Johnson Wagner believes that Scottie Scheffler did not even need to have one of his best putting weeks to win The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale by 10 shots.
For a second time this season, Scheffler finished tied for fourth at a major. The world number one was in the mix coming down the stretch in Southport on Sunday.
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Scheffler finished alongside Tommy Fleetwood, three shots back of eventual winner Ryan Fox.
Scheffler did not finish lower than 14th in any of the four majors this year, registering three top five finishes. However, he was unable to add to his tally of four majors, which will surprise many.
Johnson Wagner suggests Scottie Scheffler will be so frustrated to not win The Open Championship
The 30-year-old struggled to find that extra gear throughout the season, with his only victory so far coming at The American Express.
It has felt for much of the year that Scheffler has not been quite as good with his approach play as he had been in previous seasons. But it was his putting that seemed to cost him at The Open Championship.
In fact, while reflecting on Scorecard on CBS on the players who will feel most frustrated leaving Birkdale, Johnson Wagner outlined just how good an opportunity Scheffler passed up on the greens.
“For Scottie Scheffler, you look at the way he struck the ball Friday, how many putts inside eight feet for birdie he had, seemingly on every single hole, it was one of the best links ball-striking days I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“I think Scottie Scheffler, if he thinks real honestly, I think if he putted average, he would have won this tournament by 10 strokes. It’s a shame they don’t have strokes gained data, because I would love to see the numbers on his putting.
“But Sam Burns as well, with the lead starting out, he was using the whole week as such a refreshing break, his wife told him to go. She’s got the baby under control. To shoot that 62 on Friday when everybody was looking at Herbert, and then to sneak in there I thought it was going to be Sam Burns’ day on Sunday morning, but unfortunately he’s going to have to wait.”
How Scottie Scheffler really performed on the greens at Royal Birkdale
Data Golf does have some of the statistics from The Open Championship, which allows us to take a deeper look at Scheffler’s performance.
Interestingly, his putting across the week was probably not as bad as some would assume. According to the site, he lost 0.36 shots per round to the field on the greens.
Admittedly, no one who finished inside the top 15 at Royal Birkdale performed worse with the putter in hand.
In fact, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen was the only other player in the top 15 in negative numbers.
Scheffler was the best player in the field from tee to green, gaining 2.77 shots per round. So Wagner is correct that it could have easily been so different for the American as he looked to retain his Claret Jug.
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