How Scottie Scheffler became elite by becoming average

Starting 2024, Scottie Scheffler had already cemented himself as the best golfer in the world. A major champion, Players champion, two-time Player of the Year and World Number One.

However, despite all that success, many in golf believed Scottie had another gear to reach.

Could he evolve from being great to being elite? Or better yet, generationally elite?

The answer, eight months later, is yes. He did exactly that. He won eight times including another Green Jacket, another Players Championship, an Olympic Gold Medal and the FedEx Cup. He joins Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh as the only players to win seven or more times on the PGA Tour in the last 40 years. Elite.

But how did he make the leap? The answer is pretty simple.

When Scheffler finished the 2023 season, he was far and away the best player in the game and had enjoyed a three-win season on the back of his breakout, four-win season in 2022. Yet, days after the season finished, he made a phone call. He called Phil Kenyon, a famed putting coach who has worked with countless major champions and is highly regarded on Tour for his knowledge and tutoring.

Scottie reached out because, despite all his success, he was a bad putter. In 2023, there were 193 players on the PGA Tour, and Scheffler ranked 161st in Strokes Gained Putting. It wasn't just a weakness, it was a problem.

No week showed it more than the 2023 Memorial Tournament. You may remember the event for the playoff between Viktor Hovland and Denny McCarthy. Hovland won, jump-starting a run that would culminate in a FedEx Cup victory two months later. However, Scheffler finished the Memorial that week one shot out of the playoff, yet it was clear why he hadn't won. Scheffler lost nearly nine shots on the greens that week (-8.52). He ranked last in the field in Strokes Gained Putting of those who made the cut. Yet, he lost by just one shot.

Many golf experts wondered what could be possible for Scheffler if he simply became an "average" putter.

He and Kenyon began working together in the off-season. Kenyon told the Chipping Forecast podcast that Scheffler was "one of the most gifted golfers I have ever come across." As for what the pair were working on in Scheffler's stroke, Kenyon said, "We made some technical changes at the back end of last year and this year has been more about trying to trust those changes. Less technical thought and more tapping into his instincts, trying to be freer in his approach. When you make changes and you're trying to improve technically it's easy to become a perfectionist or constantly be thinking about trying to make perfect strokes. We are trying to make sure he doesn't go that route."

Onto 2024.

Scheffler started his season in Hawaii at The Sentry, where he finished fifth. Six weeks later, Scheffler had played in five events for the season and was still winless. He had four top 10s in those events but had lost strokes putting in three of them.

He talked positively about the changes he and Kenyon had been making with his putting stroke but perhaps those changes were going to take more time to translate into success on the greens. Then came this comment from Rory McIlroy, on-air, during the Genesis Invitational:

"We've all been through it. I've certainly been through my fair share of putting woes over the years and for me going to a mallet was a big change. The mallet just gives you a little bit more margin for error and that, for me, gave me confidence I could go forward with that knowing that even if I don't put a perfect stroke on it, the ball's not going to go too far off-line."

Then McIlroy spoke directly about Scheffler, "I'd love to see Scottie try a mallet but selfishly for me Scottie does everything else so well, he's giving the rest of us a chance."

It seems Scottie may have heard the advice. In his next start, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler put a TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter in play. He won by five shots.

Scheffler led the field at Bay Hill in Strokes Gained Putting on Sunday and gained 1.22 shots per round for the week on the greens, his best putting display on the PGA Tour in nearly two years.

The mallet continued and so did the success. Scottie went on to win The Players Championship, The Masters and the RBC Heritage in his next four starts. The only event he didn't win, the Texas Children's Houston Open, he finished runner-up.

In all five starts, Scottie gained strokes putting.

For the remainder of the season, the mallet stayed in the bag, Kenyon remained on the practice putting green and the success remained. Scheffler's ability to be "average" on the greens, or even above average at times, has unlocked a new level in the best player in the world.

In 2023, Scheffler played 21 events, he lost strokes putting in 13 of them (62%) and gained more than 0.5 per round in just three (14%).

Compare that to 2024, Scheffler played 20 events, lost strokes putting in just eight (40%) of them and gained more than 0.5 per round in eight events (40%).

For the season, Scheffler has gained 0.1 shots per round putting. A small advantage over his peers, but by becoming "average" on the greens, he has become elite in his success. He is the Masters champion, the Players champion, the Olympic gold medalist, the World Number One and now, the FedEx Cup champion.

Many wondered what might happen if Scheffler could become an "average" putter. We need to wonder no more.