NASSAU, Bahamas – Scottie Scheffler returned from a two-month break and nothing changed. He won the Hero World Challenge on Sunday with a 9-under 63, tying the tournament record at Albany Golf Club and winning by six shots.

Scheffler, the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to spend a full calendar year at No. 1 in the world, won for the ninth time in 21 starts, a tally that included a second Masters title, an Olympic gold medal and the FedEx Cup.

He started the final round one shot behind Justin Thomas, took the lead on the par-5 third hole, stayed in the lead with a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 4 and never looked back.

Tom Kim tried to stay close until he missed a 19-inch par putt on the par-5 11th. He birdied the final hole for a 68 and was in second when Thomas, whose slim hopes ended with a bogey on the 18th, drove into the water for another bogey on the 18th. He shot 71 and finished third.

Scheffler finished the tournament at 25-under 263, tying the Albany tournament record first set by Bubba Watson in 2015. His six-shot victory was the largest in the nine years that Tiger Woods’ holiday tournament was held in the Bahamas.

Jordan Spieth holds the tournament records for 72-hole score (262) and lead (10 strokes) since the tournament was held in Isleworth in 2014.

“Very satisfactory,” said Scheffler. “I did a lot of good things on the pitch today. It feels good to take a break, come back and continue to play really solid golf.”

Already the best in golf, Scheffler brought a new “claw” putting grip to the Hero World Challenge to get even better. He used the grip on putts from about 15 feet and beyond and finished the week third in key putting statistics against a 20-man field.

“He really doesn’t do anything wrong,” tournament host Woods said in the NBC booth during the final round.

What reminded Woods of his own great run – and there were many for Woods – was how few mistakes Scheffler makes during a round or tournament. Albany was another example. He made just two bogeys over 72 holes.

Thomas, whose last win was the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, started quite well. He also dropped two early shots on the par-3 holes and lost chips twice, including one on the par-5 ninth, which prevented him from making birdie to keep pace with Scheffler.

With three holes to go, Scheffler had a three-shot lead when he made a rare mistake on his tee shot and found a sandy area to the right of the fairway. He made clean contact from the sand to 12 feet for birdie, while Thomas went just wide of the green, resulting in bogey.

On December 17th, Scheffler will join Rory McIlroy in a televised match against LIV golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.

Scheffler earned $1 million for winning the unofficial tournament. That was his smallest paycheck of the year for the win, other than the Olympics – the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee paid the gold medalists $37,500.

Along with Viktor Hovland, he was the only consecutive winner at Albany. Woods won back-to-back and five times in total when the tournament was held at Sherwood Country Club.

Kim lives in Dallas and played with Scheffler all the time before Scheffler’s wife gave birth to their first child.

“I think the main thing I see is that he’s always trying to get better,” Kim said. “Even though he’s won nine times this year, he’s always finding little ways and I think it’s really, really cool to see and there’s a lot to take from it.”

Over the past 40 years, Scheffler’s 43% win rate ranks third in the world behind Woods in 2006 (nine wins in 19 starts) and Woods in 2002 (10 wins in 22 starts).

What’s next?

“Keep working on things in the offseason and get ready for next season,” Scheffler said.