The entire golfing world has been trying and struggling to put their finger on just what Scottie Scheffler is doing to put himself on track to become one of the greatest players of all time.
Of course, Scottie Scheffler has a long way to go before he is put in the same conversation as the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. However, it cannot be denied that he is well on his way.
The world number one is now a four-time major champion after winning both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship in 2025. He is now just a US Open victory away from completing the Career Grand Slam.
What is remarkable about what Scheffler does is how unremarkable it seems to be. He is not the showman Tiger Woods was, and he does not feed off the atmosphere like Bryson DeChambeau.
Ben Griffin explains what Scottie Scheffler does on the course which the cameras have missed
He has his way of getting around the golf course. Obviously, his swing is extremely unique, with his footwork unlike almost anything you will see on the PGA Tour.
But there are potentially some aspects of Scheffler’s game which largely go unnoticed.
Speaking on the No Laying Up Podcast on the mental game, Ben Griffin has shared what he has seen Scheffler do when playing alongside him this year.
“Negative thoughts are the easiest thing to creep in your mind, and it’s hard to reinforce positive thoughts. And as professional golfers at the highest level, you have to constantly do that, and you can’t get frustrated. We’ve seen golfers get frustrated this year, it’s not good. It doesn’t put you in a good headspace and it doesn’t help you execute better on the next shot. And it’s not a good look in general,” he said.
“So, for me, I focus a lot on staying positive. Even when I first started playing professional golf, I used to think about hazards that were in play and think about OB and try and play away from penalties. And at some point in my career, it kind of clicked of alright, we can take on these challenges and these penalties. I watch it on TV, I see Rory take it over out of bounds stakes and bunkers. If he’s going to do it, then I have to do it. You can’t focus on the negative outcome, you can’t think about the negative outcomes. You have to concentrate on what you can control. There’s no external thing that should be getting in the way right now. Can’t think about the what ifs. You just have to focus on what your target is and executing a good shot.
“You see Jason Day all the time close his eyes. I’ve seen Scottie Scheffler even do it actually. The cameras I don’t think have picked it up but I played with him somewhere and he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, and I thought man, I’ve never seen him do that before.”
Why Jason Day closes his eyes before hitting a shot
As Griffin notes, Day is perhaps the player who is most commonly associated with shutting his eyes before hitting a shot.
The Australian will go through the majority of his pre-shot routine before stepping away and standing behind the ball before taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes.
And he has previously explained, in comments reported by Bunkered, why exactly he does do that.
“It’s the most efficient way for me to feel comfortable going into a shot,” he said.
“When I close my eyes, I see a picture of myself. I visualise my swing go back, and go through, and I see the ball land and how it goes, where it lands, and how it bounces.
“I make sure I don’t hit the shot, or don’t stop visualising, until I’m fully comfortable with the visual.”
The good news for Scheffler is that he probably does not need to work too hard to visualise the shot going perfectly given the form he has shown for a number of years now.
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