Scottie Scheffler reacts during the first round of the 2024 Genesis Invitational. | Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler played admirably from tee to green, but his flat stick again abandoned him on Riviera’s tricky greens.
Scottie Scheffler continues to pipe drives down the middle of the fairway and paint flagsticks with his approaches.
And yet, his putter continues to leave him dumbfounded.
Of the 70 players in the Genesis Invitational field, Scheffler ranked 66th in putting during Thursday’s first round, losing more than 2.5 strokes on the greens.
Despite that, Scheffler carded a 3-under 68 at Riviera, an admirable score that still has him in contention going into Friday’s second round.
He opened with an eagle on the par-5 1st, the easiest hole on the course, and followed that up with a birdie at the 2nd. He was off and running, and it looked like a score in the mid-to-low 60s was squarely in play.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler reads a putt on the 7th green during the first round of the 2024 Genesis Invitational.
But Scheffler’s putter kept him at bay.
At the par-5 11th, Scheffler reached the green in two, giving himself a good chance at making birdie. He then three-putted, missing a birdie putt from roughly five feet to settle for another par. Then, on his way to the 12th tee, Scheffler heaved his ball into the woods out of frustration.
Overall, the 2022 Masters champion missed eight putts inside of 10 feet during the round. On the 7th, 8th, and 9th holes, Scheffler stuck each approach close to the hole but missed every one of those birdie opportunities.
His putting woes reared their ugly head again at the 16th, as his misfortunes on this 166-yard par-3 served as a metaphor for his round.
At this point, Scheffler sat at 3-under—the same score he had when he arrived on the 3rd tee box earlier in the day.
He hit his tee shot at 16 to nine feet, seven inches, and faced a sweeping, right-to-left birdie putt.
Scheffler incredulously three-putted again and dropped another shot. His birdie putt trickled on by, and he missed the three-and-a-half-foot comebacker.
Visibly agitated, Scheffler keeled over, staring at the poa annua grass on the 16th green in disbelief.
He went on to avenge this mistake at the par-5 17th, making a six-footer for birdie there, but the wounds of his sour putting day remain fresh.
If not for his numerous close-range misses, Scheffler likely would share a piece of the lead with Patrick Cantlay, who sits at 7-under.
Nevertheless, Scheffler still ranks among the top 10 on both the leaderboard and in overall strokes gained. The rest of the game is so good—echoing prime Tiger Woods—that it can make up for his below-average putting. But when his putting woes are this bad, they are hard to overcome.
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.
