ATLANTA – The comparisons continue between Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods. Scheffler’s comeback win at the BMW Championship, the second stop in the FedExCup Playoffs, notched his fifth victory of the season, making him the first to win five times in consecutive seasons since Woods did so in 2006-07. It’s just another stat that raises the current world No. 1 closer to the lofty levels of one of the game's greatest.

Scheffler enters the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta as the clear favorite to lift the FedExCup in back-to-back years, even though the field all starts at zero for the first time in a "winner-takes-all" showdown. No one has come close to the level the now 18-time PGA TOUR winner has set, but Scheffler, however, remains grounded.

“I think in the simplest form, I think it's very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods,” Scheffler said when asked about it at the TOUR Championship. “I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will. Tiger inspired a whole generation of golfers. You've grown up watching that guy do what he did week in, week out. It was pretty amazing to see.”

Despite thinking that the comparison shouts are “silly,” Scheffler, in his own mind, still looks to emulate a demeanor and mental attitude learned from playing with the 82-time PGA TOUR winner.

“My biggest takeaway from playing with Tiger was the amount of intensity that he took to every shot, and that's something I've talked to a lot of guys about,” Scheffler said.

Surprisingly, the only time Scheffler has been paired with Woods was the final round of the 2020 Masters Tournament, during a season of disruption where players returned to inside the ropes competition for the first time since play stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On a foggy, cool morning in Augusta, Georgia, for a one-off November hosted Masters, Scheffler was amazed by Woods’ routine.

“We're in 20th place or whatever going into Sunday at the Masters, Tiger has won five Masters, he's got no chance of winning the tournament,” Scheffler said. “Then we showed up on the first hole and I was watching him read his putt, and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, this guy is in it right now.'”

Regardless of the position, and even in the face of the circumstances going against Woods after he carded a septuple-bogey 10 at the par-3 12th, Scheffler notes: “It was like the last shot he was ever going to hit.” Looking back, it was a point of revelation for Scheffler, and Woods bounced back with five birdies in the last six holes. He even switched into the same irons as Woods after marveling at some of the shots he hit.

“That was something that I just thought about for a long time. I felt like a change I needed to make was bringing that same intensity to each round and each shot. And I feel like the reason I've had success in these tournaments is – I don't hit the ball the furthest,” Scheffler continued. “The things that I do on the golf course, other people can do. I think it's just the amount of consistency and the intensity that I bring to each round of golf is not taking shots off, not taking rounds off, not taking tournaments off.”

Since the change, Scheffler’s domination on the PGA TOUR has been unmatched. His breakthrough victory came in 2022, and his form over the last four years is unchallenged. Not only has Scheffer amassed 18 wins over that time period (eight more than his nearest rival, Rory McIlroy), but also 59 top 10 finishes, including a current run of 13-straight dating back to the Texas Children's Houston Open earlier this spring. A clear example of the Woods’ driven mindset learned for that round with the 15-time major champion.

“When I show up at a tournament, I'm here for a purpose and that's to compete hard, and you compete hard on every shot,” Scheffler said. “I think it's a lot easier said than done, and I think I've been in a good head space the last couple years where I've been able to stand up over a ball and focus on what I'm doing and just try and pull it off.”

Scheffler beat Woods in that 2020 Masters final round by five strokes. Two years later, he was donning the green jacket for the first time after blitzing the field at Augusta National. Now he’s world No. 1 and looking to win a second FedExCup.

Sound familiar?