Scottie Scheffler made a placing swap in March, opting to go from a blade to a mallet putter-head forward of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He struggled on the greens for the primary two months of the season, a giant motive he didn’t win any trophies in January or February.
However after making that change, the World No. 1 gained that week at Bay Hill, gained The Gamers seven days later, after which triumphed at Augusta Nationwide the next month. He added 4 extra PGA Tour victories throughout his historic 2024 marketing campaign, not together with his unimaginable come-from-behind victory on the Olympics in Paris.
Quick ahead to this week on the Hero World Problem, and Scheffler has made one other change to his placing routine. He nonetheless has the identical flat stick, a TaylorMade Spider Tour X, however he now makes use of the ‘Claw’ grip, by which your sturdy hand—on this case Scheffler’s proper—makes a claw-like form when gripping the putter. Gamers will use the claw grip to attempt to have their putter resemble a pendulum, by which you rely extra on shoulders to sway the membership by impression. Theoretically, the putter head ought to transfer straight again and straight by, thus creating straighter putts.
The con to utilizing this grip is that it’s uncomfortable, particularly quickly after making the swap. It additionally shouldn’t be used on slower greens.
“I’m all the time on the lookout for methods to enhance, and I felt like this was one thing that we had checked out final yr when [my putting coach] Phil [Kenyon] and I first began working collectively, nevertheless it was actually our first time working collectively, and it’s one thing that’s completely different than what I’ve carried out prior to now,” Scheffler defined after his first spherical.
“I had considered it every now and then, and it was one thing that we had simply stated let’s desk that for the top of the season, check out it. We took a take a look at it this offseason and figured this can be a good week to attempt stuff simply because you may apply and apply and do all of the stuff at dwelling, however there’s simply one thing completely different about being in competitors. I actually loved the best way it felt. I really feel like I’m seeing some enhancements in my stroke.”
Scheffler shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday and sits three strokes behind Cameron Younger. He put collectively one other strong spherical however had a few hiccups across the flip. He made a bogey on the par-3 eighth after which discovered the water along with his second shot on the par-5 ninth. Fortunately for him, he saved par there.
Relating to his putter, Scheffler didn’t have any important points on the greens. Sure, he ranked tenth among the many 20-man discipline in strokes gained placing on Thursday, however he made 4 birdies coming in. That features a 12-footer on the 18th, the vary by which Scheffler desires to enhance and the place he employs the claw.
On longer putts, he switched again to his standard grip.
“I believe I’ve all the time been a extremely, actually good lag putter,” Scheffler stated.
“The nearer I get to the outlet, form of that within that 15-foot vary, I believe that’s the place I’m seeing a variety of the advantages of [using the claw].”
Since he’s the perfect ball-striker on the earth, Scheffler makes a residing by hitting his strategy photographs inside 15 toes, which ends up in loads of birdie alternatives. However Scheffler has missed a ton of putts from short-range over the previous couple of years amid all of his accolades, accomplishments, and inexperienced jackets.
So, maybe this swap will result in extra consistency within 10 toes, a metric the place Scheffler ranked 139th in 2024. If the transfer pays off, the remainder of the tour will probably be on excessive alert as Scheffler dominated the game all through the 2024 season. Think about what he may very well be if he continues to enhance from shut vary.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. You should definitely take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.