by Scottie Scheffler broke his own winnings record on the PGA Tour this season.
The world No. 1 pocketed $29,228,357 – more than half the money he had on tour and well above his previous $21 million mark.
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Including his $25 million in prize money for winning the Tour Championship and other bonuses, he pocketed $62 million in 2024.
You’d think his fellow pros would do everything they could to copy every facet of his game to close the gap.
But Scheffler expressed surprise that there isn’t a long line of rivals lining up to work with swing coach Randy Smith.
“Yes, Randy, he’s completely crazy. But when it comes to the golf swing, he’s such a genius,” he told GOLF’s Subpar when asked if he was shocked more people weren’t working with Smith.
“He’s like a little scholar. I was out there before the President’s Cup and I remember telling Randy, ‘Hey, I’m trying something here, but I’m not going to tell you what it is. I want to see if you can understand it.’ it out.’
“He watched me hit five balls and then showed me exactly what I was doing. It was literally like the slightest movement of my left hand with the grip, and he showed it to me within five swings.”
Scheffler won a second green jacket at the Masters this year – he had Smith to thank for that.
“This year at the Masters he gave me a swing tip after the first round,” added the 28-year-old.
“I played well, I scored really good goals. Probably the best thing I’ve done all year in terms of just playing, scoring and controlling my ball. Of course Randy said, “Good job. How do you feel?”
“I thought, ‘My swing didn’t feel good today.’ It felt like I was just scratching around and I told him what I was feeling and he gave me a tip on how to slightly adjust my grip. I took a few hits and the lightbulb went on and I felt what I wanted to feel.
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“It took off from there. I didn’t have to think about anything else.”
Scheffler believes golfers may have relied on tracking software rather than coaches like Smith.
“He has an incredible eye. I think if he had his way, Trackman and Video would never have appeared and people would flock to him,” he explained.
“It’s funny with the Trackman and stuff because I usually practice with mine at home almost every day because I’m always looking at distances.”
“Randy, if I’m ever in trouble, I always try to focus on the numbers, and he’ll literally take the iPad away from me and say, ‘We don’t need any of this. Stop looking at it the way we do.’ I don’t know how to do this.’”
Smith has been at Royal Oaks Country Club in Texas since 1977 and has won a record 18 PGA of America National Awards.
He worked with 1997 Open champion Justin Leonard as well as Subpar co-host Colt Knost.
It was while coaching Leonard that Smith first saw the seven-year-old Scheffler’s potential.
“It was a strange situation,” he told Travis Fulton.
“Someone in the store said, ‘Randy, there’s a family coming by that wants to check out the facilities out here. She wants to get to know you.’ I said, “Shall we meet?”
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“But they had this little kid coming next, I had heard. And sure enough they came out, I had just finished a lesson with Justin Leonard at the time and this little boy came out with a bag that was as tall as him and they lined him up to knock some balls off me and I could not I can’t help but take a look.
“And this little kid does swings that are the same every time. I watched him hit balls and within 15-20 minutes I had this a-ha moment. It was completely different.”
