Woods won three tournaments and returned to world No. 1 before arriving at Augusta as a front-runner 11 years ago.
Scheffler, who has been at the top of the rankings for the past 47 weeks, has had an impressive run this year, winning twice and finishing runner-up in the past three tournaments.
But that's where the 27-year-old wants the similarities to end.
Woods, a four-time Masters champion at the time, finished tied for fourth in 2013 and narrowly avoided disqualification after he unceremoniously admitted in a post-round interview that he had made a false drop during the second round.
Scheffler leads most of the PGA Tour's key metrics from tee to green, but his recent engagement with putting guru Phil Kenyon has seen his putting stats trend upward, which had been under scrutiny. be.
Upon arriving in Augusta for the 88th staging of the only major to be held at the same venue every year, he went straight to the champions' locker room and donned his green jacket.
Climb 13 steps and turn left to reach the famous white clubhouse. This is the path that only winners walk. Scheffler shares a locker with fellow Texans Charles Coody, the 1971 champion, and Byron Nelson, the 1937 champion.
“When I get here on Sunday, that's always the first thing I do,” said Scheffler, who has finished inside the top 20 in his other three starts. “It's fun to wear it and walk around the temple grounds. It feels special.”
For McIlroy, it's a special feeling. This is the 16th year that Northern Irishmen have played the game surrounded by azaleas and magnolias.
Even the most casual golf fan knows he's been coming to Georgia for the past decade looking to complete a career Grand Slam, winning two PGA Championships, the British Open and the U.S. Open between 2011 and 2014. You definitely know you won.
It's been 13 years since his best chance at winning the Masters went “pear-shaped” on the 10th, as he succinctly put it at the time. On Sunday, he hit a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 opening of the back nine, giving up a four-shot lead for a disastrous round of 80.
Two years ago, he posted a personal best finish, but despite finishing with an 8-under 64, it was a far cry from second place, three strokes behind Scheffler. Either of them missed the cut twice.