McIlroy "selfishly" hopes furious Scheffler ignores his "big change" advice
Rory McIlroy has shared some putting tips with Scottie Scheffler after the world number one's struggles continued at the Genesis Invitational.
McIlroy, 34, is second behind the American in the rankings, but that has not stopped him from sympathising with the six-time PGA Tour winner. While Scheffler came tenth at the Rivera, his fourth top-ten finish already this year, his putting continues to be a problem.
Those frustrations surfaced on the par-five 11th as three-putting the hole led Scheffler to launch his ball into the tree line. He made just three putts outside of 10 feet all week in California, which culminated in badly misjudging a 10-footer on the 18th to blow a birdie and instead necessitate a tricky par save.
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In light of that, McIlroy was asked live on CBS after his round about the advice he would give to Scheffler. “I've certainly been through my fair share of putting woes over the years," he acknowledged, "and I finally feel like I've broken through and become a pretty consistent putter.”
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He recalled: “For me, going to a mallet was a big change. I really persisted with the blade putter for a long time, but I just feel like your stroke has to be so perfect to start the ball on line, where the mallet just gives you a little bit more margin for error.
“So, I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet," McIlroy advised. "But selfishly for me, Scottie does everything else so well that he’s given the rest of us a chance.”
Scheffler's putting struggles reemerged at Rivera (Getty Images)Scheffler had shown improvement so far this year compared to last season, something he alluded to at Pebble Beach. “The ball coming off my blade right now feels really good,” he said earlier this month.
“Right now, I’m treating it more like I would my full swing, where I’m trying to hit good putts and not really worrying about whether or not the ball is going to go in the hole.” But it continued to not go in the cup at Rivera.
He ranked last in strokes gained/putting out of the 51 players to make it through to the weekend. In that regard, it is remarkable that he finished in the top ten, thanks to being first around the green and second tee to green.
"That paints a similar picture to 2023. “Last year, my ball striking was obviously very good, and my putting wasn’t as good as I think it needed to be,” Scheffler said at the Sentry.
“So, when I look back at the season, that was one of the things that I kind of tried to focus on in the offseason. I usually have one aspect that I try to put a little bit of extra emphasis on, if that makes sense, to where I’m still always working on all aspects of my game, but throughout the offseason, I have a little bit more time on my hands to focus on different things.”
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