Extremely grateful for what Tiger Woods is doing for golf: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is “extremely grateful” that Tiger Woods has taken an active role in shaping the future of professional golf. Having recently joined the PGA Tour’s policy board, Woods will be voice of the players as the Tour aims to seal a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“Tiger is not someone who goes at 50 percent. As a player, I’m extremely grateful for what he’s doing. He has our best interests in mind, and he’s not going to compromise. His voice definitely holds a lot of weight,” Scheffler said in a press conference here.

Scheffler, the 2022 Master champion, is excited to see Woods back on the course. Woods makes his comeback at the Hero World Challenge here, after another long injury layoff.

“I love seeing him hit balls and hearing that sound. He’s still got the same sound, which is amazing. I feel rusty coming off two months without a tournament. He goes almost a year at a time, and he comes back and plays good golf. For him to be able to do it like this for so many years is pretty miraculous,” Scheffler said.

“He’s just a freak athlete. I never got to see (Jack) Nicklaus up close, but in my head Tiger is the best to ever play the game. The way he wins at such a high clip for so many years is pretty insane,” the 27-year-old added.

Scheffler has not competed since the Ryder Cup a couple of months ago. It was an event to forget for the American, who suffered a record 9&7 loss (alongside playing partner Brooks Koepka) to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg.

Scheffler, who finished second at this tournament in the last two editions, has returned refreshed from a break. “It will be good to see where my game is at. I want to get things running again – get my feet wet on the course and play some tournament golf,” Scheffler said.

(The writer is in Nassau on invitation from Hero MotoCorp)