Who Is Scottie Scheffler and Why Study His Game?

Scottie Scheffler became the world's number one ranked golfer in 2022 and has held that position through consistent, dominant play on the PGA Tour. He won the 2024 Masters Tournament, earned the gold medal in men's golf at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and claimed multiple PGA Tour victories in a single season — a level of sustained dominance rarely seen in modern professional golf.

What separates Scheffler from other elite players is not raw distance or flashy shot-making. He wins with overwhelming consistency: he rarely makes big mistakes, he converts his birdie opportunities at a high rate, and he plays a controlled, disciplined style that actually translates to golfers of every skill level. Studying his approach gives you a blueprint built on real, reproducible habits — not physical gifts you cannot replicate.

This guide breaks down the specific techniques, mental habits, and practice strategies that have made Scheffler the best player in the world, with practical steps you can apply the next time you tee it up.

Master the Fundamentals: Grip, Stance, and Alignment

Every elite golfer builds on the same foundation: grip, stance, and alignment. Scheffler's technique is textbook in all three areas. Fixing these basics will improve every other part of your game because they directly determine the quality of contact you can consistently achieve.

Grip

Use a neutral grip. Place the club in the fingers of your left hand (for right-handed golfers), not the palm. Your left thumb should sit slightly right of center on the grip. When you add your right hand using the overlapping (Vardon) grip — Scheffler's preference — the V shapes formed by the thumb and forefinger on both hands should point toward your right shoulder.

• Grip pressure should feel like a 4 out of 10 — firm enough to control the club, relaxed enough to allow natural wrist hinge through the swing.
• Check your grip before every practice session. Grip flaws creep back in over weeks and months, especially under pressure.
• Avoid a strong grip (hands rotated too far right) as it promotes a hook and makes it harder to control trajectory.

Stance

Set up with feet shoulder-width apart for iron shots, slightly wider for driver. Weight should be centered at address — roughly 50/50 between feet for irons, shifting to about 60% on the trail foot for driver to encourage an upward strike on the ball. Keep your knees slightly flexed and your spine tilted forward from the hips, not the waist, maintaining a straight back throughout.

Alignment

Scheffler is meticulous about alignment. Use an intermediate target — a specific spot on the ground two to three feet in front of your ball on your intended line — to align your clubface first, then align your body parallel left of that line (for a right-handed golfer). Checking alignment is one of the most overlooked habits among recreational golfers and one of the highest-return fixes you can make.

Build a Consistent Pre-Shot Routine

Watch Scheffler approach any shot and you will see the exact same sequence every time: stand behind the ball, identify an intermediate target, take two relaxed practice swings, step into his stance right foot first then left, align the clubface, set his body parallel, waggle once, and swing. The entire routine takes roughly 20 seconds.

A consistent pre-shot routine accomplishes two things. First, it standardizes your setup so you address the ball the same way on every shot. Second, it shifts your brain from analytical mode — where you might second-guess your swing — into athletic mode, where your trained muscle memory can operate without interference.

Build Your Routine in Four Steps

1. Read from behind the ball. Stand five to eight feet directly behind your ball, looking down the target line. Visualize the specific shot shape you want to hit — a slight draw, a fade, a high soft landing. Commit to one shot before you move.
2. Pick an intermediate target. Find a mark on the ground two to three feet in front of your ball on your target line — a discolored patch of grass, a small divot, anything distinct. You will use this to aim your clubface rather than trying to aim at a target 150 yards away.
3. Take one practice swing at 80% speed. Focus on tempo and feel, not mechanics. This activates your swing pattern without overthinking.
4. Step in and commit. Right foot first, then left. Align the clubface to your intermediate target before squaring your body to it. Take one breath, exhale slowly, and swing without hesitation.

Practice the routine during range sessions so it becomes automatic on the course. The value is in the repetition — a routine only works when you use it identically under pressure.

Course Management: Playing Smart, Not Just Hard

Scheffler's caddie Ted Scott has spoken extensively about their decision-making approach on the course: they choose the shot that minimizes the worst-case outcome, not the shot with the highest theoretical upside. This conservative-but-aggressive approach is the engine of elite course management and it costs nothing to adopt.

Play to Your Miss

Before every shot, identify where the worst place to end up is. If there is water left of the green, aim for the right edge of the green and give yourself room to miss right. Scheffler rarely makes double bogeys because he accounts for his miss zone before committing to a shot, not after the ball lands.

Know Your Real Carry Distances

Most golfers overestimate how far they carry the ball by 5 to 15 yards, which leads to consistently short approach shots and difficult up-and-downs. Spend one practice session with a rangefinder measuring actual carry distances for every club in your bag. Record them. Use your carry numbers when there is trouble short of the green.

• Know your 90th percentile carry — the distance you reach 9 out of 10 times with a solid strike — not your best ever.
• Subtract 5 to 10 yards from normal carry distances when hitting into any headwind over 10 mph.
• Use one extra club and swing at 80% instead of swinging hard with less club — controlled contact outperforms forced power every time.

Tee Box Strategy

On par fours and fives, tee up on the same side as the trouble. If there is rough right of the fairway, tee the ball on the right side of the tee box — this angle opens the fairway and gives you more room on the left. Scheffler uses tee box position on nearly every hole as a free, zero-effort advantage.

Sharpening Your Short Game Around the Greens

Scheffler ranked among the tour leaders in strokes gained around the green throughout the 2023-24 season. His chipping and putting are reliable enough that missed greens rarely cost him more than one stroke. For recreational golfers, the short game is where the most improvement happens in the least amount of practice time.

Chipping: Consistent Setup, Accelerating Strike

Scheffler chips from a narrow, open stance with the ball positioned back — near the trail foot — and his hands pressed ahead of the clubhead at address. He accelerates through the ball with a descending blow rather than scooping or decelerating into impact, which is the most common chipping mistake at every handicap level.

• Use a 56-degree wedge for standard chips where the ball needs to carry the fringe and roll to the flag.
• For chips with more green to work with, drop down to a 9-iron or pitching wedge and let the ball run on a lower trajectory.
• Keep your lower body completely still during the chip — all motion comes from the shoulders and arms rotating through a fixed lower body.
• Practice landing the ball on a specific spot on the green rather than focusing on the hole. Control landing zone, let the roll take care of itself.

Putting: Read the Apex, Not the Hole

Scheffler reads putts from behind the hole first — this gives you the truest view of slope near the cup — then from behind the ball. He identifies the apex (high point) of the curve, picks a specific spot at the apex, and treats putting as a straight line to that spot at the correct speed.

For speed control on longer putts, match the length of your follow-through to the length of your backswing. A symmetrical stroke produces consistent pace. On putts longer than 20 feet, focus on getting the ball within a three-foot circle of the hole rather than making it — this mental shift reduces deceleration and tension in the stroke.

Mental Game: Staying Present Under Pressure

Scheffler is widely recognized as one of the most even-keeled competitors on tour. He does not visibly dwell on bad shots or let momentum swings alter his demeanor. This is not simply personality — it is a trained mental discipline he practices deliberately.

The Reset Protocol After a Bad Shot

Give yourself a fixed window to react to a mistake — roughly 10 to 15 seconds. Frustration is natural and trying to suppress it completely creates more tension. After your window, perform a physical reset: unclench your grip, take a slow exhale, look directly at your next target, and mentally close the previous shot. Do not review swing mechanics on the course — that work belongs on the range.

Play the Shot, Not the Score

Scheffler has talked about focusing entirely on the shot in front of him rather than the scoreboard. The common trap is projecting forward — calculating what you need on the back nine while standing on the fourth tee. This takes your attention away from the only thing you can control: the shot you are about to hit.

Set a process goal for each shot, not an outcome goal. Instead of thinking make this putt, think smooth tempo, commit to the line. Process goals give you something achievable to focus on regardless of the result.

Manage Energy Between Shots

Professional golfers walk up to 6 miles per round. Scheffler uses the time between shots to recover mentally and physically — he converses with his caddie, looks at the scenery, and deliberately relaxes his grip and shoulders during the walk. Switch on your focus during your pre-shot routine, then deliberately switch it off between shots to preserve concentration across all 18 holes.

Practice Habits That Produce Real Improvement

Scheffler does not hit buckets of balls on autopilot. He practices with specific intent, tracks his patterns, and regularly simulates on-course conditions on the range. Adopting even a fraction of this structure will accelerate your improvement significantly compared to unfocused repetition.

Block Practice vs. Random Practice

Block practice means hitting the same shot repeatedly — 20 consecutive 7-irons to the same target. This builds initial muscle memory for a new movement. Random practice means alternating clubs, targets, and shot types in an unpredictable order. Random practice is harder and feels less satisfying, but it is what transfers to actual on-course performance.

For most recreational golfers: use block practice when learning a new technique, then shift to random practice — at least 60% of your session — once the movement feels established. Pick a new club and target before each ball rather than hitting from the same spot repeatedly.

Short Game First, Every Session

Spend the first 15 minutes of every practice session on the putting green and chipping area before you touch a full-swing club. Short game skill deteriorates faster than your full swing when neglected, and it accounts for roughly 60% of strokes in an average recreational round. Even 10 minutes of focused chipping practice per session compounds into significant handicap improvement over a season.

Film Your Swing

Place your phone at knee height facing you from the down-the-line angle — directly behind you along the target line. Record your swing and compare it against a known reference position: check your finish (balanced on the lead foot, club behind your head), your shoulder turn (left shoulder under the chin at the top), and your hip position at impact (hips open to the target, not stalled). You do not need a coach to spot obvious deviations when you can see them on video.

Review one specific checkpoint per session rather than trying to fix everything at once. Focused, sequential improvement is faster than scattered effort.