Scottie Scheffler says rumours that Rory McIlroy’s advice led him to change his putter are “untrue”. McIlroy openly encouraged the world No.1 golfer to make the alteration earlier this season but is said to have “shot himself in the foot” due to Scheffler’s signifcant improvements.
Scheffler for a long time had used a Scotty Cameron Timeless Tourtype GSS putter, which help him seal six PGA Tour victories last year. But the relationship between the American and his putter deteriorated in the summer of 2023, prompting him to experiment with different models each week.
His rival McIlroy stated at the Genesis Invitational in February that the 28-year-old should consider a mallet-style putter. Scheffler went on to use such a model - a TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter - at Bay Hill and immediately saw success, winning by five shots in his first start since receiving the unsolicited advice from the Northern Irishman.
McIlroy later said with a smile: "I'm not going to give him any more advice, that's for sure," when quizzed on Scheffler's switch. But the 2024 Masters winner has now denied McIlroy's influence, claiming it was something he and his team were already discussing.
During an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, the American golfer was asked: "The story goes that Rory said you should look at a different putter and the next thing you know is you're using a different putter, and Rory just shot himself in the foot because now you can putt. I don't know if that's something you heard from Rory or something you had planned for a while?”
Scheffler responded: "No, it's something that I'd thought about but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, right? My putting coach and I thought about it. At the beginning of the year I'd improved a little bit but I still wasn't where I thought I could be. I thought I could get better.
"It was nice for me to get out of my own head, look at something different. I used to line up the ball where I wanted to hit it when I was putting and it would kinda get in my head a little bit."
During his appearance as a guest analyst on CBS, McIlroy had shared his personal experience with putters, stating that using a blade required his stroke to be "so perfect" whereas a mallet "gives you a little bit more margin for error." He continued: "So, I'd love to see Scottie try a mallet but selfishly, for me, Scottie does everything else so well that he's giving the rest of us a chance."
When elaborating on his putter suggestions to Scheffler in March, McIlroy added: "It's very hard to talk about other players. Scottie has had enough criticism about his putting you guys talk about it enough. It was me, basically, trying to talk about myself more than talk about Scottie."
