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The journey to finding Scottie Scheffler’s Spider putter
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Written by Paul Hodowanic
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Feels good to be back at The Riviera Country Club. There aren’t many courses that TOUR players enjoy more. Ditto. It’s back, and we’re back with another Signature Scroll. Let’s get you ready for the week …
The week everything changed
LOS ANGELES – The last time The Genesis Invitational was at The Riviera Country Club also happened to be the last time the golf world stood a chance. I like to refer to it as B.S.S.S.T.A.M.P. Or, as some might know it better: “Before Scottie Scheffler switched to a mallet putter.”
This event in 2024 was his breaking point. A week in which he lost more than a stroke a round on the Riviera greens and finally made a switch he was long mulling, trading out his trusty blade for a mallet. It wasn’t the only thing he changed. Working with coach Phil Kenyon, the two had slowly implemented several tweaks, but this was the most visible. It also led to a complete reversal of fortunes immediately. Scheffler won four of his next five starts, including THE PLAYERS Championship and the Masters. And thus began Scheffler’s incredible run that persists to this day.
Some stats … In the 38 starts Scheffler has made after switching to the mallet, he’s gained strokes on the greens 29 times (76%). In the previous 38 starts beforeswitching, he gained strokes only 15 times (39%).
How Scottie Scheffler’s putter, grip change sparked winning surge
Basically, the switch made him twice as likely to have a positive week on the greens. That’s led to many more wins. He’s won 14 times since making the switch, compared to just three wins in the same time frame leading up it. He went from a well-below-average putter to a top-25 putter in 2025. Combine that with the rest of his game and suddenly the generational run makes a lot more sense.
“Going to (a) mallet where I don’t have to line the ball up and it gave me a better visual for what I wanted to see really just freed me up,” Scheffler reflected on Wednesday.
Riviera is one of the few courses that Scheffler has yet to master, but let’s also remember we haven’t seen him here since the week everything changed. Something tells me the result might change this time around, too …
- It’s Riviera’s 100th anniversary. I dove into the club history and
- Is Scottie Scheffler a shoo-in to contend? Will Max Homa turn it around? I broke down those questions and some other compelling subplots to follow this week.
Stock ⬆️, stock ⬇️
Who’s getting better and who’s going in the wrong direction? Every week (almost), we look at a few going both directions …
- Min Woo Lee 📈 – Lee had never finished in the top-20 of a Signature Event till his runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s not automatically in the Signature Events this season. That result will do a lot to ensure he is going forward.
- Ryo Hisatsune 📈 – It was an open question whether his hot start to the year would continue once he got to the Signature Events. It did. He finished T8 and is an early contender for a Presidents Cup spot.
Ryo Hisatsune’s chip-in birdie to take solo lead is the Shot of the Day
- J.J. Spaun 📉 – He’s 163rd in putting through the first month of the year. That won’t cut it as he tries to stave off regression from a breakthrough 2025 year.
- Aldrich Potgieter 📉– Three missed cuts and a T60 finish in an event without a cut. Not the start the reigning Rookie of the Year had in mind
- 🤢 Ludvig Åberg told me that the sickness that caused him to W/D from The American Express lingered. That’s in part to blame for his slow start. He said it’s also the same issue that got him at the start of the last year. He’s undergoing testing to understand why. He spared us the details, but it’s in his gut.
- 😮 Scottie Scheffler said he hit 3-wood and 5-wood in his practice session on the fourth hole. The famous par 3 was lengthened more than 30 yards and is now a whopping 273 yards. It was a beast before and it will continue to be.
- 🌧 It was a sunny Wednesday, but a boatload of rain overnight kept the course soft. Expect those conditions to remain, at least through the first couple of rounds.
Reminder, we’ll have the Signature Scroll in your inbox after every round. Hopefully, you’re not sick of me yet, because it’s about to get worse.
