For Woods read Scheffler, in the newest era. Unlike for so many others, it seems winning for the tall Texan is a routine pursuit. The Open and US PGA champion is celebrating his sixth triumph of the year.
He overturned a two-shot deficit to beat Ryder Cup team-mate Ben Griffin in California.
“I did my best to stay in my own world and keep making birdies,” Scheffler said. “I did a good job at staying patient and finished it off.”
Nothing to it, then.
But that, of course, ignores the thousands of hours of diligent preparation that creates such reliable technique and with it consummate confidence.
Scheffler now has 19 wins in 150 PGA Tour starts. It is his second consecutive season with six or more trophies – since 1983 only Woods has had multiple years with six or more victories.
The current world number one keeps it simple. While Europe’s Ryder Cup stars at Wentworth last week were ready and happy to embrace the upcoming contest and its numerous narratives, Scheffler had more singular ideas.
“I’m present, I’m ready to play this week,” Scheffler said before the Procore Championship. “I didn’t show up to Napa to talk about the Ryder Cup for four days. I’m here to play a golf tournament.”
Only now will he be prepared to turn his attention to the USA’s quest to regain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, starting on 26 September.
Europe are already at the New York course, familiarising themselves with the surroundings for what promises to be a tumultuous contest.
Captain Donald is approaching the task of steering Europe to a first away win in 13 years with Scheffler-like diligence. His team have the chance to foster their spirit and strategy for what could be a crucial couple of days.
The team, caddies and support staff will then stay in the US to ensure there are no worries over jet lag by the time the match comes around.
They will also don their virtual reality headsets programmed to recreate the sort of crowd hostility they are expecting to face in the Bethpage “bear pit”.
Oh, the fun of the phoney war.
But Donald is leaving no stone unturned preparing his players. Whether he is pleased that Rory McIlroy has put this high-tech tactic in the public domain, though, is open to question.
Some observers believe this will only fuel the fervour of the home fans, who will be determined to make Europe’s quest as hard as possible.
And, as we know, winning is already the toughest of tasks.
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