Randy Smith responds when asked if Scottie Scheffler is a better player now or in 2024

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Scottie Scheffler has worked with his coach, Randy Smith, since 2003.

So there is probably nobody in the world who is as familiar with Scheffler‘s game as Smith is.

Scheffler has improved his putting significantly this year, and as a result, he is now a four-time major champion.

The 29-year-old was still pretty good last season though, even with his average putting.

He won nine tournaments in 2024 – seven on the PGA Tour, the Hero World Challenge and at the Olympics in Paris.

Scheffler has four wins to his name this year, including two majors.

There have even been comparisons made between Scheffler and Tiger Woods – he has been that good.

So has he actually reached another level this season? Or was he, in fact, a better player last year?

Randy Smith on whether Scottie Scheffler is a better player now or in 2024

The 29-year-old is the best player in the world right now by quite some margin.

However, is he even better than he was last year when he won seven times on the PGA Tour and nine times in total?

Smith spoke to SIRIUSXM PGA TOUR Radio, and discussed Scheffler’s 2025 season in comparison to last year.

He said: “Maybe on paper, last year would probably be a bit better. This year for me is much better, because he overcame a rough start with an injury, an injury I might add to probably the most important part of his golf game, the feel of his hands, and how they go on the golf club and what he does with his shots.

“There was some things that he had to go through with that, not to blame anything on an injury, which he has done better than I could have ever imagined. He has done nothing but get better from that. He has played even better on bigger stages this year, so far this year, than he did last year, and his year isn’t finished.

“So, I would have to go with this year, two majors, so what can you say?“

Do you feel like he’s a more complete player?

“I think so, I think he’s doing this around the golf course, he’s hitting appropriate shots more now than he was last year, and when I say appropriate shots, when he sees a shot, he takes it all in. He’s not just going, ‘Oh, well what you think, front edge, ok I’ll just hit it up there with a little draw, take a little off of it’. No, he’s going into it much more specific when he hits a shot, all the way into him looking into a green complex from 180 yards, he is reading every inch of the breaks of that green when he’s taking his shot. He’s doing that and he’s doing it better.“

Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 vs 2025 seasons compared

Scheffler has been quite simply sensational over the past 18 months or so.

Despite the fact that he hasn’t had as many wins this season as he did last year, he has won one more major championship.

Scheffler has been relentless this season, and if he gets one more win, I truly believe that 2025 will go down as an even better season for him than 2024, especially taking into account the hand injury that he sustained around Christmastime.

As his coach Randy Smith said, he has taken his game to a whole new level entirely this year.