Scottie Scheffler hailed for showing a really rare skill on the PGA Tour this year which ‘doesn’t get talked about’ enough

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Few would have predicted that Scottie Scheffler would go into The Masters with no wins under his belt on the PGA Tour in 2025.

The one question hanging over Scottie Scheffler ahead of this season was what kind of follow-up would he be able to produce after winning nine times worldwide in 2024? Another year on a similar level would see the world number one move closer to being put alongside the all-time greats of the game.

A hand injury sustained on Christmas Day delayed Scheffler’s start to the new season. And he is certainly yet to find that gear which enabled him to absolutely dominate last year.

Scheffler has actually not finished outside of the top 25 in any of his starts so far. But having not won either, he will go into The Masters with nothing like the same amount of momentum as he had 12 months ago when he had already won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

What Scottie Scheffler is doing with the driver which is so uncommon in the current game

But there have been some signs which are ominous for some of those hoping to have Scheffler placing the green jacket upon them this Sunday.

Scheffler finished second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, with the highlight coming in the second round as he tied the course record at Memorial Park. And it seems that some of those taking a deeper dive into the 28-year-old’s game are seeing many of the qualities he will need if he is going to make it three wins in four around Augusta National.

Speaking on Fried Egg Golf, Andy Johnson noted that Scheffler is doing things that most other players are simply not capable of, particularly with the longest club in the bag.

“When you talk about Scottie, one thing that doesn’t get talked about enough – and I don’t necessarily like that expression – but when you listen to him talking about breaking down a golf course, when he gets a little nitty-gritty, you realise that the depth and the level that he’s thinking about a golf course is so insanely high. He really knows how he’s going to attack, and what he’s doing around a golf course,” he said.

“Something I heard, an anecdote I heard this year at The Players was when they went to Bay Hill, and you think about the modern tour player and the ideology of tour play right now is just hit it as hard as you can and go find it, I heard at Bay Hill, he had a simple strategy – he was taking speed off. You never hear of guys [taking speed off], he was taking speed off, prioritising fairways at Bay Hill. And if you look at it, he led the field in strokes gained off the tee that week. He hit a ton of fairways, he was teeing it down, hitting a cut, taking speed off the driver. And he’s hit it high 160s, low 170s ball speed regularly there.

“Then you go to Houston and he’s in contention. And obviously, I don’t think he had the results. He was frustrated at Bay Hill because I think he drove it so well and did not score the way he wanted to. But you go to Houston and there, he’s hitting high 170s with the driver. You don’t see guys fluctuate like that, but that’s just him taking what the golf course gives you, and I think when you talk about Augusta National and players that have such success at Augusta National are the players that understand what the golf course is giving you and not pushing the pedal down in opportune moments. I think Scottie is so comfortable because of his short game.”

Where Scottie Scheffler ranks off the tee on the PGA Tour ahead of The Masters

Scheffler currently finds himself sixth for strokes gained off the tee on the PGA Tour in 2025. Interestingly, he finds himself down in 81st place for driving distance on tour, which just highlights how he is doing what he needs to do at most events to put himself in the best position.

It does appear that each part of Scheffler’s game – perhaps except the putting is just not quite at the same level it was at for much of 2024. But crucially, it really is not far away.

And given his history at Augusta National in recent years, most golf fans will surely be preparing themselves to see Scheffler make The Masters his first win of 2025.

His game is definitely trending in the right direction.