Scottie Scheffler insists he’s not doing anything extra special to retain his status as the World No. 1 and has attributed his success to consistent hard work.
The American won his fifth event of 2024 on Sunday at the Memorial, and the dominance comparisons to Tiger Woods are seemingly growing on a weekly basis.
However, despite a huge gap between himself and the rest of the golfing world, the 27 year old believes his achievements are down to the work he puts in.
“I feel like I’m always trying to work on all aspects of my game,” said Scheffler. “I feel like when I walk out on to the first tee I’m focused on my preparation.
“always remind myself walking to the tee that I’m prepared for this, I did everything I could in order it play well. I checked all the boxes when I step up there on the tee.
“If you see me at a tournament there’s about a 99 percent chance that I checked all the boxes and I’m ready to play. So when I step up there I just remember the results aren’t up to me and I’m going to go out there and compete.
“But I feel like I put in an awful lot of work into this game, and just because I got to No. 1 in the world doesn’t mean I’m going to stop working.”
Scheffler also has some permanent mementos from his youth at home that remind him of all the work he put in to improving his game.
“In my gym at home I hang some of the hats that I grew up with,” he added. “That I remember, you know, when I was a kid, and I got a cool hat, I would wear it the whole summer and I would sweat through the hat.
“So when I’m back there working out I remind myself that just because I got to where I am now it wasn’t just because it just happened.
“I remember all the work that I put in, all the balls that I hit, all the amount of time I spent out there sweating in the sun and putting in the time and the effort in order to become good.
“I continue to try to even work harder. That’s really all it is.”
Scheffler heads into the third Major of the year this week at the U.S. Open as the tournament favourite.