Scheffler joins Live From: 'Did some good stuff'
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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Commentary: Scottie Scheffler's role in 'Happy Gilmore 2' is an unexpected gift for golf fans
This is a story about a movie that saved a sport. OK, that's a stretch, but only a little one. Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 golfer in the world. Has been for a couple of years. He has won two Masters titles, one PGA Championship and the recent British Open, as well as an Olympic gold medal. He is so good that somebody ought to check his golf balls for tiny magnets that hook up to the cups on the greens. So far this year, by slapping a little white dimpled ball around in the grass, he has won $19.2 million. He has yet to turn 30, but his overall income, just from golf tournaments, is around $90 million. This guy is so good that his caddie, Ted Scott, is estimated, at the normal 10% of winnings, to have pocketed about $5 million. For carrying a bag. So, what's the problem? Scheffler is so good that he might also be sparking a trend called remote remorse. You really want to watch, but once he gets ahead by a couple of shots, there is nothing left. No drama, no possible twist and turn, no chance of any excitement. Other players in those tense, title-on-the-line final holes, dunk a shot into the water or bury one so deep in the sand that their only choice of club is a shovel. Not Scheffler. He is a 6-foot-3 human robot whose veins circulate ice water. When the going gets tough, Scheffler yawns. So, you see this and you know what is coming next — final putt, arms raised in satisfaction, a hug for his multi-millionaire caddie, the mandatory TV interview with the apparently mandatory British-accent female sportscaster, who will always start with, 'How does this feel?' You, and millions more, click the button on your remote for something more interesting, like HGTV or the Gardening Channel. When Scheffler gets ahead in the final round like that — which is almost always — it is game over. He can squeeze the drama out of a golf tournament like Bill Belichick could out of an NFL postgame interview. Certainly, you say, Tiger Woods used to win lots of tournaments by lots of big margins and that never seemed boring. That's because it wasn't. Tiger was animated, angry, annoyed, analytical, fed up with some part of his game, charged up over another part, mad at a reporter, upset with his agent. Tiger could win by eight, occasionally did, and it was still must-see TV. When Tiger was at his best, nobody could beat him and the public loved him and just wanted more. Scheffler is currently at his best and the public certainly is terribly impressed and, sadly, kind of meh. Tiger was a pound-on-the-table-and-shout-at-the-TV kind of player. Scheffler is a nod and a shrug. But there is hope. Hollywood has intervened, as only Hollywood can. Twenty-nine years ago, an up-and-coming comic named Adam Sandler made a movie inspired by one of his New England friends, who was a great hockey player and could also hit a golf ball a long distance with a hockey stick. Sandler called the movie "Happy Gilmore" and found a wide audience that loved it for its irreverence about a game that flaunts hushed reverence. Among the highlights was an on-course fistfight between Happy Gilmore (Sandler) and aging TV game show host Bob Barker. Barker won by KO. The movie was hilariously overdone slapstick. It was a gut-laugh-a-minute. It was so stupid and wacky that it was wonderful. Now, Sandler has made "Happy Gilmore 2," and it is again a must-see for all the reasons that the original was. Plus the cameo appearances. Especially one by Scheffler. Read more: 'Happy Gilmore 2' brings back Adam Sandler and his longtime collaborator for another round In the movie, Scheffler is good, funny, fun. He doesn't have a lot of lines, but he has perfect timing. He punches a guy out on the green and the cops come and haul him away. 'Oh, no. Not again,' he says. Remember, earlier this year, when Louisville cops hauled him away and put him in an orange jail suit, when he was accused of making a wrong turn while driving into the golf course at the PGA Championship, a tournament that he would eventually win? Well, Sandler and his writers made hay out of that, but more significantly, Scheffler played to it perfectly. After the movie punch-out, Scheffler is pictured in a jail cell, in an orange jail suit, as a guard asks, since he has been in that cell for three days, if he wants to get out. Scheffler replies, 'Ah, what's for dinner?' When he is told chicken fingers, he says, 'I think I'll stay another night.' Now, of course, none of that is knee-slapping stuff, but it is Scheffler, and the self-effacing comedy is a perfect image-enhancer, even if it is only in a stupid movie. It is so much better for golf fans to see Scheffler as a roll-with-the-punches fun guy, than an emotionless, ball-striking robot. Neither is totally accurate, but in this media world of image-is-everything, "Happy Gilmore 2" has done wonderful things for this wonderful golfer. Even moreso, for his sport He will be all over your TV screens for the three-week FedEx playoffs. It starts Aug. 7 with a tournament in Memphis, followed by the next week in Baltimore and the grand finale Aug. 21 in East Lake, Ga., near Atlanta. For the playoffs, the PGA will distribute $100 million in prize money and the winner will receive $10 million. Scheffler, a likely winner, would then certainly be invited to appear on TV, especially the late-night shows such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon. This would present another great image-building opportunity. He could show up in an orange jump suit. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Scottie Scheffler's putting stats should scare his PGA Tour opponents
In 2024, Scottie Scheffler put together one of the most dominant statistical seasons the PGA Tour had seen in decades. He led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Total and Tee-to-Green, and he was remarkably consistent across the board. If there was a hole in his game, it was putting, but even that had improved over his disappointing performance on the greens in 2023. He won six times, led the money list, and topped the FedEx Cup standings. It was the kind of season that felt like a ceiling. Then Scheffler got better. The 2025 Masters and British Open winner was not in the field this week at the PGA Tour's final event of the regular season, the Wyndham Championship, so his regular-season stats are completed, and for Scheffler's competition, the outlook is not good. Based on the numbers, his 2025 season wasn't just a continuation — it was an elevation. Scottie Scheffler's putter elevated his game Scheffler took the one area of his game – putting – where he was an average player and made himself significantly better. At the same time, he remained the best ballstriker in the world. Like most modern golfers, Scheffler's game is built around a combination of power off the tee and precision with his irons, and as you can see in the chart below, his most significant edge over most PGA Tour players comes from his driver and his irons. Scheffler's short game is underappreciated and solid, but what made him better in 2025 is shown in the blue portion of the chart — putting. In 2024, less than four percent of Scheffler's Strokes Gained: Total (2.496) came from putting, but in 2025, when it went up to 2.64, the putting portion leaped to almost 14 percent. Yes, his overall performance off the tee went down fractionally, but he actually went from No. 2 to No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. Scheffler's performance around the greens also dipped very slightly, but he remains in the top 25 on the PGA Tour. This season, Scheffler went from No. 77 to No. 20 in Strokes Gained: Putting. It almost seems unfair for a player who leads the Tour in driving and iron play to become a top-20 putter, but that's precisely what Scheffler did in 2025. Scheffler improved on short- to mid-length putts The logical follow-up question is: If Scheffler improved so much on the greens, was he making more long putts, more short putts or just more putts overall? Digging into the PGA Tour's ShotLink system reveals that Scheffler made fewer long putts — he went from making almost 30 percent of his putts from 15 to 20 feet in 2024 to about 17 percent in 2025 — but he improved on short to mid-range putts, and that boosted his Strokes Gained: Putting overall. The table above shows that Scheffler made a higher percentage of putts overall from 10 feet and in, including a higher percentage from 10 feet, 9 feet, 6 feet, and overall from 4 to 8 feet. No one makes a lot of 30-footers, and the pros hole just about everything from 3 feet and closer, but the ability to make more putts from between 4 and 8 feet means you are making more par-saving putts and more birdie putts after great approach shots. Scottie Scheffler finished the PGA Tour's regular season ranked No. 4 in Proximity to the Hole and No. 1 in Greens in Regulation, which means he creates a lot of birdie chances. If he maintains this level of putting while remaining one of the game's most elite ball strikers, he is going to be very hard to beat in 2026 and beyond. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Scottie Scheffler putting improvement 2025 vs 2024 PGA Tour
USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
Scottie Scheffler's putting stats should scare his PGA Tour opponents
The world's No. 1 player has made some significant improvements on the greens and and ShotLink stats could give other pros nightmares. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler put together one of the most dominant statistical seasons the PGA Tour had seen in decades. He led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Total and Tee-to-Green, and he was remarkably consistent across the board. If there was a hole in his game, it was putting, but even that had improved over his disappointing performance on the greens in 2023. He won six times, led the money list, and topped the FedEx Cup standings. It was the kind of season that felt like a ceiling. Then Scheffler got better. The 2025 Masters and British Open winner was not in the field this week at the PGA Tour's final event of the regular season, the Wyndham Championship, so his regular-season stats are completed, and for Scheffler's competition, the outlook is not good. Based on the numbers, his 2025 season wasn't just a continuation — it was an elevation. Scottie Scheffler's putter elevated his game Scheffler took the one area of his game – putting – where he was an average player and made himself significantly better. At the same time, he remained the best ballstriker in the world. Like most modern golfers, Scheffler's game is built around a combination of power off the tee and precision with his irons, and as you can see in the chart below, his most significant edge over most PGA Tour players comes from his driver and his irons. Scheffler's short game is underappreciated and solid, but what made him better in 2025 is shown in the blue portion of the chart — putting. In 2024, less than four percent of Scheffler's Strokes Gained: Total (2.496) came from putting, but in 2025, when it went up to 2.64, the putting portion leaped to almost 14 percent. Yes, his overall performance off the tee went down fractionally, but he actually went from No. 2 to No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. Scheffler's performance around the greens also dipped very slightly, but he remains in the top 25 on the PGA Tour. This season, Scheffler went from No. 77 to No. 20 in Strokes Gained: Putting. It almost seems unfair for a player who leads the Tour in driving and iron play to become a top-20 putter, but that's precisely what Scheffler did in 2025. Scheffler improved on short- to mid-length putts The logical follow-up question is: If Scheffler improved so much on the greens, was he making more long putts, more short putts or just more putts overall? Digging into the PGA Tour's ShotLink system reveals that Scheffler made fewer long putts — he went from making almost 30 percent of his putts from 15 to 20 feet in 2024 to about 17 percent in 2025 — but he improved on short to mid-range putts, and that boosted his Strokes Gained: Putting overall. The table above shows that Scheffler made a higher percentage of putts overall from 10 feet and in, including a higher percentage from 10 feet, 9 feet, 6 feet, and overall from 4 to 8 feet. No one makes a lot of 30-footers, and the pros hole just about everything from 3 feet and closer, but the ability to make more putts from between 4 and 8 feet means you are making more par-saving putts and more birdie putts after great approach shots. Scottie Scheffler finished the PGA Tour's regular season ranked No. 4 in Proximity to the Hole and No. 1 in Greens in Regulation, which means he creates a lot of birdie chances. If he maintains this level of putting while remaining one of the game's most elite ball strikers, he is going to be very hard to beat in 2026 and beyond.
