Scottie Scheffler's putting struggles persist despite excellent ball striking at 2024 Genesis Invitational
Scottie Scheffler finished the first round of The Genesis Invitational in T10 with a score of 3 under 68. In the 2024 season so far, Scheffler has maintained a similar performance to last year, excelling in all orders of play except putting.
The first round of the 2024 Genesis Invitational is a good example of how Scottie Scheffler's putting is going. The Texan lost no less than 2,572 with his putter, one of the worst records of the tournament. Even so, what he did in the other sectors of the game allowed him to earn 2,171 total strokes, ranking 10th at Riviera.
Scottie Scheffler missed six putts inside 10 feet on Thursday at Riviera, four of them for birdie. It happened as follows:
- Hole 4: 2-foot 6-inch putt for par.
- Hole 6: 8-foot 5-inch putt for birdie.
- Hole 8: 9 foot 7 inch putt for birdie
- Hole 9: 5-foot putt 9 inches for birdie
- Hole 11: 5 foot 5 inch putt for birdie
- Hole 16: 3-foot 5-inch putt for par.
The season hasn't been any better so far. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler has a Stroke Gained: putting of -0.134 (ranked 107th on the PGA Tour), averaging 29.91 putts per round (122nd) and only avoiding using 3 putts 4.55% of holes (153rd).
Putting: Scottie Scheffler's frustration
Scottie Scheffler has been seen making gestures of frustration during the current season at times when his putting has not been working. During the first round of The Genesis Invitational he was even seen throwing a ball into the surrounding brush.
The difference between Scheffler's putting and the rest of his putting skills is abysmal. Suffice it to say that, even with one of the worst putts on the PGA Tour, the Texan still leads the world ranking.
Scheffler is one of the best ball strikers in the world, as evidenced by the fact that he is the player who has won the most strokes on the PGA Tour tee-to-green (2,551) during 2024. He also reached the most greens in regulation (175 of 198, 88.38%) and is the second player with the most strokes gained approaching the green (1,882).
As a result, Scheffler is the third player with the most total strokes gained (2,417) and leads the season's scoring average with 66.87. He is also the best in the PGA Tour in birdie average (6.07) and second in bogey avoidance (5.93%).