This being the holiday season, Scottie Scheffler’s six-shot victory in the Hero World Challenge on Sunday in the Bahamas brought to mind a familiar line:
And to all a good night.
Scheffler’s ninth victory in 2024 – he had seven official PGA Tour victories, took home the gold medal in the Olympic Games and interrupted his extended offseason long enough to win the Tiger Woods-hosted boutique event – was one more reminder of his rare brilliance.
He will soon be named the PGA Tour player of the year in a vote of his peers for the third straight year, and 2024 has been the best of those three seasons. Winning in the Bahamas for the second straight year, Scheffler debuted a new putting grip and left his competitors to wonder whether he has somehow gotten a little bit better.
“It feels nice to take a little break and come back and play some pretty good golf,” Scheffler said after shooting a final-round 9-under 63 to finish at 25-under-par 263 at Albany Golf Club.
Tom Kim, who finished second to his close friend helped by a third-round 62, said Scheffler has separated himself by taking a relatively simple approach.
“The biggest thing that I see is that he’s always trying to get better,” said Kim, who plays often with Scheffler when both are home in the Dallas area. “Despite winning nine times this year, he’s always finding little ways, and I think it’s really, really cool to see, and you can take a lot from that.”
When Scheffler converted to the claw putting grip at the Hero World Challenge after the dominating season he has had, it was a surprise. His putting, long the weakest part of his game, improved significantly this year, but he still ranked 120th on tour in putting from 4-8 feet.
“I really enjoyed the way it felt. I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.”
Scottie Scheffler, on using new claw putting grip
After experimenting with the grip change while working with putting coach Phil Kenyon, Scheffler decided to test it in competition last week.
“This year I had thought about it from time to time, and it was something that we had just said, let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it,” Scheffler said. “Took a look at it this offseason and figured this is a good week to try stuff just because you can practice and practice and do all the stuff at home, but there’s just something different about being in competition. I really enjoyed the way it felt. I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.”
It was another encouraging week for Justin Thomas, who is seeking his first victory since the 2022 PGA Championship. Thomas finished T2 at the Zozo Championship, his only start during the tour’s fall schedule, and he backed it up with a third-place finish in the Bahamas.
“I feel very, very close,” said Thomas, who held a one-stroke lead entering the final round. “I just need to sharpen some things up. Just need to kind of get the scoring clubs a little bit sharper and better. I feel like my mid irons and iron game is close to where I want it, but if I can just get those wedges back where I feel like they should be and how they are for me, I feel like things will be good.”
Ron Green Jr.