Scheffler rolls a putt as placing coach Phil Kenyon appears on.
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
ORLANDO, Fla. — The final time we noticed Scottie Scheffler, he was wrapping up one other top-10 end on the Genesis Invitational. It’s the type of exhibiting the golf world has come to count on from the top-ranked professional on the planet.
Consistency has been good for Scheffler’s checking account, however the lack of journeys to the winner’s circle has led to an elevated curiosity within the putter. By now, you’re in all probability effectively conscious of Scheffler’s struggles with the one membership giving him suits.
Even the 27-year-old has grown uninterested in speaking in regards to the putter. But it continues to be a subject of dialogue each time he tees it up. Even one in every of Scheffler’s friends, Rory McIlroy, supplied placing recommendation throughout his most up-to-date begin. Following the ultimate spherical at Riviera, CBS’s Amanda Renner requested McIlroy if he had any “insight into when someone is struggling with [the putter].”
It was a query that elicited a considerate reply from McIlroy, who has additionally battled a balky putter.
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
“Yeah, we’ve all been through it,” McIlroy stated. “I’ve actually been by way of my fair proportion of placing woes by way of the years. And I lastly really feel like I’ve damaged by way of and change into a reasonably constant putter.
“For me, going to a mallet was an enormous change. I actually persevered with the blade putter for a very long time. But I simply really feel like your stroke must be so good to start out the ball on line, the place the mallet simply offers you just a little bit extra margin for error. That, to me, gave me confidence that I may go ahead with that realizing that even when I don’t put an ideal stroke on it, the ball’s not going to go too far off line.
“So, I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet, but selfishly for me, you know, Scottie does everything else so well that, you know, he’s giving the rest of us a chance.”
TaylorMade Spider Tour X Putter
$349.99
STABILITY FOR THE WIN
THIN WALL UNDERCUT CONSTRUCTION
We’ve engineered a super stable structure by removing excess weight to create high MOI and legendary Spider performance.
STEEL WIREFRAME
Allows engineers to better control weight distribution and CG location.
HYBRAR ECHO® DAMPENER
HYBRAR is behind the face to dampen unwanted vibrations, delivering premium sound and feel on every putt with the best possible sensation.
DIFFERENT CG LOCATION
Each Spider Tour model features different CG locations for optimal putter fitting.
TSS WEIGHTING
TSS weights provide balanced weighting and help optimize performance for all various putter lengths.
GUNMETAL PVD FINISH
The durable PVD coating creates a beautiful high-quality finish.
TRUE PATH™ ALIGNMENT
The patented alignment system provides visual clarity and helps golfers better envision the line to the hole.
WHITE TPU PURE ROLL™ INSERT
Made from a combination of Surlyn and aluminum, the white TPU Pure Roll™ insert creates a softer feel. Grooves are angled at 45° to encourage optimal forward roll as well as better sound, feel and overall roll characteristics. The white insert also creates better symmetry with the white True Path alignment.
REFINED HOSEL DESIGNS
Spider Tour Series includes two different hosel shapes and designs. The small slant produces toe hang, and the double bend produces a face balanced design.
View Product
Based on the putter Scheffler was wielding on Tuesday morning on the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it appears the world No. 1 has taken McIlroy’s recommendation. Tucked inside Scheffler’s bag was a single putter hidden beneath a black cowl: TaylorMade’s Spider Tour X (X1) mallet. (McIlroy can be utilizing TaylorMade’s Spider Tour X in the meanwhile.)
The sight of Scheffler rolling putts with a mallet led some on social media to surprise if one elite professional had taken the recommendation from one other elite professional to coronary heart. Scheffler hasn’t commented on the putter change, however greater than doubtless, it was merely a professional giving one thing else one other shot to see if issues clicked.
With placing coach Phil Kenyon trying on, Scheffler rolled putts on the observe inexperienced with the mallet that featured a single black sight line and grey Golf Pride Pro Only Green Star grip — Green Star options an oval again form and arched paddle entrance that’s designed for constant thumb placement — earlier than departing for the vary.
Scheffler’s putter search has seen him use a myriad of various choices — most just lately a blade crafted by Logan Olson that performed a job in his win on the Hero World Challenge — together with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X Proto that acquired the nod final yr throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs. Suffice to say, this isn’t Scheffler’s first go together with a mallet.
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
What’s completely different with regards to Scheffler’s newest Spider? Let’s begin with the obvious change: a shift away from a strong, milled face on the Proto to a extra conventional white Pure Roll insert that’s created from a mix of Surlyn and aluminum. A change like that can little question alter the texture.
The weight additionally seems to be extra evenly balanced by way of the pinnacle — TSS weights are seen within the sole of his present Spider — which might be a change from the earlier Spider Proto the place the TSS weights have been lacking and mass was located far ahead to permit the pinnacle to carry out extra like a blade.
Unless one thing goes on beneath the hood, this could possibly be probably the most fascinating adjustments to Scheffler’s Spider. Instead of getting it to carry out like a blade, he could possibly be making an attempt a full-on mallet to see if the efficiency advantages improve his play on the greens.
“I’ve always struggled with putters that have a lot of weight in the back side of it,” Scheffler stated of the forward-weighted mallet again in August on the FedEx St. Jude Championship. “And this one is a bit different than a lot of the Spiders that they’ve made, and the weight is more in the front so it has the feel of a blade putter that I like but it also has a lot of that visual on the top where it’s easier for me to line up.”
Ranked 144th in SG: Putting getting into the week, Scheffler will likely be trying to glean any positives he can with the potential new putter. With the Masters simply over a month away, there’s no higher time to lastly get it again on observe — even when it means admitting Rory was proper.
Want to overtake your bag for 2024? Find a becoming location close to you at True Spec Golf.
Source link
