[PHOTO: Stuart Franklin/R&A]
Matt Fitzpatrick earned his spot in the final twosome with Scottie Scheffler for the third round of the Open Championship, only to find himself in the front row of a competitor’s horror show. Scheffler was frighteningly machine-like in his precision, and even when he wasn’t, the world No.1 made some daring escapes to shoot a bogey-free 67 at Royal Portrush.
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Scheffler, looking to lift his first claret jug, forged a four-shot lead over Haotong Li heading into the final round and gained four shots on Fitzpatrick in the third round. And while the Englishman lamented his own putts that didn’t fall, he was taken by Scheffler seemingly making everything he looked out.
That wasn’t entirely true – the Texan three-putted the par-5 second hole to miss making birdie – but in Fitzpatrick’s view, what he witnessed of Scheffler on the greens was far different from the reputation he knew only a few years ago.
“His putting is night and day, obviously,” the 2023 US Open champion said. “From what you guys all talk about how bad it was at one point… I didn’t play with him really in that period. He’s just not missed a putt today. There isn’t one putt that he’s missed, and that’s obviously the difference that’s taken him to this unbeatable run.”
Here’s the stunning development of the week: Scheffler is absolutely thrashing the field on greens that Rory McIlroy has called among the most undulated in links golf, and when he’s doing that, basically no one has a chance. Scheffler has gained 7.87 strokes for the tournament with the putter to top that category, and it’s his best statistic, just ahead of strokes gained/approach (plus-7.36), where he’s No.2.
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Told of Fitzpatrick’s praise for his putting, Scheffler was typically nonplussed.
“Yeah, I think there’s some pretty subtle slopes in these greens. I’ve done a really good job just being committed to my line,” he said. “Today I hit some good putts to start the round. I had a little three-putt there on the second hole, but I felt like I hit two putts the way I wanted to, and I didn’t let it bother me. I made a really nice putt there on the [par-3] third hole to keep the momentum going. It was a little 10-footer for par, and that was what I felt like was a really important putt, and knocked it in. Then after that I felt like I did some good things out there.”
Inside Scheffler’s circle, there must be a quiet thrill. It was only two years ago that the predominant lament about Scheffler was, “If only he could putt…” It was legitimate, considering he ranked a horrible 162nd in SG/putting while winning twice in 2023.
A desperate Scheffler sought out one of the renowned putting instructors in the world. Or, as Fitzpatrick said with a grin post-round, “annoying me that Phil Kenyon shared those secrets.”
Fitzpatrick himself was a student of Kenyon, who began working with Scheffler before the Ryder Cup in Italy. “Less technical thought and more tapping into his instincts, trying to be freer in his approach,” Kenyon said on “The Chipping Forecast” podcast. “When you make changes and you’re trying to improve technically it’s easy to become a perfectionist or constantly be thinking about trying to make perfect strokes. We are trying to make sure he doesn’t go that route.”
Fitzpatrick, 30, had similarly gone through working on quickness and strength to gain much-needed distance on his driver ahead of his major triumph at Winged Foot.
“At the end of the day, it’s your job,” he said this morning, Australian time. “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to put the work in. It’s not just going to happen overnight. I would expect that of someone of a high class professional that Scottie is. I wouldn’t expect anything else.”
The putting was the last piece to Scheffler reaching a consistency of excellence that none of his peers are approaching right now. Since the start of 2024, he’s won 11 times, including three majors and an Olympic gold medal.
This season, he leads the PGA Tour in nearly every strokes-gained category, though he’s not No.1 in putting. He’s only 22nd – or 140 places better than just two years ago.
For anybody trying to beat him, that’s scary.
