Scottie Scheffler Considers Key Equipment Change at U.S. Open

Scottie Scheffler might make an important equipment change for the U.S. Open. But the key word is might.

Scheffler, the current No. 1-ranked player in the world and 2023 Players champion, was spotted testing putters on the Los Angeles Country Club practice green on Monday.

When asked about the equipment tinkering on Tuesday, Scheffler wouldn’t give much away—and that’s because he seems to be truly undecided.

“You guys can find out Thursday,” Scheffler said, responding to a reporter who asked about his potential switch.

“It looks a lot like mine, but it’s just a little bit bigger,” Scheffler said of the flatstick he was testing, which Golf.com’s Jonathan Wall identified as a wide-body Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Plus. “I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s just slightly bigger than the one I use.”

The model might not be a drastic change in look or brand, but for any elite golfer, a putter change is a big move.

One potential equipment change to watch this week: Scottie Scheffler was spotted with a wide-body @ScottyCameron Newport 2 Plus putter. https://t.co/oJybYye4ol pic.twitter.com/vsQ7tWPeDG
— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) June 12, 2023

It’s no secret that despite his strong 2022-23 résumé, Scheffler has struggled immensely on the greens recently. So far this PGA Tour season, Scheffler is ranked first in strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach, strokes gained tee-to-green and strokes gained total.

In strokes gained putting, Scheffler is ranked 148th out of 198.

“I don’t ever take decisions on switching equipment lightly. I think it’s strange that I’ve been struggling the past few weeks with my putter,” Scheffler said. “[At] the PGA [Championship], I actually felt like I rolled it pretty good. Few putts here or there that lipped out that should have gone in. [At the] Memorial, obviously had an off week on the greens or probably would’ve won that one. I mean, sometimes you just got to bring another putter around there to make the original one scared.”

It’s clear that Scheffler is in tune with where he’s lacking on the greens statistically and the consequences of those shortcomings. But the Masters champion also firmly believes that solving putting issues differs from tweaking any other aspect of one’s game. And that’s for one reason in particular: it places a premium on feel.

“Putting is such a weird thing,” Scheffler said. “Sometimes when you’re on the green, sometimes when you feel good, you feel like you’re never going to miss. And then sometimes when you feel terrible, you feel like you’re never going to make. Putting is just so different than the rest of the game, so when it comes to putters, it’s all personal.”

For Scheffler, feeling good on the greens is all mental. And fine-tuning the proper mindset for him doesn’t stop after he strikes a putt. In fact, Scheffler has been specifically working on how he evaluates his putts after he hits them. With the help of his caddie, Tedd Scott, Scheffler is actively trying not to criticize his results too harshly.

“Putting is different because it’s one of those things that has finality attached to it; whereas if I hit a really good 6-iron, sometimes it’s going to go to two feet and sometimes it’s going to go to 15 feet,” Scheffler explained. “… If I hit a six-footer, and I hit a really good putt and one time it goes in and then one time it doesn’t, everyone is like, ‘Oh, why did he miss that putt?’”

Scheffler may put a new putter in place this week at the U.S. Open, or he might not. Whatever the world No. 1 decides, however, won’t matter unless he has the most important tool of all under control: his mind.