The Scheffler show goes on at Hero World Challenge

eventually, thither is something sir thomas more sure than dying and taxes – Scottie Scheffler rising to the top of yet another leaderboard on yet another day.

At the US$5 million Hero World Challenge, the tournament that will bring down the curtains on his stunning 2025 season, the American came out of a two-month-long hibernation and shot a brilliant six-under par 66. (He was 9-under par, one shot off a five-way lead at the halfway mark).

If Scheffler goes on to win this Sunday, it will be his third straight title in Albany, his seventh win of the season (including two major championships), his 18th top 10 finish in 21 starts, and it will push his PGA Tour career earnings to over $100 million. Since taking over from Jon Rahm as the world No1 on 21st May 2023, nobody has even come close to toppling him from the top for 133 weeks now.

Scheffler won eight titles in 2024, and fans are fast running out of adjectives to describe his dominance. Most are calling it ‘Tiger Woods-like’, specifically referring to his 1999 and 2000 seasons, when Woods was on a tear with nine wins in 23 starts, followed by 10 in 22 appearances. That’s a staggering win percentage of 42.2. He also finished inside the top three in nine tournaments in that period.

The PGA Tour, with the help of its remarkably accurate ShotLink system, generates more than a hundred stats, and they mirror what Scheffler’s finishes have been dictating. The Texan is No1 in 23 major stats categories, including Scoring Average and Shot Gained – Total.

Several other Scheffler data sets make your jaw drop. For example, he is No1 in approach shots from 75-125 yards (the accuracy that most Tour players would say they are chasing), and also No1 in approach shots from more than 100 yards, as well as from 200-225 yards. He is also No1 in Proximity to the Hole.

These numbers just highlight how good his wedge and iron play has been. So, so, very good, that Woods, whose TGR Foundation hosts the Hero World Challenge this week, is a huge fan of Scheffler himself.

“Well, there’s nothing you can’t not like about Scottie. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet,” said Woods when asked to comment on Scheffler’s run.

“What he’s doing on the golf course is just incredible, the consistency day in and day out, the strategy with which he attacks the golf course. You can see him analyse it from the green back where the flag is, where he wants to miss a tee shot, what club to hit into the greens, where the wind is, what side of the tee box he’s to start off on. It’s truly amazing how thoughtful and strategic he is throughout the entire round.

“And on top of that, he doesn’t have lapses in a round like most players do. He’s there 100 per cent present for all 18 holes and all shots played and that’s hard to do. I mean, he won six times and they’re not small events. He’s beating the best fields. So that’s something that I can certainly appreciate and I hope everyone else appreciates it as well, because you just don’t see this happen very often.”

Asked specifically to pick up one aspect of Scheffler’s game that has impressed him the most, Woods did not have to think about his answer.

“I truly love watching him hit irons. The shaped shots he hits, the trajectories, the window changes that he has, the distance control, the miss in the proper spot, the proper spin in certain pin locations. These are all subtle things that matter a lot over the course of 72 holes,” said the 15-time major champion.

“That to me is impressive. If you don’t have trajectory control, you can’t have distance control. To see him move it up and down in different windows, use wind, fight wind and control spin is so fun to watch.”

Four other players joined Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard at 66 after the opening round – major champions Wyndham Clark and JJ Spaun, Indian-American Akshay Bhatia and Sepp Straka.

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