Scottie Scheffler denies Rory McIlroy rumours after PGA Tour rival 'shot himself in the foot'
Two-time major winner Scottie Scheffler rejected rumours that his decision to change his putter earlier this season stemmed from PGA Tour rival Rory McIlroy's advice
Scottie Scheffler has dismissed claims that Rory McIlroy's advice pushed him to change his putter, with the Northern Irishman “shooting himself in the foot” with his comments.
World No. 1 Scheffler made a huge decision to change his putter this season. He had six PGA Tour victories last year with his trusted Scotty Cameron Timeless Tourtype GSS putter but the relationship between Scheffler and his putter soured in the summer of 2023, leading him to switch between different models every week.
His rival McIlroy suggested at the Genesis Invitational in February that the 28-year-old should try a mallet-style putter. Scheffler put such a model - a TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter - in the bag at Bay Hill and saw immediate returns, winning by five shots in his first start since the Northern Irishman’s unsolicited tip.
McIlroy later joked: “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.
The American was asked on the Pardon My Take podcast: “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 replied: “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.”
Appearing as a guest analyst on a CBS broadcast, McIlroy had explained that when he used a blade putter himself, it felt like his stroke needed to be “so perfect” to start the ball where he wanted, and that a mallet “gives you a little bit more margin for error.” He added: “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.”
Expanding on his putter advice to Scheffler in March, McIlroy said: “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.”
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