Scottie Scheffler lines up a putt during the 2024 Genesis Invitational. | Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler, the number-one ranked player in the world, has made a big change this week at Bay Hill.
One thing has prevented Scottie Scheffler from becoming unstoppable this season: his putter.
The 2022 Masters winner has played in five events so far this season, with his worst finish coming at The American Express, where he tied for 17th.
He has been near the top of the leaderboard in every other event he has played, but the flat stick has sorely held him back.
Scheffler ranks 144th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. His other statistics are preposterous: second in total strokes gained, ninth in strokes gained off the tee, and first in strokes gained approaching the green.
He has blistered it from tee to green, giving himself an abundance of opportunities to make birdie.
But he has not won since THE PLAYERS Championship almost one year ago.
Alas, Scheffler has decided to switch putters ahead of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, according to Todd Lewis of the Golf Channel.
Lewis observed that Scheffler has changed his putter, going from a blade to a Taylormade Spider-X putter, which has a mallet head similar to what Rory McIlroy uses.
Scheffler also added a half-inch of length to his new putter, as it now measures 35.5 inches, per Lewis.
But another significant change Scheffler has made relates to his golf ball. He has removed the line he normally uses when marking it, hoping to rely on the line on his new putter head for better accuracy.
Perhaps these changes will bring Scheffler back to the winner’s circle this week. After all, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2022, just a few weeks before his triumph at Augusta National. He tied for fourth at Bay Hill a year ago, so he has plenty of comfort at Arnie’s Place.
But the question is: will Scheffler regain comfort on the greens? Or will his putting woes rear its ugly head yet again?
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
