Scottie Scheffler blames spike mark for missing 23-inch putt on 18 in Houston

Scottie Scheffler makes a disastrous double-bogey on the 18th to fall four shots behind Tony Finau heading into the weekend at the Houston Open.

Andy Roberts

30 Mar 2024

Scottie Scheffler blames spike mark for missing 23-inch putt on 18 in Houston — Scottie Scheffler blames spike mark for missing 23-inch putt on 18 in…

The next time you miss a short two-foot putt, just remember even the world's best player Scottie Scheffler has done, too.

Scheffler, 27, is bidding to become the first player to win three straight events on the PGA Tour since Dustin Johnson in 2017 at this week's Texas Children's Houston Open.

While that is still very much on the cards at Memorial Park this week, Scheffler made things much tougher than they needed to be heading into the weekend as he three-putted from seven feet for a double-bogey six on the par-4 18th in the second round.

It was his first double in 218 holes.

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Scheffler left his first putt high and it lipped out to 23 inches.

The red-hot World No.1 did not mark his ball and line it up properly, however, and it cost him dear as he went on to lip the second putt out on the right side.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENED HERE

Scottie Scheffler records his first double bogey in 218 holes to end Round 2.
The double results in an even-par score for the day, ending his record-setting streak of consecutive rounds under par on TOUR. https://t.co/6sfSmD1wPi pic.twitter.com/uf6hFOxs6q
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 29, 2024

Scheffler revealed after the round that a 'spike mark' was the reason for the short missed putt.

He said:

"No, yeah, frustrating lapse in judgment there. You never really know what's going to be up there around the cup on 18. Yeah, just hit something and knocked the second one offline. Felt like I hit a good putt on the first one, maybe went just barely through the break so obviously it was a bit frustrating hitting a good putt and it not going in. Second one I guess just hit a little fast and didn't see a spike mark there."

It all added up to a round of level-par 70 to leave Scheffler four strokes behind defending champion Tony Finau, who tied the course record with a stunning 62 on a testing day at Memorial Park.

Scheffler recently switched into a mallet putter and it appeared to be making a big difference to his game following successful title defences at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

He ranks 46th in SG: Putting so far this week (0.612).

Scottie Scheffler is 4 back heading into the weekend at the Houston Open. Will he win?
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) March 30, 2024

Finau went on a tear on his closing stretch by playing holes 3 to 8 in 6-under par, highlighted by an eagle-three on the 8th.

There was no Houston Open in 2023 but Finau won the tournament in 2022 so he is the defending champion this week.

Finau holds a two-stroke lead over Argentina's Alejandro Tosti, while Belgium's Thomas Detry is a further shot back on 6-under par.

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What do you make of Scheffler's short missed putt at 18? Has his putting improved since switching to a mallet putter? Will he still go on to win the Houston Open? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.

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