US Open champion Wyndham Clark perhaps summed it up best when he said “it would almost be unfair if he started playing really well” after Scottie Scheffler claimed victory at the Arnold Last week’s Palmer Invitational.
World number one Scheffler sent a seismic message to his rivals with a five-stroke victory – the biggest since Tiger Woods won the event in 2012 – that owed as much to his prowess with the putter as his superior work to recover the ball. to the green from the tee.
It was the American’s first PGA Tour triumph since winning the Players Championship last March, and while he again led many ball-striking statistical categories, it was his performance on the greens which sparked interest.
On Sunday, Scheffler made 16 putts inside 10 feet and made them all. That helped him finish a week among the top five putters for just the third time in his career.
He was also the only player to record a bogey-free final round at the notoriously difficult Bay Hill course in Florida, and his score of under-par 66 was seven shots better than the field average.
“There was a lot of talk about my game, so it was nice to come here with a good mental attitude and perform well under pressure,” said the 2022 Masters champion, who was reluctant to talk about his woes in the championship. in the face of incessant questioning.
“It’s not like I’ve been a bad putter my whole career. I just went through a period where it was difficult.”
It was Scheffler’s seventh PGA Tour victory and sets him up perfectly for this week’s return to TPC Sawgrass in Florida for the 50th edition of the flagship Players Championship.
The 27-year-old was just as dominant 12 months ago when he won the Players Championship by five strokes. It was his sixth victory in 13 months. But further victories failed to materialize as Scheffler’s putting came under increasing scrutiny.
However, despite his issues with the “Texas corner”, Scheffler has recorded 17 top-10 finishes in 2023 – the most since Vijay Singh in 2005 – and has only finished outside the top 10 four times in 19 events since the players of 2023.
Scheffler led many statistical categories related to ball striking and finished the season with the seventh-lowest scoring average in PGA Tour history. The top six belong to Woods. He achieved this despite his 162nd place in putting.
The start of this year followed a similar trend: Scheffler finished in the top 10 in four tournaments in 2024 while being 144th in putting, despite working with famed British putting guru Phil Kenyon just before last September’s Ryder Cup .
But he believes work with Kenyon, who also trained England’s major winners Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick, is starting to show fruitful signs.
“I hired Phil towards the end of last year and we saw results quite early in the relationship. I’m excited about the things we’re working on,” Scheffler told BBC Sport.
“My main goal was definitely to try to improve my putting. Putting stats can be fun.
“Every year in the offseason I try to focus on one thing that I’m going to improve on. One year it was staying in the gym, one year it was my ball striking. And then last year, I focused on putting.
“I’m always going to work on everything, so it’s nice to have this one thing that I’m going to put a little extra effort into.”
Talk to Golf Magic, external A few months into their partnership, Kenyon said: “One thing I’ve tried to do is just simplify a lot of things, tell him some things that he does very well, and then provide simple solutions that are relevant on certain things. I feel he can improve.
“His struggles have been well documented by many, but if he can putt well, I mean, wow, what a golfer.”
The rest of the PGA Tour players are also keenly aware of what an improved Scheffler could mean for their chances.
As Clark said: “If he starts being positive every week, he’s going to be really hard to beat.”
