“I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet.” said an expectant Rory McIlroy after the third signature event on the 2024 PGA Tour calendar. Well, he wasn’t disappointed as the current No.1, Scottie Scheffler, changed his club to the one the Northern Irishman and his swing coach, Randy Smith, urged him to. The result? Back-to-back wins for the golfer. However, it seems now that the club change wasn’t enough to fully remedy his problems.
A tweet was shared by the PGA Tour on its official X handle (formerly Twitter). Interestingly, the video showcases a shot taken by the American Pro which cost him a chance at his third victory of the 2024 season, and well, the fans are not having it!
Scottie Scheffler and his re-emerging putting concerns
The video uploaded by the Jay Monahan-led circuit on X showcases the 27-year-old missing a putt on the par-4 final 18th. The “narrow miss” led to the golfer scoring a par score on the final hole which, in turn, resulted in him missing out on tying the score with Stephan Jaeger to push a playoff. What’s more, as a result of the missed putt, he could only card a figure of 2-under 68 on Sunday, leading him to fall behind the champ by a single stroke.
Interestingly, after listening to the advice of his swing coach, the golfer had started making use of the TaylorMade Spider Tour X (X1) putter with a 3-degree loft and 72-degree lie angle at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This, during the signature event, helped him dish out a total of 20 birdies resulting in a spectacular victory.
Meanwhile, he dished out a total of four birdies during the final day of play. Moreover, it came along with a couple of bogeys at the par-4, 6th hole, and the par-3, 15th hole. Regardless of the numbers, it is true that Scheffler missing the putt cost him another chance at victory. Well, the community did not take it too lightly.
Scheffler’s missed putt sends the internet into a fervor
One thing is for sure, the current No.1 in the OWGR wouldn’t have imagined the amount of response such a missed shot would evoke on the internet. There were a lot of reactions ranging from those criticizing the golfer’s shot to others taking a jab at the professional himself. Let us take a quick look at some of them.
The 27-year-old faced a lot of flak, especially after missing out on some important shots at previous events. During the second round of the Genesis Invitational, the 8-time PGA Tour champ missed a putt and consequently, threw the ball into the bush after the same. What’s more, he was ranked last when it came to putting among the players who made the cut. As a similar problem arose again at the Houston Open, an enthusiast went ahead to comment, “Terrible putt” while another responded how he missed on purpose, “He missed on purpose. He had the read. Or he just can’t putt.” Meanwhile, others followed as reactions such as “Horrible putt,” and “World no 1 with a dribble of a putt” came pouring in.
Meanwhile, some of the users on X couldn’t help but bring the legend of the game, Tiger Woods, into the fray. Surprisingly, the 48-year-old had 1,543 putts from 3 feet and in from the years 2002 to 2005 and has only missed three during the period. Nothing short of spectacular, isn’t it? Well, that’s exactly what many fans thought as well as they responded with comments such as, “Another reason why Scottie’s run should NEVER be compared to tigers. Stop that talk asap,” and “Tiger wouldn’t have missed it.” However, the cream of the crop came when a couple of ardent followers praised Woods and dissed Scottie Scheffler by mentioning how “Tiger never missed a putt when it mattered,” and how “There will never ever be a Tiger Woods.”
There were also other responses questioning the authenticity of the golfer being the No. 1 in the world all the while bringing in the arguments of a weak field, despite a rating of 259.59872, as well as the LIV golfers into the same. A follower commented, “lol. Best player in the world. Dude would be fourth best on LIV” alluding to the latter reason while another responded, “Let’s keep pretending that this run that Scotty Scheffler is on has nothing to do with a weak field. I’m sure you can get a few fans to believe it.”
Anyhow, it appears Scheffler has managed to irk many through his putting woes. Regardless, one can only hope the golfer works on his short game ahead of the upcoming major.
