US Ryder Cup team manager says Scottie Scheffler has a skill even more impressive than his distance control

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It is not exactly a hot take to suggest that Scottie Scheffler is the best player with an iron in his hand in the current game.

It will surprise no one to hear that Scottie Scheffler is number one on the PGA Tour for strokes gained approach this season. The 29-year-old has won six times this year, including at both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.

He is also out in front for proximity to the hole in 2025.

With that, Scheffler has been able to win on three of his last five starts on tour, including at the Procore Championship earlier this month.

USA team manager outlines Scottie Scheffler’s most impressive skill

Of course, the world number one was one of the players in the field at Napa preparing for this week’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. And he sent out an ominous warning to the Europeans by managing to emerge victorious.

What may be particularly alarming for Luke Donald is Team USA manager John Wood does not believe that Scheffler was at his best at Silverado.

He also outlined what skill Scheffler has which may be better than his iron play from the fairway.

“He didn’t play as great as he could, he didn’t make a whole lot of putts in the time I saw him in the last couple of days. But he just doesn’t make mistakes, just doesn’t put himself in a bad position where you think he could make double here – I know he did make a double. And it’s so consistent, he’s never in trouble,” he said.

“The thing that maybe impresses me most about Scottie, we all know how good he is in distance control from the fairway, but he gets these lies in the rough that I’m looking at going I don’t know how this is going to come out, and he gets it right every single time. He lands it in the right spot, it releases the right amount, and obviously he hits it great.

“That’s a skill in being able to read those lies and figure out how it’s going to come out, and he does it every single time. He is fun to watch play golf, I know that’s probably the dumbest thing you can possibly say. You’re in awe of the guy.”

Europe will hope history repeats itself as Scottie Scheffler prepares for his third Ryder Cup

It would be hard to see how anyone could get the better of Scheffler were it not for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone.

Scheffler enjoyed a superb debut at Whistling Straits. But he struggled at both the Presidents Cup in 2022 and then in Rome the following year.

Of course, the 9&7 loss to Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland is not going to be forgotten anytime soon, particularly as it was Scheffler and Brooks Koepka who lost; two of the most decorated players in the modern era.

There were brighter signs at last year’s Presidents Cup. And you would expect Scheffler to be paired with Russell Henley once again this week.

If Scheffler can find his best form this week, he is going to be unbelievably difficult to stop. Europe will be desperately hoping that some of his previous problems in the Ryder Cup re-emerge in the coming days.