Players Champ Gear By Strokes Gained Winners

Buoyed by ballstriking numbers we haven’t seen since Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler is on pace to have a dominant year.

Prior to The Players Championship, I wrote about the possibility of a dominant season for Scheffler—that seems like even more of a possibility after the world No. 1 became the first player in tournament history to successfully defend his crown.

Scheffler now has two marquee victories in 2024, and all signs point to his success being sustainable. If his putting can continue to be slightly above average, he will hard to beat.

In 116 PGA Tour starts, Scheffler has 36 top-five finishes (31 percent). That is almost an identical pace to Jon Rahm (now on LIV) and is slightly ahead of the pace Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth set earlier in their careers. For those curious, Woods had 56 top-five finishes through as many starts (48 percent).

It will be no surprise that Scheffler led one of the four major Strokes Gained categories this past week at The Players Championship. In this new segment, I am highlighting the four Strokes Gained winners and the gear they used during a successful week at Sawgrass.

SG Off-the-Tee: Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler earned top marks in Strokes Gained off-the-tee, gaining 6.35 shots against the field for the week. He finished tied for first in driving accuracy and 14th in driving distance on a course where accuracy is highly valued.

We don’t need stats to see how dynamic Scheffler is with a driver. Despite a neck injury, he still seemed automatic.

Scheffler is using the new TaylorMade Qi10 (8 degrees @ 8.25) with a 45-inch Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X shaft. He employs the upright setting in the loft sleeve (1.5 degrees) and has a D4 swing weight. His driver grip is Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58 Rib with six wraps of tape.

Prior to switching into the Qi10, Scheffler had been using a Stealth 2 Plus with the same shaft.

During pre-tournament testing, TaylorMade said Scheffler averaged these TrackMan numbers on what he calls a “stock” driver swing:

• Apex: 92 feet
• Launch Angle: 9.1 degrees
• Ball Speed: 175.5 mph
• Spin Rate: 2,342 rpm
• Carry: 295 yards

SG Approach: Brian Harman

The reigning Open Championship winner made a spirited charge Sunday at The Players, falling one stroke shy of Scheffler.

Harman spent a lot of time knocking down flagsticks as he gained an impressive 9.03 strokes on the field in the approach category.

Interestingly, the lefty uses three utility irons. His trio of Titleist U500 (3-5) irons come with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 90 shafts. The rest of his set are Titleist 620 CB irons (6-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 shafts.

Both sets of irons were released in 2019—Harman has been playing a combo of the U500 and 620 CBs for three years now.

SG Around the Greens: Maverick McNealy

McNealy is off to a hot start in 2024. He has made seven of eight cuts, picking up a T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and a T9 in The Players Championship.

His scrambling made it all possible. McNealy’s wizardry reached its peak on Saturday when he chipped in on No. 14, holed a putt from off the green for par on No. 15 and then pitched to a couple feet from a tough spot on 18.

That helped him to the top spot for Strokes Gained around the greens. McNealy gained 7.91 shots against the field for the week.

McNealy plays Titleist Vokey SM10 wedges (46-10F, 50-08F, 54-08M) with a Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks lob wedge (58-L). All clubs come with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.

SG Putting: Sahith Theegala

What a strong start to 2024 for Theegala, one of the most affable characters on the Tour. He finished T9 at The Players, his fourth top-10 finish of the year.

Theegala’s short game is well above average, as he ranked No. 22 around the greens and No. 17 in putting last season. While his scrambling numbers have gotten considerably worse, Theegala’s putting has become even more of a strength.

This past week, he gained 8.41 strokes on the greens and now ranks seventh on Tour this season.

Theegala uses a PING Prototype Putter TR 1966 Anser 2 (three degrees of loft). His grip is a SuperStroke Traxion Flatso 1.0.