Scottie Scheffler's returning to form and remains the man to beat at the PGA Championship

New York Times

15-05-2025

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Randy Smith likes to joke that Scottie Scheffler, when on his game, does not need him much. Maybe a grip thought here and there. Perhaps a few swings to sharpen up. The 72-year-old coaching great, speaking in his Odessa, Texas, drawl, compared Scheffler's dominant 2024 Masters week to a pitcher throwing a perfect game. Don't say a word.
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They were so dialed that week, they spent the Saturday night before Scheffler's historic win messing with the Golf Channel set. As Scheffler killed time waiting for physio treatment under the Augusta National practice center lights, Smith and caddie Ted Scott had Scheffler hit a few balls like he was grinding deep into the night. Smith and Scott motioned like they were filming Scheffler to analyze him. The Golf Channel was captivated by his perfectionism.
In reality, they were watching 'I Love Lucy' clips.
Fast forward one year to the same driving range, and you'd see an unfamiliar sight: Smith standing behind Scheffler on a weekend round morning, hands directing his swing and Scheffler groaning in frustration as his drives kept missing. They were working on something. That night, you'd see Scheffler as the last man at the course, hitting balls no longer as a joke but as a quest to fix something in his chase for Rory McIlroy. They walked off the range at 8:18 p.m. ET, and Smith told Golf Channel's Todd Lewis they were honing in on 'Basics! Basics! Basics!'
After three years in uber-dominant golf zen, Scheffler had to search this spring.
But how quickly we were reminded that Scottie Scheffler is still Scottie Scheffler. Tuesday morning on Quail Hollow's first tee before the PGA Championship, Hideki Matsuyama set up for his drive into the opening dogleg right. He loaded into his backswing, pushed his weight forward and —
'Scottie! Scottie! Scottie!'
Matsuyama sliced his drive right into the Charlotte pines and immediately raised his hand for another ball. Just behind him, Scheffler appeared atop the walking bridge and down the stairs to the first tee. The crowd, waiting eagerly for his arrival, shouted and cheered for the world No. 1, begging for autographs. The volunteers had to walk over and ask them to quiet down.
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Yeah, McIlroy is the man of the moment. Yeah, Bryson DeChambeau is thriving. But do not be foolish. Scheffler still arrives at the PGA Championship as the man in black. The head honcho. The one who broke a glass into his hand, had surgery, started late and is already back to playing the best golf in the world.
Two weeks ago at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Scheffler immediately made the previous two months of questions feel so silly: 61-63-66-63. He shot 31-under par to win by eight shots. It immediately made everything before it read differently.
Because as Smith is quick to remind people, Scheffler's 'down' stretches after surgery were still: T9, T25, T3, T11, T20, T2, 4, T8, WIN.
He slammed clubs. He ranted to himself about how he was so desperate for a putt to fall that he'd kill for even a lip out. He was, for lack of a better term, grumpy. And then you remember that his anger was rooted in playing like only the second-best player in the world instead of the first.
But don't get it twisted. He was indeed searching. His hand surgery delayed his season by more than a month. The time he normally spent training and building his body for the season was instead spent sitting at home, unable to train at all. He had to essentially restart.
'There was a bit of an issue early on with pulls,' Smith said. 'Now, granted, his pull goes into the rough by two, three steps, or goes to the left side of the green, but we were just working on some lines and a little bit better alignment.'
Smith said Scheffler occasionally came across the line a little too much, the club dropping a hair more to the inside. His hands were always good enough to adjust, but they needed to find a better position at the top of his backswing.
But in reality, Scheffler at his best doesn't practice like you or I practice. He practices so fine in the details that it will make you want to quit and give up. The key to everything for Scheffler is that the swing itself is so completely natural that practice is purely about specific tournament shots.
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Hit this kind of shot. How much did you take off it? I took eight yards off. No, it was seven. OK, back at it. What do we get out of a draw here? 178. Nope. It went 177. OK, I'll work at it.
'That's what we do,' Smith said.
These past four months for Scheffler have been about returning to that level of naturality where those details can return. It's about playing the tournament, not playing golf. Scheffler admitted that during the Masters, as he 'struggled' with his driver, he told his wife, Meredith, 'One of the hardest parts of today is, when I aim the golf ball this way, it either went that way or that way. It very rarely went that way.' He continued, 'It was a taxing week for me, but like I said, I haven't had my best stuff this year, but I feel like I'm learning a lot. Each week, I feel like I'm improving and continuing to learn.'
And that learning seems to be returning Scheffler to his past form. In fact, according to DataGolf's strokes gained, he's still gaining 2.91 strokes on the field each round. That's better than his dominant 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Maybe the best insight into Scheffler's spring is what happened two summers ago.
In the midst of some of the best ball striking seen since prime Tiger Woods, he couldn't putt. From March 2023 to March 2024, Scheffler finished top five 11 times — twice as much as anyone else — but he didn't win a full PGA Tour event or major. His putting reached career lows, ranking 151st in putts within 10 feet. Still, he refused to do anything drastic.
'Scottie, he's not a magic pill guy,' Smith said.
'He always viewed it as a down-the-road thing. 'It's down the road. I'm gonna address this however I'm gonna address it. This will improve this. OK, this helps us get a little bit better. Now a little bit better.' It wasn't ever a search for magic bullets.'
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So by March 2024, Scheffler's putting improved subtly enough to be above average, and he won the Masters and a historic nine tournaments worldwide. Now, believe it or not, Scheffler is one of the better putters on tour. He's gaining 0.62 strokes on the green in 2025.
Get this: Of the 75 best ball strikers in the world according to DataGolf, Scheffler has been the best putter over the last year.
So you are not wrong to talk about McIlroy's dominant three signature wins in three months, or how he's suddenly unleashed after ending his 11-year major drought. You're not wrong to point out McIlroy's and DeChambeau's incredible driving advantage at Quail Hollow this week, or Justin Thomas' great form considering he won the PGA Championship here in 2017.
But do not forget who still sits at world No. 1. Do not forget who shot 31-under two weeks ago or finished fourth at the Masters with a bad driver.
Scottie Scheffler is still the man to beat. He just had to work a little.