A couple of weeks ago Rory McIlroy suggested that Scottie Scheffler should switch to a mallet putter after the world No 1’s visible putting woes continued.
Scheffler took his advice and blitzed Bay Hill at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, ranking first in strokes gained/putting on Sunday, beating the field average by more than four strokes. That also allowed him to finish fifth in that stat for the week.
Last season, the 2022 Masters champ built up a staggering 14 top-five finishes and 17 top-10s but had only two victories to show for his almost unattainable consistency.
It was Scheffler’s second victory in three years at the Bay Hill Club and he beat the field by five strokes for his first victory since the 2023 Player’s Championship.
Irishman Shane Lowry, who played the final round with Scheffler, had high praise for the American.
“He played like the No 1 player in the world today,” said Lowry. “I don’t know even if I had my A-game that it would have been good enough. That was quite an exhibition.”
When questioned about his previous struggles with the putter, Scheffler offered an honest assessment.
“When you’re not performing as well as you should at something, what is the solution always? Typically just to try harder at that thing,” Scheffler says. “If the ball didn’t roll end-over-end, at the back of your head, you’re like, wait, did I hit that putt good?
“I expected perfection out of myself, so when it comes to the putting, not using the line lets me be more free and not try as hard, which is a heck of a lot easier said than done because, worked my entire life to get here to the PGA Tour.
“It’s about sticking to my process and controlling what I can control, and that’s having a good attitude and hitting a good putt, and something as simple as not using the line has freed me up, and helped a lot with that.”
Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
