Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler return to old flames ahead of PGA Tour finale

It appears both Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will be putting some old friends back in the bag for the FedEx Cup Finale at East Lake

Johnny Percival

24 Aug 2023

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler return to old flames ahead of PGA Tour finale — Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler return to old flames ahead of PGA Tour…

Both Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have been doing some tinkering with their putters in recent weeks, but it appears they will be returning to faithful old friends in an attempt to win the FedEx Cup this weekend.

As first reported by Jonathan Wall of Golf.com, Scottie Scheffler has been seen with what appears to be the same Scotty Cameron Special Select Tourtype GSS that he used to win the 2022 Masters.

Scottie Scheffler was spotted with what appears to be his old @ScottyCameron Special Select Tourtype GSS. Assuming it's the same wand, that would be the one he used to win the 2022 Masters.
Hoping for some more good Georgia vibes this week? pic.twitter.com/myv7t3GVxf
— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) August 23, 2023

Having really struggled on the greens this year, Scheffler has trialled a number of different putters to remedy his putting woes, including a TaylorMade Spider Tour X SS Proto and a Scotty Cameron Newport.

It would appear neither of those was what the American was looking for, though, as he has returned to his tried and tested Scotty Cameron that he gamed throughout 2022 in his blockbuster year that saw him win his first major.

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Currently ranked 145th for strokes gained putting on tour, Scheffler is in dire need of some assistance on the greens, and perhaps returning to a winning formula will be what he needs to find some inspiration.

Currently leading the tour in almost every other strokes gained category, if Scheffler can find some form with the putter, he'll likely be unstoppable at East Lake.

Wall also confirmed via Twitter that McIlroy has reverted back to his TaylorMade Spider X Hydro Blast for the Fed Ex Cup finale, with the Northern Irishman claiming to have worked a couple of things out in the last week with both aiming and short putts.

Rory McIlroy confirmed he's going back to the @TaylorMadeGolf Spider X Hydro Blast after figuring a "couple of things out last week, just with, like, aiming and some of the shorter putts." pic.twitter.com/KYozWxJpEB
— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) August 23, 2023

McIlroy had tested a Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5 in recent weeks, but it appears he will be returning to his faithful Spider that he used to win both the CJ Cup and Genesis Scottish Open this season.

The Northern Irishman told reporters before the Tour Championship:

"More than likely I'll probably go back to the Spider. I figured a couple things out last week, just with, like, aiming and some of the shorter putts and, you know, there was a lot of putts last week that had a lot of break on them from short distances, and I felt with the shorter line on the putter I just couldn't trust my aim as much as when I have the spider and have that slightly longer line.

"So, yeah, I practiced with it a good bit yesterday and it's a familiar feel. I've done really well with that putter over the last few years. I've had some of my best putting weeks of my career at this golf course on these greens with that putter, so hopefully I can rekindle that again this week."

The three-time FedEx Cup Champion will be hoping to go back-to-back this week after lifting the FedEx Cup in 2022, and he'll need his putter to be red hot if he's to catch up with the Scheffler, who starts the tournament with a three-shot lead.

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