Scottie Scheffler Using Masters Experience With Tiger Woods As Motivation For PGA Tour Success

Scottie Scheffler has revealed that his motivation for continuing his rapid rise to the top came from playing his one and only round with 15-time major champion Tiger Woods. 

Scheffler, who hadn't won on the PGA Tour prior to 2022, has since secured 23 wins - four of those being majors, with the American pinning his success down to Woods. 

In the final round of the 2020 Masters, Scheffler played alongside Shane Lowry and Woods, with the latter famously making a 10 on the par-three 12th at the tournament. 

Woods, however, responded with birdies on five of the last six holes to card a four-over 76, with Scheffler finishing tied for 19th at six under in his debut at the Masters. 

Scheffler, meanwhile, has taken the world by storm. He became the first player since Woods to win at least five PGA Tour events in back-to-back years last week. 

The 29-year-old won the BMW Championship from Robert MacIntyre, who blew a four-shot lead on the final day, to continue his impressive recent form. 

Scheffler is aiming to become the first player to successfully defend the FedEx Cup in the season-ending Tour Championship this weekend, and cited his round with Woods five years ago as the key to remaining hungry to keep on winning. 

"I admired the amount of intensity that he [Tiger] took to every shot - it was like the last shot he was ever going to hit. That's something that I try to emulate," Scheffler said. 

"I played with him in the 2020 Covid [affected] Masters, and I think he made a 10 on the 12th hole, and then birdied, I think, five of the last six.

"I was like, 'What's this guy still playing for?' He's won the Masters five times and the best finish he's going to have is like 20th place at this point.

"That's the biggest change I made from my first couple of years on tour to 2022.

"I just admired the intensity that he brought to each round, and that's something that I try to emulate. 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. I'm not going to come out here to take a week off.

"If I'm playing in a tournament, I'm going to give it my all. That's really all it boils down to."

Scheffler will also not start this week's Tour Championship with a two-stroke lead on the field, like he did last season before winning his first FedEx Cup.

With the PGA Tour removing starting strokes for the season-ending championship, Scheffler will start at even par like the other 29 golfers in the field.

"I guess no more sandbagging for me at the end of the year," Scheffler joked. "I was not a fan of it. I didn't think it was a good way to end the year, for a variety of reasons.

"I'm much more happy with this format. I think having a good golf tournament on a really good golf course to finish off our season is extremely important."