PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Lost in the frenzy of Rory McIlroy’s career Grand Slam and J.J. Spaun’ improbable U.S. Open victory and Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup push and every other major story that has dominated the conversation of pro golf in 2025, is that the world No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, has turned his biggest weakness into a massive strength.

Intertwined in the narrative of Scheffler’s dominant three-year run is the prevalence of the one weakness that kept him from annihilating records: his putting. The numbers were bad. The visuals when he missed were worse.

This year? The numbers are phenomenal (he’s 22nd in Strokes Gained). The visuals had been non-existent because he wasn’t missing much… until last week.

There, the Genesis Scottish Open reminded us that while Scheffler solved his putting issues on U.S. soil, across the pond, on links greens, he’s not quite there.

The numbers prove it. He lost strokes on the greens at The Renaissance Club last week, just the third time he’s done that all season.

But the visual of Scheffler on The Renaissance Club’s 13th green Sunday was all the evidence needed.

Standing over a 7-foot birdie putt, Scheffler watched a sliding left-to-right putt start curling toward the hole before straightening out and running past the cup. The world No. 1, a savant off the tee and in the fairway, capable of controlling his distance, flight and spin better than anyone in the sport, stood there incredulous and dumbfounded that he couldn’t complete the final piece of the puzzle. Scheffler threw his arms up and looked at his caddie, Ted Scott. He said nothing, but the look was that of a man utterly confused and fed up about what the heck was going on. Slapping his legs, he bent down and looked at the line again, reaching his arms out again as if to say, “What else do I have to do?” An annoyed laugh followed with another shake of the head before he tapped in for his par.

Not since the 2021 Genesis Scottish Open has Scheffler gained strokes on links greens. Four years have come and gone without a good putting week at both the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open Championship. Asked what the unique challenges to putting in links golf, Scheffler pointed to speed.

“It's a little bit of a slower green speed, and that's just based on necessity because you get much more – the elements are much more of a factor,” Scheffler began, before revealing a more telling insight on his thought process. “Getting used to the speed, I would say, is the most important. Outside of that, putting is putting. Golf is still golf, no matter where you're playing.”

But putting here at The Open has proven more difficult than anywhere else for Scheffler. So is putting just putting?

Asked the same question as Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre went in a different direction.

“Compared to America? I mean, so different,” said MacIntyre, a winner of the Genesis Scottish Open in 2024. “For one, the grass is different. The slopes are more subtle. When you play in the regular Tour, whether it's PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, the slopes are normally just, they're there. They're obvious. But as you play links golf, it's very subtle.

“Also, the wind,” he added. “The wind, if it blows 20 mph, it's hard to stand the way you normally stand because you've got to try and brace yourself for the wind that's gusting. It's not just a constant buffer, so you start moving a bit. Thankfully, I'm used to that.”

Xander Schauffele, the defending Open champion, reiterated a similar point.

"Putting is always tricky with wind. There's some holes where the mounds cover the greens and some holes that are more exposed where the wind is going to affect the ball on the green,” he said.

Succeeding on links golf is often a learned skill. It’s why The Open, more than any other major, has allowed older players to contend. Often referenced with the Masters, it applies here, too – experience matters. Scheffler possesses every skill of an ideal links golfer as one of the most creative players, able to manipulate trajectory and spin to hang tough in the wind and work his ball around the undulating slopes. He’s played in four Opens, enough to understand it, but clearly, not long enough to master it.

As for the visuals, Scheffler wasn’t asked specifically about that putt Sunday in Scotland that elicited such a reaction, but it was hard not think of that moment when he was asked about his mentality on Tuesday.

“I think at times this year I may have gotten overly frustrated,” Scheffler said. “I think it's just part of the game. I think part of the game is controlling your emotions and controlling your mind.”

Scheffler, for three years, has been the best in the world at a lot of things – driving, approach and winning. Controlling one’s emotions was once, and probably still is, on that list, too.

Links golf has proven to be one of the only times when Scheffler’s emotions are tested. Scheffler begins this week, as he does every week he tees it up as the betting favorite. He will only deliver a return on that investment if his putting improves.