there’s nothing you can’t not like about Scottie. What he’s doing on the golf course is just incredible, the consistency day in and day out, the strategy, how he attacks the golf course.”

From a man who held world No. 1 for 683 weeks, that kind of specific breakdown is not a courtesy. It is a technical read from someone who understands exactly what it takes to win week after week.

Scottie Scheffler, though, has never let those comparisons land. At the Tour Championship in August 2025, when the conversation was getting harder to avoid, he addressed it directly:

“It’s very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods. I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will. Tiger inspired a whole generation of golfers.”

What makes that response interesting is what came with it. Scheffler spoke about playing alongside Woods at the 2020 Masters, both of them 11 shots back with nothing to gain, and watching Big Cat read every single putt with complete focus, regardless. That image stayed with him. By his own account, it reshaped how he competed, teaching him to bring the same intensity to every round, every shot, every tournament, no matter where he stood on the leaderboard.

He is still world No. 1, still ranked first in strokes gained total in 2026, and at 29 years old, nowhere near done. The streak is over. Everything that built it is still there. And his attitude? Well, let’s just say he’s still optimistic and has no regrets.

Riviera test reinforces Scottie Scheffler’s no-quit mentality

When asked whether there was satisfaction in fighting back after a slow start, Scheffler’s reply was nothing but direct.

“I’ve never been one to quit, so it’s not really, I mean, I’d feel pretty silly to quit in a PGA Tour event. Overall, being out here and competing, that’s what I love to do,” he said.

That attitude explains a lot about how the streak got to 18 in the first place.

Scottie Scheffler opened with a +5 through 10 holes at a course that has historically resisted him, made the cut on the number, and kept competing through the weekend. He did not treat the week as a lost cause once the leaderboard moved away from him. That refusal to switch off mid-tournament is not incidental to his record. It is the reason the record exists.

Missing the top 10 at Genesis ended the streak on paper. His response to it suggested he had already moved on.