Jordan Spieth lauds Scottie Scheffler’s ball-striking, defends Masters favorite, and rebukes critics fixated on putting woes.

Jordan Spieth has described Scottie Scheffler as the best ball-striker since Tiger Woods and dismissed the ‘haters’ who suggest the world No 1’s putting offers hope for the Masters chasing pack this week.

While only one of those sentiments feels watertight, it is beyond doubt that Scheffler arrives at Augusta as both the form player and the strong favorite to claim a second green jacket.

The sense of foreboding among Scheffler’s rivals has naturally been heightened by the stark improvements recently made with his shortest club, which has led to a run of two wins and a tie for second in his past three starts.

Previously, it was a startling anomaly that a golfer with the best tee-to-green statistics since Woods was also among the very worst with the putter, but the discrepancy has seemingly been addressed by his switch to a mallet putter.

Spieth, the winner here nine years ago, has had a closer view than most of the 2022 champion as they live a short distance apart in Dallas and practise together regularly. He has also heard the debate around his putting and questions whether the ambient debate about that shortcoming has applied extra pressure to Scheffler.

Scottie Scheffler has been described as the best ball-striker since Tiger Woods first emerged

Spieth told Mail Sport: ‘We all have ceilings and I believe his ball striking ceiling is higher than anyone that we’ve seen since Tiger. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that you just are able to be the best at everything.

‘He’s shown that he can putt really well some weeks and then he gets picked on for it other weeks. But if you hit that many greens, it’s almost impossible to be statistically top 10 or 15 putters, so I think he gets I think he gets hated on way more so than he should.

‘That becomes more of a mental challenge for him to shut off the noise and stick to it. But he’s in a great place. He’s got a great head on his shoulders.

‘I play golf a lot with him – he lives two miles away from me. I’ve seen him roll in a bunch of putts at home and I’ve seen him miss some greens at home. Golf is like that.

Spieth has heaped praise on his friend Scheffler, who is the big favorite to win back-to-back

‘But he’s the number one player in the world and it’s a true reflection. There’s no hiding that fact in the last couple of years.’

Scheffler’s match-up with defending champion Jon Rahm will be compelling if both men are up to speed. For Spieth, the ambient expectations are more modest around the three-time major winner after two cuts in his past three starts and no victories at PGA Tour level since 2022.

Scheffler won the green jacket in last year’s tournament