The ‘interesting’ putting drill Scottie Scheffler was spotted doing on the practice green at the Hero World Challenge

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While not one person will have been surprised to see Scottie Scheffler win the Hero World Challenge, it was alarming – for the rest of the PGA Tour – to see just how good the world number one was on the greens in the Bahamas.

Of course, Scottie Scheffler has his ninth victory of the year after winning by six at the Hero World Challenge. Scheffler very much picked up where he left off earlier in the year. But he seems to have added a much more impressive putting game to his arsenal.

Scheffler was 77th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained putting in 2024. And while the Hero only boasts a small field of just 20 players, it seemed significant that he was second for strokes gained with the flat stick during his final round of 63.

Much of the attention was on Scheffler’s decision to use a claw grip for some of his shorter putts throughout the week. But it seems that his all-round game with his putter has stepped up a level.

The putting drill Scottie Scheffler was using at the Hero World Challenge

And it appears that Smylie Kaufman has found out one of the drills which has helped Scheffler improve on the greens. Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman explained what he noticed the 28-year-old doing on the practice ground before each round.

“I thought one of the things this week that he was really good at, that actually something that’s interesting is in a putting stat, was approach putt performance was first. So basically lag putting, how close you got it to the hole on your approach putt. He was first in that category, and that was putting with his conventional grip,” he said.

“And I was watching him on the putting green before the round, and this is interesting for a lot of people that are trying to get better at lag putting, this is a great drill, because I didn’t know he did this, but he’ll have a 40-footer and he looks at the hole like he always would, looks down, strokes the putt, and instead of looking up to see where the ball is, he waits until the ball finishes rolling.

“So he strokes the putt and he’s just staring at the ground and then maybe he’s guessing in his mind, is it long, is it short, where’s this ball going to end up? And then eventually when the ball stops rolling, or close – you can’t be perfect when it’s stops or starts rolling – but somewhere around the end of the putt, he looks up, sees where it is, and in his mind, he’s calibrating basically the speed of the greens that day.”

How Scheffler performed on the greens at Albany

Obviously, Scheffler will not be getting carried away. He also won the Hero World Challenge in 2023 before undergoing the changes to his putting. But it really does feel that Scheffler does not need to be anywhere the best putter on the PGA Tour to win on a regular basis.

It was notable that his worst performance of the week saw him tied for 11th for strokes gained on the greens at Albany. Meanwhile, he was in the top five for two of the other rounds.

Having that confidence in his putting could make a big difference at the start of 2025. Meanwhile, his performance this past week has sent a big message out to anyone hoping to catch Scheffler in the coming months.

It is going to take something special to stop him dominating the year once again.