ORLANDO, FLORIDA | When the “Scottie, Scottie, Scottie” cheers booming down Bay Hill Club’s 18th hole had faded late Sunday, the handshakes were complete and his five-stroke victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational had earned Scottie Scheffler a second red cardigan champion’s sweater along with an enormous measure of relief, he went looking for his family.
Climbing the slope behind the 18th green where the late Arnold Palmer used to greet champions with a handshake, Scheffler found his wife, Meredith, who is expecting their first child, and his parents, Scott and Diane.
It had been nearly a year – 51 weeks, 5 days, if you’re counting – since Scheffler had won an official PGA Tour event, and as borderline brilliant as he has been in that time, he was lacking the affirmation that only winning can provide.
That’s why the win at Bay Hill – Scheffler’s seventh PGA Tour victory – had a different feel and why the hugs lingered. It reconfirmed his status as the game’s best player with a performance that felt like it answered as many questions as Google.
“This is my favorite win,” said Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, who was on the bag when Scheffler won the Masters in 2022 and the Players Championship last March. “All the work he has put in, all the passion he has to compete.”
“He’s the No. 1 player in the world for a reason.”
Will Zalatoris
Let others bicker about how accurate the Official World Golf Ranking is at the moment, but there’s no debate that Scheffler has separated himself and it was only a matter of time before he had a week like the one at Arnie’s place.
“He’s the No. 1 player in the world for a reason,” said Will Zalatoris, who has played against Scheffler since they were youngsters.
Considering Scheffler’s almost robotic ball-striking consistency – even with his feet shuffling around as if he’s dancing the Carolina shag – it hardly feels like a fair fight when the hole starts getting in the way of every big putt he needs.
“We knew if he started to hole putts, then this sort of stuff would happen,” said Rory McIlroy, no stranger to hearing questions about putting.
Scheffler’s extended frustration on the greens – he entered the week ranked first in strokes gained tee to green, first in strokes gained approach to the green, first in par-4 scoring and 144th in strokes gained putting – raised the theological question of whether the supreme golfer him- or herself declared that anyone who hits it as spectacularly as Scheffler does can’t also putt like an angel.
That’s been the narrative, as familiar as a “Law and Order” storyline, when it comes to Scheffler: Imagine if he could putt.
Of course, Scheffler can putt. He won the Masters two years ago (OK, so it took him a while to get the ball in the hole on the final green) in a four-victory season. He was voted player of the year by his peers last season when he finished 162nd in strokes gained putting while winning twice, at Phoenix and the Players.
But it had been a year of near-misses (winning the Hero World Challenge in December doesn’t count as an official event) since Scheffler’s last victory at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.
Last year, he had a streak of seven consecutive finishes of fifth or better without a win. This year, his only finish outside the top 10 in six starts is a T17 at the American Express, his off week looking like a season highlight on other resumes.
It was easy to point to his putting. Scheffler went to work with coach Phil Kenyon last year, and it made him focus over the offseason. The narrative grew tiresome, but it wasn’t going away until Scheffler had a week like he did at Bay Hill.
“Telling a different story is hard when everyone else has a different story in mind,” Scott said.
Two things were different at Bay Hill than in Scheffler’s last start, a T10 at the Genesis Invitational three weeks earlier. He showed up with a beard (“pure laziness,” Scheffler said) and with a mallet putter rather than the blade style he had been using previously.
It wasn’t as simple as changing the implement, though having something fresh to look at often helps. It was more about how Scheffler felt on the greens.
On his first hole Thursday, Scheffler hit one of his poorest putts of the week, but he didn’t dwell on it. Let others make noise about his putting. Scheffler was intent on keeping his own mind quiet.
“Part of the problem is just trying too hard,” Scheffler said. “It's frustrating to not have the best of myself, just because I know that I can putt really well. It’s not like I’ve been a bad putter my whole career. I’ve just gone through a stretch where it’s been tough. I think this week I did a really good job of not letting the misses get to me.”
After having entered the week ranked 144th in strokes gained putting, he was fifth at Bay Hill and led the field in strokes gained putting in the final round when he hardly missed.
He made a 12-footer for birdie at the first, then holed a 6-footer for par at the second, the range that has tormented him in recent months.
Over the next five holes, Scheffler made two 7-footers and an 8-footer to extend his lead. When he poured in a 34-foot birdie putt at the tough par-4 15th, he looked like a man released from his own prison.
Walking up the 18th hole with the tournament in hand, Scheffler said Lowry walked over and said, “That was a heck of a round of golf.”
A few moments later, Scheffler walked up the hill and into a celebration that he promised to enjoy.
“Sometimes I have a habit of winning an event and just immediately trying to move on to the next week,” Scheffler said. “So, going in tonight, I’ll try and celebrate and enjoy this win with my family and, yeah, it will be fun.”
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TOP PHOTO: BRENNAN ASPLEN, GETTY IMAGES