Scottie Scheffler has expressed his deep admiration for golfing legend Tiger Woods after successfully defending his Hero World Challenge title in the Bahamas.
Scheffler put on a dazzling display, shooting a nine-under-par 63 to finish six shots clear of Tom Kim to secure back-to-back Hero titles - a feat only previously achieved by Woods and Viktor Hovland.
Despite an injury preventing Woods from competing, he was there to present Scheffler with the trophy, an experience that the current world No. 1 branded as "pretty special".
He said: "It's pretty surreal anytime you get - it's surreal almost when you get in the same room with Tiger, but it's definitely pretty surreal having him hand you a trophy at the end of the day. Like I say, we're proud to be supportive of Tiger and his foundation, love the work that they do and it's always a fun tournament for us to come and play in and support Tiger."
Scheffler's remarkable season - which saw him claim an impressive nine victories in 2024, including wins at the Players Championship, the Masters, the Tour Championship, and an Olympic Games gold medal - has drawn comparisons to the legendary Woods. However, the modest New Jersey-born golfer was quick to deflect the attention away from himself.
"Yeah, I mean, I'm never really good at that kind of stuff," admitted Scheffler when probed about his time for self-reflection following his extraordinary season. "I really do my best when I stay in the present. It's been a fantastic year, I'm very grateful for the season and grateful for the wins and it's been a ton of fun.
"But at the end of the day when we go home I'm looking forward to doing stuff that's not golf. I like to go home and live my life and enjoy my time at home. I've had a little bit of time to reflect, but I'm not really sure how to assess it. It's just been pretty surreal, it's been a lot of fun. I'm just really grateful."
Despite a stellar year, Scheffler didn't shy away from making a major change to his game, as he altered his putting grip.
He further explained: "Yeah, going into this week it was something I wanted to test out. Like I said, you can always practice and do everything at home, but competition's just a slightly different animal.
"It was good to come out here and compete and play under pressure, play with the lead, play close to the lead most of the week and I felt really comfortable."
