Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods have only played one competitive round together in their careers, but it is one that altered Scheffler’s playing mentality and perhaps the course of his playing days. Paired together in the final round of the 2020 Masters — Scheffler’s tournament debut and Woods’ title defense from his memorable win the year prior — Scheffler and Woods were outside the realms of contention.
And it was Woods’ intensity and attention to detail despite being in this position that struck Scheffler the deepest and caused him to look at his own mentality in a different light.
“My biggest takeaway from playing with Tiger was the amount of intensity that he took to every shot, and that’s something I’ve talked to a lot of guys about,” Scheffler said. “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. I played with him in the 2020 COVID Masters, and I think he made a 10 on the 12th hole, and he birdied, I think, five of the last six, and it was like, ‘what’s this guy still playing for? He’s won the Masters four or 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, and that’s something that I try to emulate. If I’m going to take time to come out here each week — like it’s not an easy thing to play a golf tournament. If I’m going to take a week off, I might as well just stay home. If I’m playing in a tournament, I’m going to give it my all. That’s really all it boils down to.”
Woods started the final round of 2020 Masters at 5 under for the tournament and 11 strokes behind 54-hole leader and eventual champion Dustin Johnson. The final stroll around Augusta National did not begin in smooth fashion as he turned in 1 over, made bogey on No. 10 and arrived at the par-3 12th 2 over for his round.
The five-time Masters champion dumped not one, not two, but three balls into Rae’s Creek and put a 10 on his scorecard — the highest score on a single hole of his PGA Tour career. He dropped to 9 over for his round and was in jeopardy of failing to break 80 before finding a gear only Woods could find.
“The biggest change I felt like I made my first couple years on Tour to 2022 was the question always was, ‘Hey, how come you haven’t won?’ The reason I felt like I hadn’t won yet is I hadn’t put myself in position enough times,” Scheffler said. “I’d only played in a couple final groups. I always found myself just a little bit on the outside looking in, and that’s one of the things I learned from playing with Tiger. It was like, we’re in 20th place or whatever going into Sunday at the Masters, Tiger has won five Masters, he’s got no chance of winning the tournament. Then we showed up on the first hole and I was watching him read his putt, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this guy is in it right now.’
“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. And I feel like the reason I’ve had success in these tournaments is — I don’t hit the ball the furthest. The things that I do on the golf course, other people can do. I think it’s just the amount of consistency and the intensity that I bring to each round of golf is 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. I think it’s a lot easier said than done, and I think I’ve been in a good head space the last couple years where I’ve been able to stand up over a ball and focus on what I’m doing and just try and pull it off.”
Woods rattled off a birdie on the par-5 13th to polish off his trip to Amen Corner and made par on the par-4 14th. He then proceeded to make birdies on his final four holes to come home in 39 and sign for a final-round 76 to finish in a share of 38th-place.
Since that day, Scheffler has transformed from a young player on the PGA Tour to the best player in the world. He has won 18 times on the PGA Tour since the beginning of 2022 including four major championships and two Players Championships. This does not include a pair of wins at Tiger’s Hero World Challenge nor his Olympic gold medal from the 2024 Paris Games.
Comparisons continue to be drawn between Scheffler and Woods and the volume only gets turned up higher with each and every one of Scheffler’s wins. Still, the world No. 1 believes the parallels drawn between the two are silly noting how just one round with the 15-time major champion was enough for Scheffler to change his outlook on his own game.
“I think in the simplest form, it’s very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods,” Scheffler said. “I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will. Tiger inspired a whole generation of golfers. You’ve grown up watching that guy do what he did week in, week out, it was pretty amazing to see.
“I talk about a mental change I made because I played one round of golf with him in a tournament. I’ve only played one round of tournament golf with Tiger Woods, and it completely changed the way I look at how I play tournaments. I can’t tell you the look on his face when we got to the 1st green, and I look over, and we’re in 20th place, kind of playing, yada, yada, yada, and I look over and this guy is just locked in, and I was taken aback. I was like, holy smokes. Then we got to the 2nd hole, and he had this chip shot and he looked at it like it was an up-and-down to win the tournament. I’m like, this is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life.
“I think he completely transcended the game of golf, and I think when it comes to me, I don’t even like comparisons to other players because I think when we come out here, I’m doing the best I can to be the best version of myself. I don’t think about legacy, I don’t think about the past. I try to get the most out of myself each week. I just don’t really love the comparisons at all.”