Scottie Scheffler admits there’s one ‘tremendous’ LIV Golf player who he really misses playing against on the PGA Tour

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Scottie Scheffler is slowly but surely building himself up for the Masters, a title which he is looking to defend next month.

Rick Shiels doesn’t think Scheffler can emulate Tiger Woods, despite the world number one winning seven PGA Tour titles in 2024.

One of those came at the Masters, but Scheffler had already secured two wins by the time the major championship arrived last year.

Scheffler was in a ‘negative frame of mind’ during the Players Championship last week, where he ended T20.

He has now made five PGA Tour starts this season, having had his early momentum disrupted by hand surgery.

Scottie Scheffler misses playing against ‘tremendous’ Jon Rahm on the PGA Tour

But despite the issue, he has made all five cuts and posted two top 10 finishes, with just a handful of events now remaining until the Masters gets underway.

And as champion, he has featured in a pre-tournament press conference, where he was asked if he misses playing more tournaments with fellow Masters champion and LIV Golf icon Jon Rahm.

“Yeah, I definitely do,” said Scheffler. “One of the great joyous of my career is going up against Jon. He’s a tremendous player, tremendous talent.

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“I was definitely surprised to see him leave last year and I for sure miss playing against him. We had some great battles over the years.

“We had some great battles in the Ryder Cup. I think we’ve halved most of our matches in the Ryder Cup, Jon and I have. I think we might be dead even, I’m not sure exactly, but I feel like we’ve played five or six times.

“Maybe we’ve played five times and halved three of them, and I’ve won one and he’s won one. We’ve played a lot in the last two Ryder Cups, and he’s a great guy to compete against.

“So I definitely miss playing against him. I wish he got to do it more often, but definitely will soak in all the opportunities that I get to compete against him going forward.”

Scottie Scheffler says PGA Tour has best players in the world ‘by far’

The question about Rahm popped up given that the Spaniard received the green jacket from Scheffler two years ago.

The tables then turned at Augusta National last time out, when the American received the green jacket from Rahm.

But the latter opted to join LIV Golf at the end of 2023, meaning his regular participation with the likes of Scheffler was brought to an abrupt halt.

READ MORE: Two LIV Golf players are being picked as contenders to win the Masters as two ‘long shots’ from the PGA Tour also named

A reunion is, of course, on the cards should Rahm feature for Team Europe and Scheffler for Team USA at the 2025 Ryder Cup, where other LIV Golf players could take on PGA Tour stars.

Asked how much he misses having the top players playing more often against each other, Scheffler responded: “I definitely miss the competition. I miss… they got some pretty good players on their tour.

“I still think the PGA Tour has by far the best players in the world. The depth of our fields and the competition that we have is still hands down the best competition that there is in the game of golf.

“That’s why I’m still playing on the Tour, is I love the competition. I wish some of those guys had stayed, but at the end of the day, they made their choice.

“They knew the consequences of that decision, and I’m not here to change their minds. I hold no ill will towards any of those guys that left.

“They did what they wanted to do, and you know, I can’t control their life. I’m not going to sit here and say they should have done something differently.

“They made their choice. If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys.

“Go to wherever they are playing this week and figure out when the game is going to come back together. We’ll see.”