Scottie Scheffler, how do you do! Sunday, March 10th, Scottie Scheffler completed his first win of the 2024 PGA Tour season at Bay Hill Golf Course in Florida. Scheffler dominated the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing at -15 and 5 shots ahead of second place. It’s no secret that Scottie is the world’s best golfer and watching him play puts the spectator in awe. He makes the game look incredibly easy (until he gets to the green) and strikes the ball with violence and intention. He has been in the news recently because of his poor putting performances. He put that narrative to sleep this weekend with his performance and specifically, his putting in the final round.
On Sunday of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scottie Scheffler simply dominated. He posted an incredible final round 66, tying Wyndam Clark and Shane Lowry for the lowest round of the week. Scheffler tyrannized this season in almost every golf metric out there. Year to date, Scheffler ranks 1st in total strokes gained. In addition, he ranks 1st in SG (strokes gained) from tee to green, he ranks 7th in SG off the tee, 2nd in SG approaching the Green, 8th in SG around the green, and 1st in greens hit in regulation at 78.07%. If you look at these metrics, it’s no surprise Scheffler is the world #1 and far and away the player with the best odds to win every tournament. However, his putting does not follow the same precedent as the other aspects of his game. This season, he ranks 107th in SG in putting, worse than the field average. As a viewer and fan of the game, it is frustrating to see a golfer dominate in all facets and mightily struggle on the green, burning edges and lipping out. Scheffler put a lot of work in this offseason to solve his putting woes of last year, where he ranked 162nd. He was finally able to wake the putter up and had the face hot, making birdie after birdie and negating any chance for the round-ruining bogeys.
At the invitational this weekend, Scheffler commanded the course and overpowered the field in all 4 facets of golf. He ranked 1st in SG off the tee, gaining just over 5 strokes on the field. He supplemented his tee shot consistency by gaining 3.3 strokes on the field, ranking 12th in tee to green, and ranked 1st with 3.7 SG around the green. Finally, to the surprise of a lot of fans, he ranked 5th in SG putting, a massive improvement from the other tournaments he’s played in this year (see here for comparison). Scottie looked comfortable all week, but on Sunday he looked confident. Instead of looking for two putts and 20-foot lags, he hunted for birdies and putt with intention. He was 16 for 16 on putts within 15 feet of the hole, surging him to the podium and adding more hardware to his already vast collection.
As March hits madness and April looms, golf ramps up. The rest of March hosts the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass (March 11-14), the Valspar Championship (March 21- 24), and the Texas Children’s Open (March 28-31). As the former champion at the Player’s Championship, Scottie is rolling in hot, ready to defend his title and claim another high purse event. After an early Easter Sunday, April comes flying in! We get the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio, which is always an entertaining event with the field preparing for golf’s ultimate major… The Masters. This year, April 11-14 golf’s greatest tournament takes place at golf’s greatest course, Augusta National (lord can I please play this golf course once in my life). With a month until tee times at The Masters, Scottie has an upper hand on the field in several ways already, additionally if his putting remains dominant like he showed it can; it will be hard to compete for a green jacket against him. The next 2 months of sports are exciting, to say the least, and golf makes up a high percentage of the exhilaration.