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Focus on Woods is good: Scheffler

3 minute read

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is happy to fly under the radar and says the Masters will be fun if Tiger Woods plays at Augusta National.

TIGER WOODS.
TIGER WOODS. Picture: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has welcomed Tiger Woods' likely participation at the Masters.

Fifteen-time major winner Woods, who has triumphed five times at Augusta National, has not played on the PGA Tour since failing to defend his 2019 Masters title in November 2020.

After undergoing back surgery the following month, the 46-year-old then sustained major injuries in a car accident in February last year.

However, some 25 years on from his first triumph at Augusta, the American was listed among the expected 91 participants for the Masters, which begins on Thursday.

"As of right now, I feel like I am going to play," Woods said during his pre-tournament news conference on Tuesday.

"I don't show up to an event unless I think I can win it."

Speaking to the Golf Channel, Scheffler said when asked if the spectre of Woods had deflected attention: "I would say having Tiger anywhere deflects a lot of attention from any of us. It's definitely easier to fly under the radar and we're all excited, hopefully he can come out and play this week, it should be a fun week if he does."

Woods famously won the 2019 Masters after returning from multiple back surgeries.

Scheffler recently shot up the rankings from fifth to first after a series of tournament wins, including last month's WGC Match Play, but insists he will not take his new position for granted.

"I haven't had too much time to reflect, just been trying to get some rest at home," he said.

"I've been working hard for my whole life to play out here on the PGA Tour and I've had some success recently. I'm very happy to have had that but I'm not going to take it for granted.

"I only checked it once (the ranking) and it was there! Number one was never something I looked for.

"You set milestones and really just getting into the top 50 so you can play in the majors, that's where you try to get to.

"After that you're really just playing tournaments. I've been fortunate to win a few recently."

The 25-year-old also revealed he is keeping his feet firmly grounded, assisted by an incident in which he was mistaken for world No.10 Xander Schauffele.

"I've been humbled a couple of times already, showing up here," he added.

"The guy who picked me up in the cart this morning called me Xander, so that brought me down to earth real quick.

"It's been great, really looking forward to this week."

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