[PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann]
Scottie Scheffler is a lot of things. World No.1, fantastic striker of the ball and all-around good guy. He’s also a realist. When asked after the third round what he needed to do to defend his title at the Players, he had a succinct answer: “Shoot very low.”
Much like he did last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he made six birdies in the final round, Scheffler delivered six more plus a hole-out eagle on the par-4 fourth hole to blitz TPC Sawgrass’ Players Stadium course in 64. That allowed him to pass Xander Schauffele, who was five shots in front of Scheffler when the day began, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman, who made a nice final-day charge of his own.
Although Scheffler putted well enough to post positive strokes gained/putting numbers, the entire body of work was more quintessential Scheffler as he ranked first in strokes gained/off the tee, picking up more than six shots on the field. He also was seventh in strokes gained/approach the green. Such impressive work allowed Scheffler to play the final 31 holes without a bogey.
Scheffler’s driver is an 8-degree TaylorMade Qi10 with a Fujikua Ventus Black 7X. Scheffler not only used the club to pick up a bunch of strokes on the field, but hit a ton of fairways, too. On a course that rewards precision, Scheffler hit 45 of 56 fairways (80.36 percent) to tie the best for the week.
When you make 22 birdies, however, you must discuss the putter. Scheffler changed to a TaylorMade Spider Tour putter at Bay Hill after doing extensive testing at home, The putter is half an inch longer than his previous one and has an L-Neck hosel and TaylorMade’s True Path alignment aid on top with a full line sightline on top. The putter has 3 degrees of loft with a lie angle of 72 degrees. The insert is an 80/20 TaylorMade Pure Roll insert and the grip is a Golf Pride pistol.
Which was just one of his clubs that allowed Scheffler to shoot very low.
What Scottie Scheffler had in the bag at the 2024 Players Championship:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (Fujikua Ventus Black 7X), 8 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10, 15 degrees
Irons (3-4): Srixon ZU85; (5-PW): TaylorMade P7TW
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (50, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks prototype (60 degrees
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
