Scottie Scheffler must have known what was coming when he won the event hosted by Tiger Woods by six shots to secure his ninth victory of 2024 this past week.
Obviously, the Hero World Challenge is unlikely to be the highlight of his unbelievable 2024, with Scottie Scheffler triumphing in a field of just 20 players. Nevertheless, it was still a real statement of intent from the world number one, who had not played in a tournament since the Tour Championship.
And with Scheffler winning Tiger Woods‘ event, it was not surprising that the 28-year-old quickly found himself at the centre of a debate, with many wondering whether Scheffler is well on his way to putting himself alongside the greatest the game has ever seen.
Byeong Hun An claimed Scheffler’s year was comparable with one of Woods’ better seasons. Meanwhile, Scheffler’s season was statistically rated as the sixth best since 1983. Unsurprisingly, the top five all came from Woods.
Where Scottie Scheffler is as good as Tiger Woods after his Hero World Challenge win
Scheffler definitely has a long way to go before he comes close to creating a real debate over whether he can be as good as Woods. But speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman claimed that Scheffler has a competitive spirit not seen since Woods’ prime.
“It’s hard not to play the comparison game when you have a year like Scottie just had. I just look at what’s ahead,” he said.
“If you’ve tuned into this podcast since the beginning, I’ve been on Scottie Scheffler for a very long time, and not that anybody wasn’t, this guy, just keep buying stock and keep investing in him because not only does he has the talent, he’s got the work ethic, but what I keep coming to realise is that his mental game and competitive edge is as good as Tiger.
“He does it in a different way, it looks different. That intent level of focus, it’s not the Jason Day style of focus that you kind of saw with Tiger, how he would just stalk putts; Scottie just does it by just being really good at every single part of his game.”
How Scheffler manages to find another gear in the final round
What is remarkable about Scheffler’s nine wins is how often the tournament was in the balance heading into the final round. For so much of his career, Woods was virtually unbeatable when he had a 54-hole lead in a major championship.
Scheffler had a four shot lead at the Memorial, while he was five ahead at the Tour Championship. But apart from that, he was never more than one ahead in each of his nine wins.
In fact, at the Olympics, he was four behind Jon Rahm heading into Sunday. Meanwhile, he was five shots off Xander Schauffele at the Players Championship.
| Tournament | Where Scheffler stood before the final round | Final result |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Tied for the lead | Won by five |
| Players Championship | Five shots back | Won by one |
| Masters | Led by one | Won by four |
| RBC Heritage | Led by one | Won by three |
| Memorial | Led by four | Won by one |
| Travelers Championship | One shot back | Won in play-off |
| Olympics | Four shots back | Won by one |
| Tour Championship | Led by five | Won by four |
| Hero World Challenge | One shot back | Won by six |
He simply appears to have a completely different gear to go to for the final 18 holes. He almost appears to be immune to the pressure; rising to the occasion every time he had a sniff of a win.
There were exceptions, but Scheffler now appears to have that fear factor. If he is anywhere on the leaderboard coming down the stretch, he will more than likely be the name that everyone else will be worried about.
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