What Ryan Lavner noticed about Scottie Scheffler’s driving at the Houston Open which leaves him with a question ahead of The Masters starting

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While Scottie Scheffler is still waiting for his first win of 2025, there was certainly reason for real encouragement with how the world number one played at the Texas Children’s Houston Open this past week.

Scottie Scheffler finished in a tie for second at Memorial Park. The 28-year-old managed to make a late charge on Sunday as he made four birdies in a row at one stage. However, he ran out of time to close in on Min Woo Lee.

It is Scheffler’s best result of the season. And that may be an ominous sign for some of his rivals, with Scheffler now preparing to defend his Masters title. It must also be noted that the American is still yet to finish outside the top 25 on the PGA Tour this year.

Some think Scheffler has had a disappointing season so far. However, the last few days certainly felt like a step in the right direction in many respects.

Scottie Scheffler continuing to move in the right direction at the Texas Children’s Houston Open

Scheffler himself felt that he improved as the week went on. And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner insisted that he saw some positive signs. He did however, admit to having some concerns about how the two-time Masters champion performed off the tee.

“As it relates to Scottie, I thought this was very encouraging. He putted great in three of the four rounds. He was first in the field in proximity to the hole. He made only two bogeys all week. What I noticed off the tee, and we just talked about how Min Woo Lee was bombing it everywhere, Scottie seemed to be purposely laying back some off the tee to prioritise accuracy. He was 42nd in the field in distance, his ball speed was somewhere around 175mph,” he said.

“Scottie’s footwork wasn’t as active as it has been in the past. I would have loved to have asked him was this by design, even though you were on a golf course where you can blow it anywhere. It goes against his nature to be looking ahead to the Masters so maybe it is that, or I wonder if maybe he just doesn’t completely feel 100 percent with his game.”

The area where Scheffler performed worst in Houston which may cause concern ahead of The Masters

Scheffler has not looked himself over the opening months of the season. It was striking when Scheffler lost his cool at the WM Phoenix Open, and there have definitely been some uncharacteristic mistakes along the way.

Obviously, part of that can probably be put down to Scheffler having his off-season interrupted by the hand injury which ruled him out of the first couple of events. But it is surprising that things have not entirely clicked again yet.

Even when Scheffler tied the course record on Friday in Houston, he was not hitting the darts from the fairway that everyone has come to expect. Instead, it was a masterclass on the greens which really stole the show.

Interestingly, it was another part of his game which performed poorly over the week, with Scheffler barely gaining any ground around the green.

Given the creativity often needed around Augusta National, that may be the most alarming statistic from his latest runner-up finish at Memorial Park.