NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
One of the chief complaints of modern professional golf is that there is less emphasis on putting as a skill relative to other parts of the game. The best players are generally the best ballstrikers, but rarely are they also the best putters.
The only current top-10 player in the world to rank in the top 20 for strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour in both this season and last season is Cameron Smith. Some of the game’s standout players regularly battle putting as a glaring weakness. Justin Thomas has ended each of the last three seasons outside the top 100 for strokes gained putting, Viktor Hovland has finished no better than 99th in the stat and Collin Morikawa has finished no better than 128th. Even the reliably strong putting of Jon Rahm has dipped dramatically so far this season, as the former world No. 1 ranks No. 136.
All of this is to say that Scottie Scheffler and his remarkable run this year should be celebrated for his outstanding ability to hole timely putts. Scheffler ranks No. 15 in strokes gained putting this year and, aside from a rather humorous four-putt in the waning moments of his dominant Masters triumph, the Texan arguably has been more impressive on the greens than in any other element of his game.
This type of phenomenal performance was a significant turnaround for Scheffler. In his first two full PGA Tour seasons, he ranked No. 117 and No. 107, respectively, in strokes gained putting, and last season he was among the worst putters on tour when it came to make percentage from 10-15 feet, a critical distance given how many birdie putts come from that range.
What changed heading into 2022? Scheffler decided he wanted a fresh look on the greens and switched Scotty Cameron models, going from the Super Rat 1 into a Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS Tour Prototype that closely resembles the Newport 2-style of head that Tiger Woods made famous. The new putter, which Scheffler began to test this past December before inserting it into the lineup at the WM Phoenix Open, has sharper edges, two 25-gram adjustable weights in the sole and an black alignment line on the flange instead of the topline.
Scheffler won immediately after the switch and has made well over $8 million in on-course earnings with the new putter in his bag. He has gained strokes putting against the field each week during his run, including 1.62 strokes in Phoenix and 1.06 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He was also No. 13 for the stat among those who made the cut in the Masters.
Interestingly, according to a Jonathan Wall report from Golf.com, Scheffler’s putter was flagged during routine lie and loft maintenance before the Masters. This type of exercise is common, especially heading into a major, and all it means is that a tour rep checks to see whether the measurements of the putter have remained the same. Over time, usage can cause a putter to change slightly.
However, Scheffler’s putter was off by multiple degrees for lie and loft. The Scotty Cameron reps did some investigative work and figured out the putter had been bent, which caused the whacky angles. Thankfully, the shaft was replaced on Wednesday before the tournament, and Scheffler had enough time to test the new shaft to ensure that everything was in line with what he previously felt from a swing-weight standpoint.
How big of a deal would it have been if he had to use an “injured” putter? Perhaps he could have adjusted on the fly, but Augusta is not the type of place where a competitor wants to see how damaged equipment performs.
It all added up to a complete performance in his Masters victory, and we know Scheffler won’t be changing putters any time soon.
Sean Fairholm