Tiger Woods gives “number one player” Scottie Scheffler a free pass at the Hero World Challenge

Scottie Scheffler was a part of the star-studded field at the 2025 Hero World Challenge this week. During the final round, he pulled off a risky shot that left Tiger Woods impressed.

The American golfer sat in second place heading into the final round of the tournament. Faced with a shot during Sunday’s round, Scheffler decided to hit a driver off the deck.

With Tiger Woods in the commentators’ booth, he was asked about his thoughts on the defending champion’s shot choice. The 82-time PGA Tour winner stated that at the level of competition the Texan has reached, he has the license to play whatever shot he pleases.

Here’s a look at what Tiger Woods had to say about Scottie Scheffler’s driver of the deck during the final round of the 2025 Hero World Challenge (via X @TWLegion):

“I’ve been out for so long, so it’s nice to catch up with these guys…He’s the number one player in the world; he can do whatever he wants.”

Tiger Woods, who hosted this week’s 2025 Hero World Challenge, went on to state that if he were in the current World No. 1 golfer’s position, he would not have chosen to play a driver off the deck.

Scheffler ended the 2025 Hero World Challenge tied for 4th place with J. J. Spaun while Hideki Matsuyama beat Alex Noren in a playoff for the victory.

Scottie Scheffler replaces driver ahead of 2025 Hero World Challenge

Scottie Scheffler debuted a new driver in his bag this week at the 2025 Hero World Challenge. He dropped his TaylorMade Qi10 driver, which has been his bag this whole season, for the golf equipment giant’s Qi4D driver.

TaylorMade’s Qi4D driver recently became a part of the United States Golf Association (USGA)’s conforming list. The same club has also been a part of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood’s bags for tournaments.

Here’s a look at what the Olympian had to say about his new weapon (via Golf Digest):

“This driver’s been a really good fit for my eye and that’s always the first test for me. So far the performance has been good, my spin numbers have been really consistent, ball flight’s been consistent and looking forward to getting it in competition. I had a little bit of trouble getting into the Qi35 and I feel like we learned a lot throughout that process of what I like to see in a driver, the way it needs to perform for me specifically.”

Scottie Scheffler’s TaylorMade Qi4D driver has 8 degrees of loft with weight on the sole of the club and a unique clubface that has a blue hue to it. He also went on to state that heading into this year on the PGA Tour, his team at TaylorMade worked tirelessly to find a driver that would be consistent off the clubface and get him as much yardage off the tee as possible.