Scottie Scheffler finds putter again, contending after 6-under 65 at debut 3M Open

One club stood between Scottie Scheffler and a second claret jug—his putter.

It’s a sentence often reiterated about countless tournaments a few years ago, but as Scheffler’s star ascended in recent seasons, so did his putter. That’s what made it all the more surprising when Scheffler struggled to putt at Royal Birkdale Golf Club a week ago, losing strokes for just the second time in the last 12 months en route to a T4 finish at The Open Championship.

Well, he found his mojo in his first competitive round back in the States. Scheffler fired a 6-under 65 Thursday at the 3M Open, putting beautifully to jump into contention immediately.

Scheffler gained more than three shots on the field with his putting, second-best in the field. He made six birdies and no bogeys, holing 134 feet of putts.

“Golf's funny. Some days you're hitting your lines and the line seems to be tracking toward the hole and other days it feels like you're doing the same thing and it kind of goes around the hole,” Scheffler said, “but today was a day in which I was able to hole some nice putts and that's why I was able to make some birdies out there.”

This is Scheffler’s first start at the 3M Open, a boon for the tournament that’s still relatively new to the PGA TOUR calendar, slotted among events that have been around for decades. Scheffler is the tournament’s biggest draw since its first year, and he quickly showed why.

Scheffler made birdie putts of 14 and 16 feet on his front nine, the back nine at TPC Twin Cities, along with a crucial 17-foot par save to make the turn in 2-under. That’s when he pinned his ears back, nabbing four birdies on his inward nine, including putts of 28, 14 and 10 feet.

“Part of playing links golf is the ball's not going to roll true every single time. Felt like I was just on the wrong end of that last week,” Scheffler said. “Got here and made sure I was lined up where I thought it was and made sure I was hitting it on that line and that was about it.”

It can’t be overstated how drastically Scheffler has transformed his putting in recent years. He ranks 14th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season, up from 22nd in 2025, 77th in 2024 and 162nd in 2022-23.

His career-best putting season hasn’t translated to a similar number of wins, though, as his approach play dipped ever so slightly and kept maintaining the truly dominant form he has held. Still, he ranks first on the PGA TOUR in scoring average and Strokes Gained: Total. He’s also No. 1 in the FedExCup.

Yet Scheffler measures himself by wins, and in that respect, his season has not met his expectations. His only win was his season debut at The American Express back in January. Scheffler could make progress toward rectifying that this week, squarely in the mix with 54 holes to play at the 3M Open.