Scottie Scheffler is preparing to defend his Open Championship crown at Royal Birkdale.
He’s teeing off in the UK to acclimate himself with links golf, playing the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club.
Despite his victory at Royal Portrush last year, Scheffler has cut a frustrated figure while playing links courses in the past. He’s struggled to adapt to the different brand of golf required to succeed across the pond, but he finally put all the pieces together last year.
And now he’s back on British soil again, preparing to retain the Claret Jug. Before the Scottish Open, he named one of the biggest things he needs to adapt to when playing links golf.
Scottie Scheffler says the greens are the big difference between American and British golf
The majority of Scheffler’s frustrations when playing links golf are on the greens, as he’s historically struggled to judge the pace of them in the UK.
Speaking before the Scottish Open, he explained what is so different about the putting surfaces in Britain.
He said, “I’d say one of the things that takes a little bit more time to get used to would be the speed of the greens. It’s unique for us because the greens are quite firm, but they are also a little bit slower than what we are used to at home.
“So getting used to how the ball runs on the green, especially when you are hitting pitches. Like I said, they are a bit slower, so just really ingraining that into your head, the speed of the greens.
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“That’s why it’s really nice to get over and play some competitive golf the week before as well because everything always feels a little bit different when you get out there in competition.
“So yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily one shot. It’s more just getting used to the conditions more so than anything. I actually like over here that when you’re putting from off the green, it’s a bit easier in the States because there’s not a huge difference in the speed.
“You know, it’s obviously still a little bit slower on the fairway but it’s not anything drastic. A lot of times in the States, you can get fairways that are longer and greens that are lightness fast. If you’re putting up a slope, it’s very slow going up the slope, and when it gets on the green, it takes off.
“Here, you can tell why you play so many different types of shots just because the ball slows down on the greens pretty quickly. But when you are playing the ball in the air, it’s bouncing. So typically, it’s easier to get the ball closer to the hole when you are hitting it on the ground.”
Scottie Scheffler’s putting stats on links golf courses
Amazingly, the only time Scheffler has ever gained strokes with his putting on links golf courses was at last year’s Open Championship. It was by far the best putting performance of his career in the UK.
Scheffler gained 2.16 strokes on the field on the greens that week, which is particularly impressive given the struggles he’d had just one week prior.
At the 2025 Scottish Open, Scheffler lost strokes to the field on the greens and was visibly frustrated by it. That has been the trend at every other Open Championship or Scottish Open he’d ever played in.
In fact, his 0.32 strokes lost on the greens at the Renaissance Club last year was actually his best putting performance in these competitions to date. Portrush was an incredible turnaround.
It will be interesting to see whether that was a change in the tide, or if he’ll revert to his struggles on the green this week.
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