Scottie Scheffler reminded the golf world why he’s the No. 1 participant on this planet Sunday. He destroyed the Arnold Palmer Invitational area to earn his seventh PGA Tour victory.
He carded a closing spherical 6-under 66, to complete at 15-under, 5 strokes forward of runner-up Wyndham Clark.
Scheffler made a putter change this week and his work on the greens have gotten higher every day. He switched to a mallet-style flat stick, and issues clicked into place.
After the primary spherical, the previous Texas Longhorn ranked No. 55 in strokes gained placing. He moved as much as No. 28 after Friday. Saturday obtained even higher for him on the greens, transferring as much as No. 10.
Scheffler sank all 16 of his putts Sunday inside 15 toes. That’s a exceptional feat.
Followers went from watching Scheffler miss 3-foot putts and trolling him about it to dropping their jaws as he appeared to make each putt on Sunday.
It’s universally understood that if Scheffler can efficiently use his flat stick, beating him is sort of unattainable. He’s already among the best ball strikers ever, and now the putter is getting sizzling.
As X consumer Trevor Grinzel stated, “Scottie Scheffler with a working putter is a serious drawback for the whole world {of professional} golf.”
Scottie Scheffler with a working putter is a serious drawback for the whole world {of professional} golf.
— Trevor Grinzel (@trevor_grinzel) March 10, 2024
It had been nearly a yr since Scheffler received a sanctioned PGA Tour occasion — final yr’s Gamers Championship.
Technically, he took house the Hero World Problem title, however that didn’t earn him any FedEx Cup factors. Whereas his lowest end in 2024 is a T17, his opponents seeing him putt nicely once more has to really feel like a intestine punch. They’d an opportunity whereas he struggled to drop putts, however now, it nearly appears unfair.
This X consumer pulled this gif out of his hat to match Scheffler to Completely happy Gilmore, which is an ideal comparability.
Shane Bacon can be onto one thing together with his complete “turning golf off and simply seeing what number of Scheffler wins by later” thought.
The PGA Tour has two occasions occurring this weekend, so turning on the Puerto Rico Open to see the way it finishes might be extra entertaining with Scheffler throttling the sphere.
I believe we now have arrived on the “I really feel comfy turning the golf off and checking what number of pictures Scottie wins by later tonight” portion of this Scheffler exhibition.
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) March 10, 2024
Is it time for Scottie scheffler to change into president of the USA?
— fuz (@FuzzicIe) March 10, 2024
I don’t suppose Scottie Scheffler is dropping OWGR No. 1 for the remainder of his profession now lol
— TrackingScheffler (@SchefflerLegion) March 10, 2024
With Scheffler destroying the sphere like he did on Sunday, it’s laborious to see anybody else taking his No. 1 rating any time quickly.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. For extra golf protection, make sure to comply with us @_PlayingThrough on all main social platforms. You too can comply with her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.