Why Scottie Scheffler’s equipment providers are thanking Rory McIlroy for one comment he made, ‘it was needed’

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It must be a complex job being the club fitter for Scottie Scheffler, with the world number one arguably the best player the game has had since Tiger Woods.

On the one hand, Scottie Scheffler‘s standards will be unbelievably high. However, he has shown with his wins this year that he can probably turn his hand to anything, with The Open Championship one of the latest events the 29-year-old has managed to master.

It turns out that Scheffler is every bit as meticulous as some would suspect when it comes to his equipment.

One of the most significant changes in his bag came ahead of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – an event Scheffler went on to win.

How Scottie Scheffler ended up switching to a mallet putter

Scheffler’s final weakness appeared to be his putting. He was 77th for strokes gained on the greens during the 2024 season.

Rory McIlroy encouraged Scheffler to try a mallet putter during that year’s Genesis Invitational.

The change proved to be inspired, as the 29-year-old won at Bay Hill. At the time, Scheffler insisted that a switch was being considered already.

But speaking on Fore Play Podcast Plus, TaylorMade fitter Adrian Rietveld suggested that McIlroy’s comments were helpful, even if they just reinforced their belief that they were moving in the right direction.

“It started way before Rory made that comment. It was really a project. I do thank Rory for the comment though. Even if it contributed one percent, it was needed. Because Scottie, he’s a tough switch. He knows what he wants. I’ll take you back to day one of that project. Day one, we visited him at Dallas National, it wasn’t at Royal Oaks where he normally practices. It was at Dallas National, I think because they had a really big practice putting green there. And I do remember the conversation. We sat around the table. There were four of us which included his coach and his manager. And basically, what Scottie said to us, he said stop copying the spec of my putter. He was playing a competitor putter at the time. He said stop copying this spec, this isn’t my spec. I’ve never been fitted for a putter. So for him, he says if we’re going to do this, it’s going to be a blank slate. You’re going to fit me for a putter like you would – and this is the number one player in the world. I’ll never forget that day,” he said.

“Now we’re looking at head designs, we’re looking at weight, you think about all the parameters and all the components that go into a putter. It’s 10x any other piece of equipment, in terms of customisation and what works specifically for that player. Then Phil Kenyon comes on board and Phil’s a complete independent at the time. When I say independent, his interest is Scottie Scheffler. He’s going to use what’s going to make Phil look and help Phil make Scottie look good. I sent him 15 putters at a time in so many different specs. At one point, we’re working on just the length of the putter and it was like, ‘yeah, but the length changes the swing weight, it changes the feel’. And we’re just literally going down this rabbit hole to a miracle ending where he actually puts in play a putter that we sell off the shelf. Literally, a putter that you can walk into a shop and literally go, ‘I’m having Scottie Scheffler’s putter here’. Imagine that as a company guy.”

Scottie Scheffler’s improvement with the putter over the years

The feeling for much of 2024 was that the PGA Tour was going to be in big trouble if Scheffler could get his putting to anything like the same level as the rest of his game.

Before the 2025 season, Scheffler had never finished inside the top 50 for strokes gained putting.

This year saw Scheffler become one of the very best with the flat stick. So it was hardly surprising that he was able to add two major titles to his tally. He is now just a US Open victory from completing the Career Grand Slam.

And if he manages to somehow make further progress on the greens in 2026, it is hard to know what anyone will be able to do to stop him.