Nassau, Nov 30 (PTI) World number one Scottie Scheffler can't help raving about Tiger Woods as the 47-year-old makes his much-anticipated comeback at the Hero World Challenge this week.

Scheffler, 20 years younger to Woods, has no qualms in saying that the 15-time major winner is just different than the rest of "us" and does things on the golf course that he only can.

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Woods has not played since withdrawing from the Masters in April, following which he underwent an ankle surgery.

"I think he's just a freak athlete. I would say in my head, I never got to see (Jack) Nicklaus up close but in my head Tiger I think is the best to ever play the game.

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"The way he did it winning at such a high clip and for so many years is pretty insane. When you watch him play, he really didn't have any weaknesses. He won 82 times, 15 majors? I mean, and when you watch him play, like I even saw -- the first time I played with him was the Masters we had during COVID.

"It was in the fall and he wasn't really at the top of his game. It was the day he made a 10 on No. 13, or sorry, No. 12 at Augusta. He's just different than everybody else," said Scheffler, who will be looking to better his back-to-back runner-up finishes at Albany here.

Woods himself is curious to see how he fares against the world's best this weekend. Scheffler said the champion competitor in Woods has the ability to hit inspirational shots even at the twilight of his career.

"I don't know what he's at right now, I haven't seen him hit a ball in a while, but yeah. Like I'm telling you, the shots that he hits when he hits them well, like it's pretty inspirational for me to see.

"I learn a lot just by watching him because he always has a shot in mind, and there's not a shot that he can't hit and there's not a shot that he's not willing to try and hit, either.

"So when he's out there playing and competing, I can only imagine what it was like at the peak of his game. I'm seeing him kind of in the twilight of his career."

The sporting world has its eyes placed firmly on Woods' return and Scheffler reckons his presence is massive for golf.

"For us, especially myself being someone that hasn't competed against him too much, it's definitely great just to see him out here playing. I think it's great for the game of golf and I think it's great for Tiger to come out and still compete.

"For us to be able to see him do it is still a great experience and we're glad to have him back out. As far as his play goes, I mean, that's something you'll have to ask him. Tiger's probably not going to be teeing it up too much if he doesn't feel like he can win," said the 2022 Masters winner, his only major title till date.

Scheffler has not played since USA's forgettable campaign in the Ryder Cup in September-October. The Dallas-based player was asked about his extended break post that tournament and the proposed merger between PGA and Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

Woods is also now on the PGA Tour policy board and is negotiating a deal with all the stakeholders.

Scheffler said there is no one better than Woods to look after players' interests.

"He's doing a whole lot. For us as players, I mean, Tiger's not someone that's going to go at anything 50 percent, he's going to go 100 percent into whatever he's doing and right now that's a lot of stuff for the Tour," he said.

"As a player, I'm extremely grateful for what he's doing. He has our best interests in mind and he's not going to compromise when it comes to what's best for the players. His voice definitely holds a lot of weight.

"It's great that he wants to do this stuff. That's another thing, he doesn't have to do that. He could easily sail off into the sunset, never touch a club again, never do anything again, just go live his life and enjoy kind of the second half of his life and do whatever, hang out with his kids.

"But he continues to come back and want to compete. So it's pretty inspirational," added Scheffler.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)