Based on what Scottie Scheffler achieved in 2025, it would certainly be extremely worrying for the rest of the PGA Tour if the world number one managed to add another skill to his game for this season.
Scottie Scheffler has certainly become one of the most complete golfers the game has ever seen. He has now registered 17 top 10 finishes in a row on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler does not appear to make significant mistakes. Meanwhile, the 2025 season saw the 29-year-old become one of the best putters in the game.
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The flat stick had previously been viewed as a glaring weakness by his standards. But he ended last year 22nd for strokes gained on the greens.
And it seems that he has improved another part of his game in the early stages of 2026.
Johnson Wagner has noticed a change in Scottie Scheffler for the 2026 season
Scheffler is off to a strong start. He won The American Express, while he recovered from an opening 73 to finish just one shot off making the playoff at the WM Phoenix Open.
And ahead of the first signature event of the season, Johnson Wagner has told CBS Sports that Scheffler has become even more impressive off the tee.
“I’m telling you what, he has found a new gear with this driver. It’s still his old driver, but he’s quietly picked up, I’m going to call it eight, nine miles an hour clubhead speed if he needs it,” he said.
“There were a couple of shots at The AmEx where he took water out of play, on Stadium no. 5, and then where he hit it on 18, the ball carried 328 yards and rolled out to 352. Scottie Scheffler didn’t have that gear last year and I think the hard work he put in over the off-season is paying off. And I also like that he’s not out talking about how much speed he’s picked up. He’s just doing it the Scottie Scheffler way, quietly.”
Scottie Scheffler’s average driving distance at the start of 2026
Scheffler averaged 308.3 yards off the tee during the 2025 PGA Tour season. That left him down in 44th on the PGA Tour.
Obviously, it is a small sample size, but he is now averaging 323.6 yards. Just eight players currently average further off the tee.
It would be a surprise if Scheffler remained quite as long off the tee throughout the season.
His decision-making is arguably better than anyone else in the game currently. So he will know when the time is right to put his foot on the accelerator, and when he would be better off focusing on accuracy.
But there is no question at all that having that additional distance up his sleeve is only going to make Scheffler even more difficult to beat.
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