Scottie Scheffler reminded the golf world Sunday why he is the No. 1 player in the world. He destroyed the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, earning his seventh PGA Tour victory.
He finished the final round with a 6-under 66, finishing at 15 under, five strokes behind second-place finisher Windham Clark.
Scheffler changed his putter this week and his work on the greens is getting better each day. He switched to a mallet-shaped flat rod and things clicked into place.
After the first round, the former Texas Longhorn ranked 55th in strokes gained putts. After Friday, it rose to 28th place. He improved even more on the greens on Saturday, moving up to No. 10.
Scheffler sank all 16 putts inside 15 feet Sunday. That’s an amazing feat.
Fans went from making fun of Scheffler as he missed 3-foot putts to dropping jaws on Sunday when he seemed to make every putt.
It is widely understood that if Schaeffler can do it. Make good use of a flat stick, It’s almost impossible to defeat him. He’s already one of the best ball strikers of all time, and now his putter is hot.
“Scottie Scheffler with a functioning putter is a huge problem for all of professional golf,” said X user Trevor Grinsell.
Scotty Scheffler having a functioning putter is a big deal for the entire professional golf world.
— Trevor Grinsell (@trevor_grinzel) March 10, 2024
It’s been almost a year since Scheffler won last year’s Players Championship, a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
Technically, he won the Hero World Challenge title but not the FedEx Cup points. His lowest finish in 2024 is T17, but it will be heartbreaking for his opponents to see him make good putts again. They had a chance while he struggled to drop putts, but now it seems almost unfair.
This X user pulled this GIF out of a hat to compare Scheffler and Happy Gilmore. This is a perfect comparison.
Shane Bacon is also into the idea of ”quitting golf and just seeing how much Scheffler wins later.”
The PGA Tour has two events this weekend, so it might be more interesting to turn on the Puerto Rico Open and see how Scheffler narrows down the field and how it ends.
I think we’ve reached the “I feel comfortable switching off my golf game and seeing how many shots Scottie wins by later tonight” part of this Scheffler exhibit.
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) March 10, 2024
Is it time for Scottie Scheffler to become President of the United States?
— Fuzu (@FuzzicIe) March 10, 2024
I don’t think Scottie Scheffler will lose OWGR No. 1 for the rest of his career (lol)
— TrackingScheffler (@SchefflerLegion) March 10, 2024
With Scheffler destroying the field like he did Sunday, it will be difficult for anyone else to grab the No. 1 ranking anytime soon.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
