Scottie Scheffler and the Game of Inches

Scottie Scheffler claims to move on quickly from mistakes and bad breaks. Yet after his Sunday 65 at Oak Hill, he was still thinking about a couple of less-than-fortunate moments from his final round. “I had two of the worst lip-outs that I have ever seen on No. 1 and No. 9 today. The balls were trickling, and I thought I was ready to take a step like they were going in. One horseshoed at a trickle pace, and the other one lipped out and stayed about an inch from the edge.”

If those putts had fallen, he would have tied Brooks Koepka at nine under, taking the 2023 PGA Championship to a playoff.

“The putts have to fall in to win [these] tournaments,” Scheffler added. “I hit a lot of good putts this week.”

He has a point. He made only seven bogeys all week (Koepka made nine), but he holed zero putts outside of 16 feet. His longest make, measuring 15 feet and 9 inches, came on his 72nd hole. He gained just a stroke and a half on the greens for the tournament, whereas Koepka gained over four.

Scheffler didn’t putt horribly—he was 35th in Strokes Gained: Putting—but given that his driving (eighth in SG), approach play (fifth), and short game (fourth) were in major-winning form, he’s right to be frustrated that a few more putts didn’t go in.

That said, in reflecting on his week at Oak Hill, Scheffler should focus less on those Sunday lip-outs and more on his Saturday 73, specifically his four-over 39 on the front side. If he’s going to rack up major titles at a Koepka-like pace, Scheffler can’t rely on lip-ins. He has to turn that 39 into a 35 and put the result out of luck’s reach.

This piece originally appeared in The Fried Egg newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.