Scottie Scheffler says Tiger Woods showed him intensity needed to be the best

Independent

6 hours ago

World number one Scottie Scheffler credits Tiger Woods for inspiring the crucial change to his game which has made him arguably the best golfer since the 15-time major winner's pomp.
Scheffler won the US PGA and Open Championship this year, with three of his four majors coming in the last eight events, and also has three other PGA Tour victories in 2025.
He is the last player since Woods to win five tournaments in back-to-back seasons and while he continues to play down comparisons, he does admit the influence of golf's modern great sparked a turning point in his own career.
' Tiger was just different in the sense of the way he approached each shot, it was like the last shot he was ever going to hit,' said Scheffler, who is attempting to become the first player to successfully defend a FedEx Cup title in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
'I've only played with Tiger once in a tournament, in the 2020 Masters and I think he made a 10 on the 12th hole and then he birdied, I think, five of the last six.
'It was like 'What's this guy still playing for? He's won the Masters five times. Best finish he's going to have is like 20th place at this point'.
'I just admired the intensity that he brought to each round. That was something that I just thought about for a long time.
'I felt like a change I needed to make was bringing that same intensity to each round and each shot.
'I don't hit the ball the furthest, the things that I do on the golf course other people can do, so I think it's just the amount of consistency and the intensity that I bring to each round of golf – not taking shots off, not taking rounds off, not taking tournaments off.
'When I show up at a tournament, I'm here for a purpose and that's to compete hard and you compete hard on every shot.'
Those are ominous words from a player who is currently top of the FedEx standings with almost twice as many points as second-placed Rory McIlroy.
However, unlike previous years, when there were shots advantages to be earned from your place in the 30-man standings, every player now starts level par and the winner over four rounds wins not only the Tour Championship but the FedEx Cup and a 10 million US dollar (£7.4m) bonus.
'I'm maybe part of the minority. I didn't hate the starting strokes,' said McIlroy.
'I thought that the player that played the best during the course of the season should have had an advantage coming in here but the majority of people just didn't like the starting strokes.
'But you could also argue if it was starting strokes this week Scottie with a two-shot lead probably isn't enough considering what he's done this year and the lead that he has in the FedExCup going into this week.'