Scheffler is already used to making history on the course, but he is focused on this week's event in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, rather than what he has already accomplished at TPC Sawgrass over the past two years.
"In terms of that, what does that have to do with what I'm trying to do this week?" Scheffler said when asked about backing up last year's win. "I mean, not much, right?
"Like, do I start one under? Do I start at two under? I mean, it's even par. It's a new tournament."
The American can become the first player since Steve Stricker in 2011, at the John Deere Classic, to win the same PGA Tour event in three consecutive years.
Scheffler, 28, is coming off an incredible 2024 season in which he captured the Hero World Challenge and seven PGA Tour wins, including the Players, the Masters, the Tour Championship and four signature events. He also took home gold at the Paris Olympics.
"Last year is last year," he said. "I'm not trying to replicate it. I'm not trying to look back on it.
"At the end of the day it's in the past. It was a great year. I'm tremendously thankful."
Scheffler will play the first two rounds in a star-studded "supergroup" that also features Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy. The trio also played the opening two rounds together at the 2024 Masters and US Open.
Schauffele has finished second at the Players twice, and McIlroy won the PGA Tour's flagship event in 2019.
Coming off an 11th-place tie (four under) at Bay Hill in last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler is seeking improved putting this week.
"Last week was a week in which I struggled on the greens," Scheffler said. "I drove it really well. I hit some good iron shots. Some iron shots I wasn't as pleased with."Â
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