Scottie Scheffler Picks Up Where He Left Off, But That’s Not Always a Good Thing

Scottie Scheffler picked up where he left off in terms of ball striking and putting. Unfortunately, that’s not always a good thing.

Although Scheffler’s new Olson putter helped his game on the greens, his flatstick performance lagged behind the rest of his game. He didn’t take home the win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but it is a great start to the 2024 season.

The highlight of Scheffler’s game was his iron striking, as usual. It was another clinic from the World #1:

Another tee-to-green clinic from Scottie Scheffler this week

1st – SG: Off-the-Tee
3rd – SG: Approach
1st – SG: Tee-to-Green
46th – SG: Putting

via @DataGolf

— Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) January 8, 2024

Finishing 1st in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee as well as Tee-to-Green, and 3rd in the field in SG: Approach.

Putting? He was 46th.

It’s been the same theme for a long time now, and Scheffler has taken on new equipment and new coaching in Phil Kenton – in an effort to combat the putting woes. He did actually go on the positive side of zero in terms of strokes gained on the green (+0.38) for his win at the Hero World in the Bahamas. In Scheffler’s Friday round of 64, he gained almost two strokes on the greens, for only the third round of the last ten in the positive:

Nearly 2 full strokes gained putting today for Scottie Scheffler in a round of 64.

It’s just the 3rd time in his last 10 starts that Scottie has had positive strokes gained putting in each of the first 2 rounds of a tournament. Can he keep it going this weekend?

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) January 6, 2024

A T5 finish here at Kapalua at -25 was another great week for the World #1, with a 66 to finish on Sunday, four back of champion Chris Kirk.

New broadcaster Kevin Kisner noted that Scottie was setting up standing open to his putts, the first time we’ve heard a comment along these lines from the booth – and a great advert for getting current players to commentate.

Scheffler’s putting was solid, but to convert to wins at the Amex or defend his WM Phoenix title in the weeks following, some more putts have to drop.

Cover Image via Sportskeeda