{"id":718219,"date":"2026-01-24T19:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T19:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/718219\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T19:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T19:37:30","slug":"scottie-scheffler-good-enough-to-turn-pro-in-new-sport-projected-to-be-worth-7-9bn-by-2033","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/718219\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottie Scheffler ‘good enough to turn pro’ in new sport projected to be worth $7.9bn by 2033"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scottie Scheffler has dominated as golf’s No. 1-ranked player for close to three years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He has reigned at the top of the world rankings<\/a> for a ridiculous 139 weeks, since assuming the spot in May 2023.<\/p>\n

\"Scottie<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Scheffler begins his 2026 season as golf’s top-ranked star once againCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Last year, he added the PGA Championship title<\/a> to previous glory at The Masters<\/a> and The Open, and this season will no doubt be eyeing the career grand slam in 2026.<\/p>\n

Scheffler<\/a> only needs to win the US Open to join that exclusive club, of which rival Rory McIlroy<\/a> became the sixth member with a Masters win 10 months ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He has started 2026 strong, firing an opening-round 63 at The American Express in his season debut.<\/p>\n

Not content with just dominating in the world of golf, the 29-year-old PGA Tour<\/a> star has a natural talent for another sport too.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON GOLFScottie Scheffler has secret talent in second sport<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Scheffler is pretty handy on the pickleball court.<\/p>\n

He regularly competes in celebrity events, and has so much talent, that golf analyst Smylie Kaufman once claimed the phenom could switch careers if he wanted.<\/p>\n

Kaufman played a game of pickleball with Scheffler and fellow pro Sam Burns, and discussed the contest on an episode of The Smylie Show podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had golf carts on the court lighting up the court, it\u2019s late,” he explained, back in September 2024.<\/p>\n

“And so we get to playing pickleball and I have a good serve, that was something that I was able to hang onto for a little bit, and then I really started to struggle getting returns back.<\/p>\n

\"Scottie<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Scheffler dominates on the course, and he’s also handy on the pickleball courtCredit: Getty\"He<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

He is a regular in competitions and has previously matched up against the world No. 1Credit: PGA Tour<\/p>\n

“It was just mainly because the ball was moving so much, I started to realise that Scottie may be the best pickleball player on tour, and potentially good enough to turn pro.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t say that lightly because he\u2019s the best pickleball player I\u2019ve ever played against.”<\/p>\n

Scottie Scheffler worked over World No. 1 pickleball player<\/p>\n

Scheffler’s talent for pickleball was teased even before that contest.<\/p>\n

Back in 2023, as he competed in the Carvana PPA Tour Celebrity Showdown, the golf No. 1 actually beat his pickleball counterpart in a hands battle.<\/p>\n

As Scheffler and Anna Leigh Waters teamed up in a match against former tennis player John Isner and then-top ranked pickleballer Ben Johns, they engaged in a rally at the net.<\/p>\n

It was the two-time Masters winner who came out on top, making being a duel threat athlete look like light work.<\/p>\n

More than two years on, and Waters is the world No. 1 pickleballer in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, who earns 40 times more than WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Pro<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Pickleball is projected to be worth nearly $8bn come 2033Credit: Getty\"Anna<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Waters, the No. 1-ranked player, earns far more money that WNBA star ClarkCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The sport of pickleball itself, meanwhile, is projected to skyrocket from $1.9 billion in 2023 to $7.9bn<\/a> by 2033, such is the rapid rise in the US and across Europe.<\/p>\n

Scottie Scheffler ‘staying in present’ as 2026 season begins<\/p>\n

Scheffler stands to make plenty of money of his own this year, too.<\/p>\n

He wrapped 2025 having surpassed a staggering $50 million in earnings, and will no doubt add to that in the coming months.<\/p>\n

The top-ranked star, though, hasn’t given too much away about his on-course ambitions for this season.<\/p>\n

\"Scottie<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Scheffler has admitted he struggles to set big goals for 2026Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

“I wouldn\u2019t say that I\u2019m super goal-oriented. I always do my best to try to stay in the present,” he said on the eve of The American Express.<\/p>\n

“And I feel like my game\u2019s in a good spot, I\u2019m definitely excited to get out there and start another season.”<\/p>\n

It hasn’t been all plain sailing for Scheffler in 2026, though. <\/p>\n

He hit a fan with his tee shot as he returned to La Quinta Country Club in California for the American Express.<\/p>\n

On the 16th hole, his ball struck a spectator after dropping out of the sky.<\/p>\n

A video of the incident quickly racked up thousands of views on social media.<\/p>\n

“Oh, goodness,” the commentator is heard saying.<\/p>\n

“I hope that didn’t\u2026 that sounded like a skull.”<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the fan appeared to be uninjured, and Scheffler managed to par.<\/p>\n

Stay up to date with the latest from golf across all platforms – follow our dedicated\u00a0talkSPORT USA Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe to our\u00a0talkSPORT USA YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scottie Scheffler has dominated as golf’s No. 1-ranked player for close to three years. He has reigned at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,5259,4366,214583,10524,16021,214578,4298,214580,214581,4287,4288,55139,214575,214576,214577,88369,79,214584,214579,4297,24411,214582,16,15,16022],"class_list":["post-718219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-golf-majors","tag-golf-news","tag-golf-podcasts","tag-pga","tag-pga-championship","tag-pga-rankings","tag-pga-tour","tag-pickleball-scottie-scheffler","tag-pickleball-world-number-one","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-scottie-scheffler","tag-scottie-scheffler-majors","tag-scottie-scheffler-next-tournament","tag-scottie-scheffler-pickleball","tag-scottie-scheffler-ranking","tag-smylie-kaufman","tag-sports","tag-the-american-express","tag-the-american-express-golf","tag-the-masters","tag-the-open","tag-the-smylie-show","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-us-open-golf"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}