Scottie Scheffler failed to defend the Hero World Challenge title as Hideki Matsuyama lifted the trophy on Sunday. However, the World No.1 seemed okay with finishing T4 at 20-under, two shots off the Matsuyama-Alex Noren playoff at Albany Golf Club. Following the event, the ace golfer admitted that he is all set for a break after ‘another long season.’Scheffler, who won six titles in 2025 including two major championships, exuded confidence in the upcoming year. The 29-year-old said he is “very optimistic” for the new season. He admitted working on different parts of the game and the Hero World Challenge acted as a testing ground to ‘gauge’ his progress. He also admitted getting a ‘good break’ before the season’s end as he took a hiatus after Team USA's big loss at the Ryder Cup in September. The Dallas-resident went on to claim that the season-ending week “feels more to me like the start of the year than the end of the year.”Rating his ‘optimism’ ahead of 2026 season start, Scottie Scheffler said, as quoted by Tee Scripts:“I would say this feels more to me like the start of the year than the end of the year. You know, I took a pretty good break after the Ryder Cup. It had been another long season, and with the season for me starting a couple weeks later this year with no Maui, I pushed it a little bit further up to this event as well, so I got a good break.It’s nice to come down here, kind of gauge where I’m at. Like I said, very optimistic, did a lot of good things. I definitely felt like some of the stuff I’ve been working on the last few weeks I saw some progress here, and the stuff I was focused on in the offseason, definitely saw some 'progress here as well. Good place to be.”Scottie Scheffler 'played better than his score'Scottie Scheffler’s optimistic comments on the upcoming season came after he claimed to have “played better” than his score at the Hero World Challenge. For the unversed, the four-time major winner posted rounds of 66-69-65-68 for a 268 total at Albany. The 29-year-old shared the opening round lead and carried a one-shot advantage into Sunday, before losing out the gap to the leaders over some late mistakes.A bogey on 18 in Round 1, a double-bogey on the par-5 16th in Round 2, bogeys on 16 and 18 in Round 3 which came after a buried bunker lie, were among the moments that limited the ace golfer’s final score.Scottie Scheffler said on Sunday:“I played better than my score, for sure. Didn’t hole as many putts today. I felt like I hit some good ones that didn’t fall and I got a couple poor breaks on the back nine. Yeah, that’s how it shook out.”Scheffler reiterated doing “a lot of good stuff” on the course and hitting the ball “pretty nice.” The 19-time PGA Tour winner said he had a “good time” around the “pretty challenging” greens at Albany.