Inside The Key Equipment Change That Helped Scottie Scheffler Dominate The Golf World

There have been plenty of instances where professional golfers have changed equipment to varying degrees of success, with one of those being current World No.1 Scottie Scheffler.

Regarded as one of the best ball strikers of all-time, the American has already racked up 20 PGA Tour titles since 2021, with Scheffler showing no sign of slowing down as he recently secured The American Express in his first start of 2026.

The red-hot run of results has even drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods' peak years but, had it not been for a key equipment change in March 2024, then perhaps the endless stream of victories may not have come so quickly for Scheffler.

Jumping on to the scene in 2014 as a 17-year-old amateur, making a hole-in-one on his PGA Tour debut at the Byron Nelson Championship, Scheffler opted to use a blade-style putter for over a decade.

Although he enjoyed successes with that style of flatstick in the bag, such as The Masters, a Players Championship, two WM Phoenix Opens, an Arnold Palmer Invitational and a WGC Match-Play title, his putting stats were regularly well down the leaderboard.

Primarily using a Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS Prototype, as well as a Prototype Logan Olson putter, from 2020-2023 Scheffler ranked outside the top 100 for Strokes Gained: Putting three out of four times, including 162nd in 2023.

In contrast, he was inside the top 20 for SG: Tee-to-Green for all of those years and actually led the field within the category in 2023.

Beginning 2024, Scheffler claimed four top 10s in five starts, but it was the flatstick that had once again let him down; however, help was at hand from an unlikely source, specifically fellow competitor, Rory McIlroy.

Speaking at that year's Genesis Invitational, McIlroy turned pundit for an afternoon on CBS' telecast and actually offered some thoughts on what Scheffler could do to solve his putting problems.

“I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet," stated the then four-time Major winner. "But selfishly for me, Scottie does everything else so well that he’s given the rest of us a chance."

At the time, Scheffler was 144th in SG: Putting and, just a fortnight later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the World No.1 rocked up with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X that also included an extra half-inch of length.

The changes were instant as, following rounds of 70, 67, 70 and 66, Scheffler secured a second victory at the tournament, then going on to win The Players Championship the week after.

You could say the rest is history, as victories were aplenty in 2024, as Scheffler claimed a second Masters Green Jacket, as well as five more PGA Tour wins and even an Olympic gold medal at the Paris games.

Going from 162nd in SG: Putting for 2023 (-0.301) to 77th in 2024 (0.095), the World No.1 ended his 2025 in the 22nd spot for the putting category (0.382).

Add-in his continuing domination in the long-game department, and Scheffler became just the second player in history to win four consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year honors, joining Woods in the process.

Debuting the mallet-putter, Scheffler has used it in 38 events, claiming 14 victories and registering a near 37% win rate with the TaylorMade flatstick in the bag, that also included a winless period when the World No.1 was recovering with a hand injury.

Prior to the change in putter, the American had six wins in 113 starts on the PGA Tour, but the swap of flatstick has ignited Scheffler to near unprecedented levels.

Speaking to Golf Monthly's Kick Point channel, Adrian Rietveld, who actually fits Scheffler's clubs and is TaylorMade's Tour Senior Manager, spoke about the putter change.

"That's probably the biggest equipment project I've ever been involved with, from a significant stand point" stated Rietveld. "When it's all said and done, I will look back and go 'wow, I was a part of that journey and that switch.'

"There are so many moving parts, purely because you aren't switching the putter for any other reason, aside from getting better and to figure out this category and part of your game.

"We sent (Scheffler) four different putters of different lengths and lie angles to match. Getting the right length, which is 35.5", at his lie angle, means the putter sits in the right position in terms of his set-up and the way the sole sits on the turf...

"The difference between a blade-putter and mallet-putter for someone like Scottie is that your bad days are just that much better."

Check out the full interview with Rietveld, who goes through Scheffler's full what's in the bag, below.

Scottie Scheffler's Results Since Changing To A Mallet Putter