Rory McIlroy joked he will not be giving Scottie Scheffler any more advice after the American’s victory at Bay Hill.
World no.1 Scheffler recently won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five shots, heading into the Players Championship as the reigning champion and overwhelming favourite.
It ended a 51-week winless streak which has been characterised by generational ball striking but bizarrely poor putting.
And many believe it was world no.2 McIlroy who inspired a dramatic improvement from Scheffler on the greens last week.
The Northern Irishman was asked about his rival’s key weakness during a recent appearance in the commentary booth and discussed his own struggles with a blade putter before switching to a mallet.
“So, I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet,” McIlroy said on the broadcast. “But selfishly, for me, Scottie does everything else so well that he’s giving the rest of us a chance.”
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Lo and behold, Scheffler turned up to Bay Hill with a mallet and finished the week in the top five for strokes-gained putting, lapping the field in the process.
There is a growing feeling that the 27-year-old could become unstoppable if his putting improves on a long-term basis – and McIlroy was asked about accidentally creating that situation ahead of The Players.
“I’m not going to give him any more advice, that’s for sure,” McIlroy said with a smile on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old added: “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.
“When I putted with a blade, I struggled. When I went to the Spider, I found a little more success and I was a little more consistent.
“I didn’t know he was going to put it straight in the bag and win by five!”
After an electric start to the season on the DP World Tour, McIlroy has entered an untimely lull, with the Masters just one month away.
Scheffler’s return to the winners’ circle adds to his problems, but McIlroy insists he would never refuse to help a fellow professional.
The four-time major winner continued: “If people ask for advice, I don’t feel like I need to be guarded.
“Over the years, coming up through the ranks, people have been good enough to me if I’ve asked them for advice, or to give me advice, so I think I should be able to repay that to other people if they come to me.”
Listen to live coverage of the Players Championship, golf’s unofficial fifth major, on talkSPORT 2 from 8pm on Thursday!
News Summary:
- ‘Not giving him any more advice’ – Did Rory McIlroy accidentally make Scottie Scheffler even harder to beat?
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