Scheffler credits Tiger Woods with helping make PGA Tour purses so big

One thing I've learned over the course of my career is just bringing a certain type of intensity to each round. And I think that's something that's a lot easier said than done. I think I was born being really competitive and I love being able to compete and play out here and it's something that I don't take for granted. And that's why I say if I show up at a tournament, I'm not showing up for any other reason. It's not a warmup. It's not an obligation. I'm showing up to try and compete and do my best. And I feel like I have that obligation not only to myself, but to the sponsors and the fans and everybody. Like if I show up, I wanna try and do my best. And that's my goal going into each week. And when it comes to competing and playing, it's something that I love to do. And I don't wanna look back at the course of my career and feel like I could, when I'm retired and older, I don't wanna look back and feel like I could have done more. I wanna feel like I did everything I could and got the most out of my time out here. I think a lot of the success that we've had out here, especially when you look at it from a financial perspective, Tiger has a lot to do with that. And like I said, it's apples and oranges. And the reason I think our purses are so large today is because of the influence and the impact that Tiger had on the game. So I wouldn't really consider that a Tiger record being broken. I think it's more, I think just shows one of the many effects that he had on the game of golf and in a positive way. Like the tour is only getting more competitive as it goes forward. And I think that's part of kind of how he played the game. When I talk about competitive instincts and talk about intensity each week, that's stuff that I learned just by watching Tiger. Like I've only played with him once in competition. It was at the Masters. I think it was the COVID year, but it was the year he made the 10 on number 12 and he birdied, I think five of the last six holes. I just remember, we were in like 20th place going into the day. It's me, him and Shane Lowry. And I hadn't played with Tiger in competition yet. And I'm like, gosh, I wonder what this is gonna be like. We're in 20th place. He doesn't have a ton to play for. He's won like five green jackets and we don't really have a chance of winning. Dustin was pretty far ahead that year. And I just remember walking up onto the first green, watching him read his putt. And I was like, holy smokes, this guy is into it. And that was my main takeaway was just the intensity that he brought to each and every shot. And that's something that I've definitely tried to model in my game. But like I said, it's something that's easier said than done. But I feel like I've learned a lot just by watching him play and he's had tremendous impacts on the game. And that's one of them. I just love competing. I think the game of golf, there's always something to figure out. I think that's why you see a lot of athletes, when they finish their sport, they always take up golf. Because I think as an athlete, you love the preparation, you love working towards something. It can be weird for somebody, let's say like if you're a football player and you retire at 35 years old or a basketball player, like you've done that sport, you've had your routine and your preparation, you've done it for basically 30 years. Then all of a sudden you retire and you're like, wait, what kind of, what am I working towards? And I feel like in golf, it's a puzzle that you're always trying to solve.