The ‘underrated’ trait that Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods share in widespread

Like good and breathtaking, Tiger-like is an adjective that must be used sparingly.

However when assessing Scottie Scheffler’s 2024, it’s exhausting not to attract Tiger Woods comparisons, and never solely as a result of Woods was wanting on approvingly on the Hero World Problem Sunday when Scheffler joined Woods and Vijay Singh as the one gamers within the trendy period to have gained 9 occasions — 9 occasions, Mrs. Bueller! — in a season.

It’s the completeness of Scheffler’s sport that almost all evokes peak Woods, paired with Scheffler’s superhuman capacity to finds methods to win even when he’s not at his sharpest. On Sunday night, after his breezy six-shot win within the Bahamas, Scheffler was requested if he was happy along with his final-round nine-under 63. His reply prompt that he was not, or at the least not fully.

“Yeah,” he started. “I imply, you already know, I’m very grateful to be sitting right here with the trophy. My aim or no matter going into as we speak was to hopefully win the match and I felt like I performed adequate golf to win and was in a position to get it performed.”

Adequate, LOL. This on a day when no different participant managed higher than a 67.  

Scheffler wanted to beat “solely” 19 different gamers at Albany, however his stat line indicated that, if requested of him, he possible would have beat 119. Or, for that matter, 1,119.

Scheffler led the sector in at least 11 statistical classes, together with SG: Tee-to-Inexperienced (+3.23), SG: Strategy (+1.69), 3 Putt Avoidance (0) and Scoring Common (67.8). Little of that dominance ought to have come as a shock given it was merely a continuation of what Scheffler has been doing all season. In 2024, he leads the Tour in SG: Tee to Inexperienced (+2.401), SG: Strategy the Inexperienced (1.277), Scoring Common (68.645) and Birdie Common (4.88).       

“A fairly enjoyable 12 months,” is how Scheffler, in his sometimes unassuming fashion, summed up his $63 million season Sunday. Makes you marvel what would qualify as a very enjoyable 12 months. To recap, Scheffler gained his second inexperienced jacket, defended his Gamers title, gained 5 different signature occasions, together with the Tour Championship, which gave him FedEx Cup honors. He additionally gained a gold medal in Paris and, oh yeah, turned a father.   

Scheffler is making the sport — and successful — look simple. He’ll let you know neither of these items is true. Actually, he stated as a lot Sunday. “I might say that golf very hardly ever feels simple,” he stated. “I see a variety of the gamers out right here once they have nice rounds, it appears really easy and you then get performed and also you speak to them about it and it’s by no means actually that simple.”

That’s very true when expectations are excessive, as they’ve been for Scheffler all 12 months lengthy. Successful might beget successful, however it additionally begets the belief from others that extra wins are coming. Certainly, it’s one factor to prevail once you’re cruising beneath the radar and shoot a cool Sunday 64 to sneak up on the pack and nab, say, your third-career title. It’s fairly one other once you’re the prohibitive betting favourite, going through the media after each spherical and anticipated to be within the hunt. That’s a unique type of strain that few gamers have needed to face.

Ask Justin Thomas, who early final week stated of Scheffler: “I feel it’s simply underrated how effectively he’s enjoying for [people] anticipating [him] to play that effectively. I don’t assume folks perceive how tough it’s to win once you’re anticipated to win or when each single particular person expects you to play effectively, and also you count on you to play effectively after which to nonetheless play effectively. I feel expectations are one thing, it’s very, very exhausting to handle. It really is simply as a lot of a expertise as having the ability to management your distance together with your wedges or flight a driver or hit it far — no matter it’s, is having the ability to keep current, keep within the second.”

Thomas stated that amongst his Tour brethern nobody is healthier at executing these psychological gymnastics than Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, who gained two majors this 12 months.    

“It’s very exhausting to clarify, however it’s so exhausting to do typically,” continued Thomas, who himself is aware of somewhat one thing about successful in bunches (in 2017 he gained 5 occasions, together with a serious). “It’s typically even tougher once you’re enjoying that effectively as a result of it’s simple to assume like, effectively, if I hold enjoying like this, I’m going to win this match, I’m going to win the subsequent match and the subsequent one versus really — I imply, Tiger at all times talked about it, each shot’s crucial shot you’ve ever hit in your life, and after you hit that one, you go do it once more and subsequent factor you already know you’re like oh, I gained once more. That’s a tough factor to do. To me, that’s been essentially the most spectacular factor from Scottie.”

No argument right here.