Was Scottie Scheffler always a superstar? Junior and college career explored

Scottie Scheffler finished the 2024 season with nine wins worldwide, seven of them on the PGA Tour (one major). These results consolidated his position at the top of the world rankings, more than eight average points ahead of the runner-up.

Being the world's leading golf star is not a new feeling for Scottie Scheffler as he has enjoyed impressive results since his junior days.

Before entering college, Scottie Scheffler won three junior tournaments, including the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur (2011 Legends Junior Match Play Championship, 2014 Junior Invitational). In 2014, he again reached the quarter-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur, the first reigning champion to do so since 1986.

In 2013, he was named the Amateur Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Player of the Year and made the Rolex Junior All-America team for the third consecutive year. He finished his time in the category ranked first in both the AJGA Polo Golf Rankings and Golfweek's Class of 2014 list.

By 2014, Scottie Scheffler's name had even reached the professional circuit. That year, he was invited by sponsors to play in two PGA Tour events, the FedEx St. Jude Classic (missed the cut) and the HP Byron Nelson Championship (tied for 22nd).

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Scottie Scheffler was also a collegiate golf star

Scottie Scheffler began his collegiate golf career in 2014 when he joined the University of Texas Longhorns. In four seasons, he played in 50 tournaments and 152 rounds, with a scoring average of 71.30 and a best round of 65.

His best finish in collegiate golf was winning the 2015 Big 12 Championship. He also won the Annual Western Intercollegiate that year and won the East Lake Cup title in 2016.

Scheffler also had 14 top-10 finishes during his collegiate career, including four runner-up finishes. In 2017, he qualified for the US Open for the second time, where he tied for 27th and won the Low Amateur award.

These results earned him the following awards, among others:

• 2018 Big 12 Tournament Team
• 2018 Big 12 Scholar Athlete
• 2017 Golfweek All-America First Team
• 2017 PING All-America Third Team
• 2017 All-Big 12
• 2017 Ben Hogan Award Watch List
• 2016 Academic All-Big 12 First Team
• 2015 Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year
• 2015 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
• 2015 All-Freshmen Team
• 2015 All-Big 12 First Team

As an amateur, Scheffler was also called up to represent the United States on numerous occasions. In 2012, he took part in the Junior Ryder Cup, where he contributed to the victory of his team. The same happened a year later when the Americans (Scheffler among them) won the Spirit International.

In 2014, Scheffler was again called up to the team that competed in the Eisenhower Trophy. The U.S. finished in a tie for sixth place. Finally, Scheffler played in the 2014 Walker Cup, where the U.S. also won.