Scottie Scheffler Wins WGC Dell Technologies Match Play

In just 42 days, Scheffler has gone from zero PGA TOUR wins to three and No. 1 in the OWGR - the shortest amount of days from first win to No. 1 ranking in OWGR history by 210 days.

(CARLSBAD, Calif.) – Scottie Scheffler’s remarkable run of golf continued Sunday winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play 4 & 3 over Kevin Kisner in the final round, marking his third win on the PGA TOUR in his last five starts. Scheffler not only becomes the youngest player to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event, but will also vault to the No. 1 ranking in the World for the first time in his career. Sunday marks Scheffler's third win with his Stealth Plus 8.0° Carbonwood driver and P·7TW irons in the bag.

The Dallas, Texas native added his Stealth 3HL 3-wood to the bag during practice rounds this week and went on to win Group 5 in a playoff over Matt Fitzpatrick after both finished group play with a 2-1-0 record. Scheffler stayed poised in the knockout rounds at Austin Country Club beating Billy Horschel 1 UP in the Round of 16, Seamus Power 3 & 2 in the Quarterfinals and held off a furious rally from Team TaylorMade teammate Dustin Johnson winning 3 & 1 in the Semifinals.

In the final, Scheffler got out to an early lead getting to 3 UP through 6 holes after birdies on 2, 4 and 6, before eventually finishing the match on the 15th green with a par highlighted by a 365 yard drive with his Stealth Plus driver. 

INSIDE THE WINNING FIT

Scheffler began testing his Stealth Plus driver at a preseason driver fitting session in Texas with TaylorMade Tour Representatives. With his current Stealth Plus 8.0°, Scheffler saw average ball speed gains of 3.4 MPH (177.4 MPH with Stealth Plus vs 174.0 with previous gamer) and carry gains of just over 11 yards in testing (305.8 with Stealth Plus vs 294.7 with previous gamer). After being dialed in to the right spec, he was able to continuously hit the desired shot shapes and shot types with the 60X Carbon Twist Face driver.

He hasn’t looked back since putting Stealth Plus in play at the American Express in January and has seen an average increase of 4+ MPH ball speed in tournament competition compared to his 2020-21 season average.

“During our initial driver fitting, we were working on the range into a pretty substantial wind. He was delivering some amazingly consistent golf shots,” TaylorMade Senior Tour Representative Adrian Rietveld said. “Without us being able to test on course, he turns up at his first event of the year with only one driver in his bag, which shows how confident he was with the club and the rest is history. The results are showing up in tournament play, and the stats confirm how much the added speed has helped him.” —Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade Senior Tour Representative

The latest TaylorMade add to Scheffler’s bag came this week in Austin as he added his Stealth 3HL 3-wood to the bag on Wednesday after weeks of extensive testing. TaylorMade reps worked with Scheffler to identify the Stealth fairway model that would best match the launch characteristics of his previous gamer, which had a loft of 12.5°. In order to match those characteristics, TaylorMade reps build a Stealth 3HL with a finishing loft of 16° and a Ventus 8X shaft cut down an inch shorter.

“The benefits of the 16.5° head are that he can hit it much higher and farther if he wants to but also match previous conditions, which were lower and feature more spin. The 16.5° Stealth head is more of a weapon because of the added distance and height capability he can get when he wants it. That is the benefit of taking a lot of the spin out of the head and being able to use more loft compared to older technology. With today’s technology taking so much spin out of the club, you can use more loft which makes the club so much more playable and versatile.” —Todd Chew, TaylorMade Senior Tour Representative

Scheffler has had the P·7TW irons in the bag since the 2021 American Express, while previously playing TaylorMade’s P·730 irons. After seeing the P·7TWs being played by many of his competitors, Scheffler expressed interest in late 2020 about playing the irons in order to be able to hit more types of shots with the capability the Tiger Woods inspired irons possess. Since putting them in the bag, Scheffler has 12 Top 10s, three PGA TOUR wins and a Ryder Cup. 

NEED TO KNOW

- Scheffler signed a multi-year deal March 9 to join Team TaylorMade playing the company’s Stealth Plus driver, Stealth fairway and P·7TW irons

- Sunday’s win by Scheffler marks the fifth win on the PGA TOUR by a player with Stealth Plus driver in the bag and the seventh on all men’s and women’s professional tours in 2022

- Scheffler has won three times in 2022, coming in a five-start span: WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

- Including his three wins, Scheffler has a total of seven Top-10 or better finishes in the 2021-2022 in a total of just 13 starts

- At age 25, Scheffler becomes the sixth player to reach World No. 1 before age 26 joining Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm

- Scheffler is the first American golfer to reach World No. 1 before winning his first major since 1999

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER WITB

- Stealth Plus; 8.0° Driver (Ventus Black 7X)

- Stealth 3HL; 16.5° 3-wood (Ventus Black 8X)

- P·7TW Irons; 5-PW (True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100)

- TaylorMade Staff Bag