Every superhero has a backstory, and Scottie Scheffler’s storyline begins on November 15, 2020—a sequence of events that hardly anyone was aware of at the time.
The first and only time Scheffler and Tiger Woods had ever played together was on that day at the Masters tournament. On the last day, Woods was out of the running even though he was the reigning champion.The galleries were as empty as the Augusta trees, the tournament was being held in the winter rather than the customary spring, and social distancing rules had kept the spectators away. It was the year of Covid. However, it could be argued that this was the point at which one American golf star passed on the torch of greatness to another.
“I’ve only played one round of tournament golf with Tiger Woods,” Scheffler said this week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, “and it completely changed the way I play tournaments.” The trio, which included Ireland’s Shane Lowry, was among the first to tee off at 8:12 AM on that Sunday in 2020. Scheffler, who is now frequently mentioned in the same breath as the 15-time major winner, was still 15 months away from his first professional victory.
“I can’t describe the expression on his face when we reached the first green,” he said. This man is just locked in while we’re in 20th position, sort of playing yada, yada, yada. I was shocked and thought, “Holy smokes, this guy is in it right now!”
After both players parred the first hole, Scheffler explained Tiger’s strategy for the second: “He had this chip shot, and he looked at it like it was an up-and-down to win the tournament.” I think, “This is amazing!” This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life.
After both players parred the first hole, Scheffler explained Tiger’s strategy for the second: “He had this chip shot, and he looked at it like it was an up-and-down to win the tournament.” I think, “This is amazing!” This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life.
With 18 PGA Tour victories under his belt, Scheffler is already a four-time major winner and an Olympic gold medallist. However, he is winning so frequently these days that the total may have altered by the time you read this. He is the first golfer to win at least five tournaments in a row since Tiger Woods in 2007, and he has been the top player in the world since May 2023.
But on this particular day, he hadn’t yet been able to convert any of his enormous promise into a trophy. “Everyone would ask, ‘Hey, how come you haven’t won?'” he remarked.
“One thing I learnt from playing with Tiger is that I didn’t put myself in position enough times, which is why I felt like I hadn’t won yet. The most important thing I learned was how much effort he put into each shot; it seemed like the final one he would ever make.
After both Scheffler and Woods birdied the second hole at Augusta, they went in different directions. By the time they left the 11th green, Woods had lost three strokes, while Scheffler had made two bogeys before recovering with a birdie. What followed will always stick in his memory: Woods played the worst hole of his PGA Tour career.
At Rae’s Creek, Woods found the water with his tee shot on 12. He was in the water once more after receiving a penalty stroke. After another penalty, Woods made careful to avoid the Creek with his fifth stroke, sending his ball into the bunker and to the back of the green.
He then made a clumsy pitch out of the sand, over the green, and back into the sea. His following shot from the bunker was his eighth, and a subsequent two-putt produced his first double-digit score on a PGA Tour hole, a 10. By this point, he was playing like a weekend hacker. He had lost an amazing seven strokes for a terrible septuple bogey on a par-three hole.
Even though Woods’ chances of winning a sixth green jacket were already slim to none, Scheffler doesn’t recall that. After such a nightmare, many golfers would have collapsed, but not Tiger Woods, who punched back right away with a birdie on hole 13. In fact, he finished his round with five birdies in his final six holes. Scheffler was watching from the sidelines as Woods made an incredible comeback.
“I wondered, ‘What’s this guy still playing for?'” he said. He’s won the Masters four or five times, and right now, his best result is probably 20th. I simply tried to imitate the energy he brought to each round.
Scheffler has always been an excellent iron player, and his putting has significantly improved in recent years. However, his greatest skill appears to be his capacity to bounce back fast from setbacks.This season, Scheffler has made less bogeys than any other player on the tour. He only made four mistakes at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, but he usually makes up for them with an eagle or birdie on the next hole.
Scheffler had a 50% recovery rate at The Open. It was an incredible 60% at the PGA Championship. Both majors were won by him.
Dr. Phil Hopley, a sports psychologist, told CNN Sports how Scheffler makes something so challenging appear so easy.
He stated, “He stays focused in the present moment.” “He lets go of what has happened and understands that the more time he spends thinking about things that haven’t gone well, the more likely it is that he will feel anxious, fearful, nervous, or negative.””Even little things, like a slight increase in forearm tension due to excessive cortisol and adrenaline release, can have a potentially disastrous effect on your swing pattern and execution if you’re still simmering.”
Scheffler saw firsthand how Tiger Woods accomplished this, and it now serves as the basis for his own winning style. He won the first of his two Masters titles just two years later, and he hasn’t really stopped winning since. Now, many of his competitors acknowledge that he is practically invincible.
“People can do what I do on the golf course,” Scheffler thought to himself. “I don’t strike the ball as far as I could. I believe it’s simply the level of consistency and intensity I bring to every game of golf; I don’t miss strokes, rounds, or tournaments. My goal in being here is to give every shot my all. Due to his widespread success, Scheffler has unavoidably been compared to Woods, which he calls “very silly.”
Since I’m trying my hardest to be the best version of myself, I dislike being compared to other players. He went far beyond the game. In my opinion, Tiger is and always will be a unique player in the game of golf. A whole generation of golfers was inspired by Tiger. It was very remarkable to watch what the guy did every single week.
Fans of the Marvel comic books will tell you that there is always space for other superheroes in the cosmos, even though he doesn’t want to be known as the next Tiger Woods.
