Scottie Scheffler: World No 1 with the 'misunderstood' swing ready to impress at The Masters

8 April 2024, 12:53 | Updated: 10 April 2024, 10:19

Scottie Scheffler arrives at The Masters as the dominant force in golf and overwhelming favourite to add to his major tally, having taken time to initially gain the respect in the sport due to his unusual golf swing.

Scheffler has won eight times on the PGA Tour in the past 26 months and has a commanding advantage over the chasing pack at the top of the world rankings, with his remarkable consistency meaning he is set for a lengthy stay as world No 1.

The American has been at his brilliant best from tee to green, topping almost every statistic in that metric on the PGA Tour for the second successive season, despite his "unique" swing generating plenty of discussion from golf fans and pundits alike.

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Scheffler's footwork after impact resembles a "shuffle" at times rather than a traditional action, with the 27-year-old admitting that it has taken time for the golfing world to get used to his swing.

"I think when I first came out on the PGA Tour, I think my footwork was kind of how I was known to people," Scheffler said in his pre-Masters press conference. "I think a lot of people maybe viewed it as not that good of a trait in my golf swing.

"I think some people may have said that it would be hard for me to be consistent, hard for me to play under pressure with that much action going on in my swing.

"I've had the same coach since I was seven years old, and he's taught me for 20 years now how to swing a golf club. He hadn't wanted to change it yet, so I don't think we're going to change it anytime soon.

"Maybe people think I don't think about my fundamentals very much, which I do. It's a big part of my practice, and it's usually what I do at the beginning of my practice each day is focus on my fundamentals. So maybe that would be the most misunderstood part."

Is there anything wrong with his swing?

The footwork is unconventional to say the least and may be completely different to what would be recommended by the majority of golfing experts, although Tiger Woods' former coach is impressed with how he has made it work in such convincing fashion.

"If you look at his swing and film in slow motion, at impact, he's in perfect position," Harmon explains. "What you see with the feet is because of the momentum and the speed of his exit past impact and his follow-through is what pulls his feet, slides the back foot, spins the left foot out.

"I have to admire his coach, Randy Smith, who's a good friend of mine. He maintained that this is his golf swing, and they never changed that part of it. They just made what he does better.

"If you look at it at impact, in film, his footwork is perfect, which is the important position. It's just that he goes at it very hard. And right now he's doing it better than anybody else in the world, that's for sure."

What has Scheffler already achieved this year?

Scheffler opened the year with a top-five finish at The Sentry and then bounced back from a 'poor' week by his standards, a share of 17th at the American Express, to take tied-sixth at the AT&T; Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a share of third at the WM Phoenix Open.

A tied-tenth at the Genesis Invitational was followed by a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he produced a Sunday masterclass to pull clear of the chasing pack, with the American then overcoming a neck injury to become the first back-to-back winner at The Players a week later.

Scheffler almost became the first player since Dustin Johnson to win three consecutive PGA Tour events, finishing tied-second at the Texas Children's Houston Open, with a huge chunk of the golfing world expecting him to continue his hot streak and win The Masters.

"You can't look past Scottie Scheffler [for Augusta]," former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart told Sky Sports. "He is running away from the pack by playing some of the best golf of his life and now that he has got a putting game to finish off all of the incredible work he does from tee to green.

"He's on an unbelievably roll and should have won three tournaments in a row, only missing that little six-footer on the last in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I think he'll be determined to make this his second Masters and second major."

Should Scheffler have won more this season?

Scheffler's dominance over the past two and a half years has come without any regular consistency in his putting, with the world No 1 regularly impressing in events despite frequently struggling on the greens.

"It's striking in Scottish Scheffler's numbers how he just has to be OK to succeed," said Golf Channel's Eamon Lynch. "He did a lot wrong by his standards that week at the Texas Children's Houston Open and he lost by one, having been 45th in the field in putting.

"At The Players he was 37th in the field in putting and he won by a stroke, having been fifth in the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and won by five. The more Scheffler does his business on the greens, the greater the gap between him and the rest of the guys on the leaderboard out there.

"This is a test he's passed before. Now you could make an argument that the greens at TPC Sawgrass and the greens at Bay Hill are like taking the SAT's, whereas the greens at Augusta National are like defending your PhD, but it's a test he has passed before.

"If he does have the confidence to go along with the knowledge that he's had, that he has succeeded here before, how could you actually choose someone other than Scottish Scheffler to be there on Sunday evening?"

Can Scheffler produce Tiger-like dominance?

Victory at Augusta National would extend Scheffler's lead at the top of the world rankings and draw further comparisons between his results and those of Tiger Woods in the past, with Scheffler having to play down those links after his win at The Players last month.

Scheffler would need to stay at world No 1 for almost another five years to break Woods' record for consecutive weeks at the top of the world rankings, with six-time major winner Sir Nick Faldo believing it's too early for the players to be compared as they are.

"Prior to Jack [Nicklaus] and Tiger [Woods] it was [Ben] Hogan and [Sam] Snead," Faldo explained. "Mega champions come by perhaps every 25 years, so I guess we could be ready for somebody new.

"But you've got to come out and have ridiculous years like Tiger…how many seasons did he have when he won eight tournaments in a year? World No 1 for 10 years…to have a player that dominant? I mean, Scottie's good, but I don't know if we have another Woods just yet.

"It's a tough one. To have that completely different attitude, temperament, ability? To be a bulldozer and just plough through everybody? I don't think we've got the next Tiger yet."

Whether Scheffler goes on to hit anywhere near the heights that Woods did in his prime, or at least delivers the same level of consistency he has over the past two years, then it's going to take something special to deny him securing the Green Jacket for a second time.

Will Scheffler handle the extra Masters pressure?

Scheffler was among the favourites when he won the 2022 edition of The Masters, having claimed three victories in five starts on the PGA Tour ahead of his maiden major victory, although is likely to be dealing with a different level of expectation this time around.

"Well, I think when all the media attention and expectations are on your shoulders, it is a lot more pressure," Harmon explained. "I think he has the demeanour that can handle it, but this is going to be interesting to see how he handles it coming in here.

"He's never come into The Masters with all of this anticipation on his shoulders as the No 1 player in the world, the hottest player in the world. How he handles it, I think we will see right away on Thursday, what kind of start he gets off to.

"Is he the Scottie Scheffler that we've seen, the great ball striker that he's been? I'm very excited to see coming into The Masters for the first time as the man that everybody thinks they have to beat. Now, how he handles that, I can't wait to see."

Who will win The Masters? Watch live from April 11-14 exclusively on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday April 11 from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream The Masters and lots more golf with NOW.

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