The Rise...and Rise... of Scottie Scheffler
- Nick O'Hern, PGA Tour Pro
- Mar 18
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 20
68. That was Scottie Scheffler’s average score every time he teed it up in 2024 on the PGA Tour… 68! Just think about that for a moment.
In most cases (where par is 72) he’s 4 under every round. Multiply that by four and it’s 16 under par every tournament. Yep, that’ll work most weeks. If you were a betting person and pencilled in S. Scheffler for a W on the 21 occasions he entered in 2024, nine times you received a handsome payday. His wins included a Masters, Players Championship, four ‘Signature’ events, and a Tour Championship. In only three events did he finish outside the top 10. Add in the FedEx Cup, an Olympic Gold medal for good measure, and it’s a Tiger-esque season.
The scariest part? He did all this while being an average putter! Over the last three years, he’s been ranked No. 58, 161, and 69 in Strokes Gained Putting. Last season he was No. 88 before the Tour Championship, but an excellent week on the greens moved him up to 69th. This simply highlights how far ahead of everyone his ball striking is. Take Strokes-Gained-Tee-To-Green for example. World No. 2 Xander Schauffelle ranked second but was almost a full stroke behind Scheffler. It’s unheard of, so how does he do it? Let’s dive in a little deeper.
We know effective golf swings don’t have to look pretty, but his footwork is some of the most unorthodox I’ve ever seen… and his follow through? Well, sometimes it looks like a weekend hacker trying not to hit one OB. His prowess, however, comes from keeping things simple with coach Randy Smith through regular maintenance of the fundamentals – setup, ball position, and grip (by using a pre-moulded grip during warmup). They work on ball flight, shaping shots, and athletic moves in the downswing depending on where it’s at. Interestingly, before the final round of the Tour Championship, Scheffler was the only player on the range not using a launch monitor. He’s old school in a modern sort of way. I don’t think he’s looking for a repetitive swing like everyone else, more simply to be comfortable with whatever he has on the day. This is (a) unique, and (b) clever, because this game asks you to constantly adapt. Golf is a continual problem-solving activity on an ever-changing playing field, so being repetitive is not always the answer.
Maintaining this type of form and consistency at the highest level is rarefied air, and only Tiger has been able to make runs like this seem normal. And believe me, they’re anything but. Plus, if you think about it, the bizarre misunderstanding at the last PGA Championship that led him to being incarcerated pre-round, thwarted a tilt at the grand slam.
A mishap on Christmas Day resulting in a cut to his hand and minor surgery meant a delayed start to 2025, and his results so far haven’t quite been the same (but still pretty damn good). I get the sense though he’s about to open the floodgates, and with the Masters around the corner, Augusta could be the start of it. In any case I’m excited to see how this season unfolds, and given how grounded his family and ‘team’ are, it’s hard to see this incredible vein of form ending anytime soon.
Cheers,
Nick
