Scottie Scheffler shot a final round 66 for a five-shot win at Arnold Palmer Invitational
It’s not too often that a PGA Tour player ranked 144th in putting plays a tournament with a new putter and wins while improving to 5th that week in the putting department. When the player is World No 1 Scottie Scheffler, then the new putter certainly catches your attention.
To put things into perspective, Scheffler has been on a completely different level for the past year in the ball striking department, ranking No 1 and way ahead of everyone else on tour including ball striking king Rory McIlroy. And this is while Scheffler appears to shuffle his feet like a dancer while hitting through the ball – something not otherwise seen among top quality PGA Tour pros. Despite his year-long putting woes in 2023, Scheffler made US$ 21mn after winning two events, registering two runner-up finishes and 17 other top-10 finishes in his 23 appearances to sit clear on top of the World Rankings.
Scottie Scheffler gained over 1.5 strokes on Saturday with the putter. Maybe Rory shouldn’t have suggested a mallet.
“I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet, but selfishly for me, you know, Scottie does everything else so well that, you know, he’s giving the rest of us a chance.” pic.twitter.com/OxhkVkskXH
— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) March 9, 2024
Just prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament week, Scheffler moved to a new mallet putter, the Taylormade Spider Tour X putter, which is half an inch longer than his previous putter. Scottie switched to the club apparently for more stability on the putter face and further customised it so that the putter has 3 degrees of loft and a 72-degree lie angle.
Scheffler, who began working with putting coach Phil Kenyon last fall, was a longtime user of blade putters. He had a long tenure with a Scotty Cameron – since the 2022 WM Phoenix Open, which he won.
Scheffler’s 2024 Strokes Gained Total rank is #1 with 44.943, a full 15 points better than Frenchman Matthieu Pavon who has also won once on tour this year. Its no wonder that in 2024, of his six events, he has a win and five top 10s and over US$ 6mn in earnings, occupying the top spot on the FedEx Cup and world rankings.
Other players fear that if Scheffler’s putting improvement persists, considering his supremacy in the long game, he will be virtually unstoppable on tour.
Terminology guide –
Strokes Gained – Strokes gained in golf is a statistical method comparing a player’s performance to a benchmark based on data of other players in the tournament and the tour in general. It assesses each shot’s effectiveness relative to the average number of strokes it takes all players to complete a similar hole. By analyzing driving, approach shots, putting, and overall performance, players can pinpoint strengths and weaknesses for improvement. This approach goes beyond traditional stats, offering a comprehensive understanding of a player’s game relative to other players on the tour.
Photo – CNN