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Its Scheffler Again, in the Bahamas
Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Sam Sneed, Vijay Singh, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Nick Price all had great seasons in their careers, but Tiger Woods's 2000 season was arguably the best in golf history, with nine wins and three major titles.

Woods, soon to reach 49, never came close to such a season again, but 24 years later, a tall Texan has posted similar victory numbers with his eighth victory at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

And while it is a limited-field invitational event of 20 players, it was the cream of the professional golf crop, making it significant enough.

The six-shot win by Scottie Scheffler over South Korea’s Tom Kim came from one shot behind Justin Thomas, posting a final round 63 as he waved goodbye to the field with five birdies in the first ten holes and then cruised into his second 9consecutive victory at the Woods tournament.

But where does the Scheffler season fit in the best?

“I'm not really sure, to be honest with you, I think it's been a great year, it's been a fun year,” Scheffler said when asked about the season. “I've been fortunate to get some wins out of some really good golf. This was another week where I played really solid and was able to see some nice results

from that. Overall, it was a pretty fun year.

As an independent observer, Scheffler’s season was near spectacular, but many of the other players that have had great seasons have been judged by their major wins.

Scheffler did win the Masters, and many believe the PGA Championship may have been his to lose if not for being arrested before the first round on Thursday morning.

U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and Open Champion Xander Schauffele were both unstoppable. While the 28-year-old didn’t factor in either with a T41 at Pinehurst and T7 at Royal Troon, Scheffler shot a final round 62 to win a gold medal in Paris.

“I never really played golf for legacy, that's not something I think about day to day, I play because I love the competition, I love coming out here and competing,” Scheffler said about legacy. “I like trying to get the most out of myself out here on the golf course. That's why I'm always trying to improve, trying to do little things to get better. I don't think about records, I don't think about achievements, wins, losses, I just try and get the most out of myself and come out here and compete and have a good attitude.”

Scheffler came to this week’s Hero like a player who has done it all and wanted to see how he can improve next year.

So, a new putting stroke showed up, and he was third in Strokes Gained Putting and made 27 birdies to only two bogeys.

“You can always practice and do everything at home, but competition's just a slightly different animal, it was good to come out here and compete and play under pressure, play with the lead, play close to the lead most of the week, and I felt really comfortable,” Scheffler said of the putting change. ”I would definitely assume that it's going to be there in Maui. Like I said, I'll go home, assess the week, and talk to Phil. Overall I felt like the results and the way I felt over the ball, I was really comfortable in competition, and I was pretty pleased.”

But where does Scheffler’s season sit, and what can be expected in 2025?

Those are questions for another day.

This article first appeared on The Morning Read and was syndicated with permission.

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