Given how good Scottie Scheffler has been this year, there is a genuine debate to be had regarding what exactly is the strongest part of the world number one’s game.
Scottie Scheffler has undoubtedly had one of the greatest seasons of all-time, with eight wins coming worldwide, including victories at The Masters, Bay Hill, The Players, The Tour Championship and the Olympic Games.
It has been well-documented that Scheffler has traditionally struggled most with his putting, with the 28-year-old 69th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained with the flat stick – after improving significantly. But there are other aspects of his game which are seemingly on another level to almost anyone else.
Xander Schauffele’s coach Chris Como noted that Scheffler strikes the ball as well as Tiger Woods did at his peak. Unsurprisingly, Scheffler is first on tour this season for strokes gained with his approaches into the greens.
Scottie Scheffler’s best trait
Meanwhile, Justin Thomas claimed that Scheffler may actually be better with the driver than with his irons – a statement he even admitted might sound crazy.
But it turns out that it is another aspect of his game which impresses his caddie Ted Scott the most. Speaking on Subpar, Scott explained that the mental side of Scheffler’s game is so crucial to the success that he has had.
“One of my best friends who gave me this hat, he’s a pastor, and I coach him in golf, and he told me, he’s really good mentally, and he said, ‘Ted, the best club I have isn’t even in my bag’, and I said, ‘what is it’, and he said, ‘it’s my mind’. And that’s Scottie’s best club, I mean the guy just thinks through things really well,” he said.
“He handles pressure really well, he’s super smart, very golf-smart, super disciplined and I think that all starts in your head. You can’t measure that, so it’s hard to put something tangible like that on paper that you can’t see, so I think that’s his best quality.”
World number one now has that aura which can frighten a field
Having that strong a mental game is so important, particularly in the moments when Scheffler is under pressure, whether that be because he is being hunted down by the chasing pack, or because he needs to plot how to make a charge through the field.
He has won from all kinds of positions this year. Some of his victories have appeared almost too easy, and simply a precession, while he has had to produce masterclasses to win The Players or the Olympic gold medal.
And when every other player knows that Scheffler is almost capable of winning from anywhere, it simply has to become daunting when he makes a couple of quick fire birdies which bring him right into the mix.
It is the kind of aura Tiger Woods had during his peak, and it appears that Scheffler knows exactly what to do with it.
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