Scottie Scheffler’s final-day call sparks scrutiny from Tiger Woods at Hero World event

Scheffler dropped a shot on the par five 11th after getting himself into a few poor positions, and things started to go wrong after he found a perfect spot off the tee. With about 300 yards left to the green, Scheffler pulled out his driver.

The 29-year-old spotted a small lump of mud on his ball just before hitting it, and when he did, it hooked well left, landing under a bush. The poor break led to a bogey six, with another shot dropped on the following hole.

Tiger Woods commented from the Golf Channel booth that he would have played it differently once he noticed there was mud on the ball.

“He was going alright at the beginning of the round, but that one shot on 11 kind of derailed him. Now he basically has to birdie out to have a chance.

“No, I wouldn’t have [hit the same shot due to the mud on the ball]. I would have just chipped an iron as low as I possibly could down the fairway,” Woods stated.

He added: “But hey, he’s the number one player in the world. He can do whatever he wants.”

Trouble brewing for Scottie Scheffler and his approach play

It is pretty much impossible to pick holes in Scheffler’s game, and if there was an area where he tends to stand out above the rest, it is with his irons. Woods even singled out Scheffler’s approach play earlier in the week.

But as we look ahead to 2026, there are a couple of things that might give fans pause.

Data Golf reports that Scheffler has lost strokes to the field with his approach play in five of his last 12 rounds, including twice during this week in the Bahamas.

Of course, it could just be a bit of rust after some time off – this was his first tournament since the Procore Championship. And he will have plenty of time to get things back on track before next season gets going.

But even someone as consistent as Scheffler has a few things to tidy up between now and then.