Scottie Scheffler was asked about his putting (again). Here’s why he thinks it’s not a big deal

Scottie Scheffler enters the Open Championship because the clear No. 1 participant on the earth, the identical place he was in final 12 months.

And whereas his win whole on the season is simply half of what it was in 2022, some — and most analytics — would argue Scheffler is even higher this 12 months than he was in his breakout PGA Tour Participant of the Yr season.

Most notably, Scheffler has completed within the prime 12 in every of his final 18 occasions, a run solely bettered by 2000-2001 Tiger Woods. You recognize, when the man gained 4 majors in a row? In reality, based on the analytics website Data GolfScheffler’s peak of +2.84 strokes gained after the Vacationers Championship is the fourth finest mark of all time.

His Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Inexperienced of two.805 leads the PGA Tour by practically eight-tenths of a stroke and could be the best quantity on Tour since 2006.

However all he’s ever requested about is the one a part of his recreation that’s nearly common by Tour requirements this season: his putting.

Scheffler is 139th on Tour in placing, averaging -.192 strokes gained on the greens (0 is common), however he’s had some absurd statitiscal outliers.

On the Memorial, he gained greater than 20 pictures tee-to-green, among the best marks at any occasion of all-time, however completed one shot out of a playoff as a result of he was dead-last in placing, dropping greater than eight-and-a-half pictures to the sector. It was the identical story per week earlier than on the Charles Schwab Problem, when he was once more close to the underside of the sector in placing and first by a mile in SG:T2G.

That led to a putter change at the U.S. Open and two consecutive optimistic Strokes Gained: Placing outings earlier than dropping greater than two strokes final week on the Scottish Open.

In fact, he was asked about his putting once more on Tuesday at Royal Liverpool.

So much has additionally been made about your placing. Do you see it as the identical downside because the media sees it?

“Undoubtedly not,” Scheffler stated with out hesitation. “I believe that the majority of what has to occur is one thing must be created right into a story, and for some time it didn’t actually seem to be there was a lot of a narrative behind the way in which I play golf.”

Then he defined the narrative that his placing was dangerous was most likely a product that he could be a bit “boring.”

“I assume I used to be seen as most likely a contact boring and didn’t actually present a lot emotion and no matter else you may consider,” Scheffler stated. “However I believe I had back-to-back tournaments that I might have gained the place I putted poorly, and abruptly it grew to become this factor the place like I’ll watch highlights of my spherical, and even the announcers, any time you step over the putt it’s like, effectively, that is the a part of the sport he struggles with.

“And it’s like, should you say it each time and [the media sees] me miss a 12-footer it’s like, oh, there it’s. He’s struggling once more.”

The six-time PGA Tour winner was solely marginally higher in 2022 when he gained 4 occasions and completed 58th on Tour in placing. And a part of the statistically anomoally might be chalked as much as the sheer variety of alternatives he’s giving himself together with his ball-striking.

It’s not as if Scheffler is three-putting from 30 ft usually (he’s really improved his rank in three-putt avoidance from eightieth in 2022 to ninth this season). It’s greater than he’s not making all the 12-foot birdie putts he’s giving himself … and he’s giving himself A LOT of 12-foot birdie putts. He’s additionally not lacking them by a lot.

He’s not letting it bug him and appears to assume the regulation of averages will swing issues his manner finally.

“The issues that I’m engaged on proper now I really feel very enthusiastic about. I’m hitting quite a lot of good putts,” he stated. “Fairly quickly, quite a lot of these good putts will begin falling in the course of the opening as a substitute of dodging across the facet of it.”

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State College, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf crew and nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but in addition producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He might be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.