The Remarkable Scottie Scheffler Putting Stats That Show Why He Isn't Winning The Open Championship
Scheffler is in contention to defend his Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale, but an ice-cold putter has meant the World No.1 finds himself back of the leaders
Scottie Scheffler has dominated professional men's golf over the last few years, with the American claiming four Major victories and several Signature Events on the PGA Tour.
There are many reasons for his success, with one of them being down to finding form with the putter, following Scheffler's switch to a mallet-style flatstick in 2024.
However, at The Open Championship in 2026, the mallet went cold, but that still didn't stop the World No.1 from contending, despite his remarkably poor putting stats.
Throughout the week at Royal Birkdale, Scheffler is 144th in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing 3.6 shots on the field with only 12 players ranking worse than the four-time Major winner.
During round one, he ranked 85th in SG: Putting, while round two and three he was 141st and 55th, well below the field average.
In fairness to Scheffler, he has only made three bogeys through 63 holes, with two of those featuring in his first round.
What's more, he has just one three-putt through his four rounds, but has only holed 218.2 feet of putts through those 63 holes.
Scheffler reacts after a missed putt
The SG: Putting stat is certainly worse than his PGA Tour stats, where Scheffler is 14th and has gained 0.5 shots on his fellow peers.
On the other end of the scale, Scheffler's long game has been excellent in Southport, as expected from the World No.1, who leads the PGA Tour rankings in SG: Tee-to-Green.
Creating 17 birdie chances inside 10-feet, which leads the field, he is fourth in SG: Approach, gaining nearly 6.5 shots.
Scheffler also ranks just outside the top 10 in Driving Accuracy and inside the top 10 in SG: Driving, showcasing how much the poor putting has impacted his chances of defending the Claret Jug.
Scheffler switched to a TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter in March 2024
Carding rounds of 68, 68 and 70, the 30-year-old found himself five back of good friend Sam Burns going into the final round at Royal Birkdale.
Although he made a hot start on Sunday, producing three birdies through his opening five holes, missed birdie chances stalled his charge to Open Championship glory.
Missing an eight-footer at the eighth, he followed it up with a missed seven footer at the ninth. That kept him seven-under, a few shots back of fellow countryman Burns as Scheffler tackled the back nine.
