The Open Championship winner Scottie Scheffler continues to play down comparisons with Tiger Woods, while the golf icon himself has observed some key similarities and differences
Scottie Scheffler was compared to Tiger Woods after his victory at The Open Championship(Image: Getty Images)
Tiger Woods has highlighted the differences and similarities between his game and Scottie Scheffler’s, despite the latter dismissing comparisons with the golfing legend as “a bit silly”. Scheffler, 29, is currently enjoying one of the most dominant runs on the PGA Tour since Woods’ historic streak in the early 2000s.
The Texan has held the world’s No. 1 ranking since May 2023. He won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May before delivering a fantastic performance at Royal Portrush last week, which saw him claim his first The Open Championship and his fourth major overall.
His display showcased the same dominance and consistency he has enjoyed over the past two years as he carded 17-under par, beating the field by four strokes. That meant he completed a third leg of the career Grand Slam, taking him to within just one US Open victory of joining golf’s elite, including Woods.
Despite his clear dominance, Scheffler has been quick to shut down suggestions that he is approaching 15-time major winner Woods’ level. He said after his win at the Open: “I still think they [the comparisons] are a bit silly.
“Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there.”
“I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf,” Scheffler added. “He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf.”
But Woods, 49, has been less dismissive of the comparisons. He recently appeared in a PGA Tour video, which featured players discussing Scheffler’s game, and offered high praise and deep insight into what makes the 29-year-old so special.
He said: “We see shots into the greens very similarly, how we miss golf balls into the correct spots. It’s not always pretty, but it’s not about the here and now.
“It’s about the long game. It’s over 72 holes. It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon. I think that’s the similarity in how we play the game.”
Tiger Woods spoke glowingly of Scheffler despite them doing some things “differently”(Image: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Woods went on to say that while their styles differ, their approaches share core elements. “I did it differently,” he said. “My game was very violent at times. We played differently. He slid on it. I snapped on it.”
He also highlighted a subtle but major aspect of Scheffler’s technique which only another elite golfer might notice, saying: “Forget all the footwork stuff. If you just sat behind him and only looked at the golf ball, you’d see how tight it is. He doesn’t move the ball very much either way.
“If you understand the fact that he hits in these tight windows and shapes it in varying degrees, you can understand why he’s able to control distance into the greens as well as he does.”
Scheffler has now been ranked the No. 1 golfer in the world for 114 weeks – the longest such streak since Woods held the world’s top spot for 264 consecutive weeks between August 1999 and September 2004, and again for 281 straight weeks from June 2005 until October 2010.
Some have even taken notice of Scheffler’s mannerisms on the golf course this past weekend which were reminiscent of Woods when he was at the top of his game, including a dramatic fist pump after sinking a 15-foot putt on the sixth hole.
