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

Like excellent and breathtaking, Tiger-like is an adjective that ought to be used sparingly.

However when assessing Scottie Scheffler’s 2024, it’s arduous not to attract Tiger Woods comparisons, and never solely as a result of Woods was trying 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 received 9 occasions — 9 occasions, Mrs. Bueller! — in a season.

It’s the completeness of Scheffler’s recreation that the majority 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 together with his final-round nine-under 63. His reply urged that he was not, or not less than not fully.

“Yeah,” he started. “I imply, you realize, I’m very grateful to be sitting right here with the trophy. My aim or no matter going into at the moment was to hopefully win the event and I felt like I performed ok golf to win and was in a position to get it performed.”

Ok, 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 seemingly would have beat 119. Or, for that matter, 1,119.

Scheffler led the sphere in a minimum of 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 usually unassuming type, summed up his $63 million season Sunday. Makes you surprise what would qualify as a very enjoyable 12 months. To recap, Scheffler received his second inexperienced jacket, defended his Gamers title, received 5 different signature occasions, together with the Tour Championship, which gave him FedEx Cup honors. He additionally received a gold medal in Paris and, oh yeah, grew to become a father.   

Scheffler is making the sport — and successful — look straightforward. He’ll let you know neither of this stuff is true. Actually, he mentioned as a lot Sunday. “I might say that golf very not often feels straightforward,” he mentioned. “I see lots of the gamers out right here after they have nice rounds, it appears really easy and then you definitely get performed and also you speak to them about it and it’s by no means actually that straightforward.”

That’s very true when expectations are excessive, as they’ve been for Scheffler all 12 months lengthy. Successful might beget successful, nevertheless it additionally begets the belief from others that extra wins are coming. Certainly, it’s one factor to prevail once you’re cruising underneath 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 distinct type of stress that few gamers have needed to face.

Ask Justin Thomas, who early final week mentioned of Scheffler: “I feel it’s simply underrated how nicely he’s enjoying for [people] anticipating [him] to play that nicely. I don’t suppose individuals perceive how troublesome it’s to win once you’re anticipated to win or when each single individual expects you to play nicely, and also you anticipate you to play nicely after which to nonetheless play nicely. I feel expectations are one thing, it’s very, very arduous to handle. It really is simply as a lot of a expertise as having the ability to management your distance along 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 mentioned that amongst his Tour brethern nobody is healthier at executing these psychological gymnastics than Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, who received two majors this 12 months.    

“It’s very arduous to clarify, nevertheless it’s so arduous to do typically,” continued Thomas, who himself is aware of just a little one thing about successful in bunches (in 2017 he received 5 occasions, together with a significant). “It’s typically even tougher once you’re enjoying that nicely as a result of it’s straightforward to suppose like, nicely, if I maintain enjoying like this, I’m going to win this event, I’m going to win the following event and the following one versus really — I imply, Tiger all the time talked about it, each shot’s a very powerful shot you’ve ever hit in your life, and after you hit that one, you go do it once more and subsequent factor you realize you’re like oh, I received once more. That’s a tough factor to do. To me, that’s been probably the most spectacular factor from Scottie.”

No argument right here.