Scottie Scheffler’s coach guides major champion to victory on PGA Tour Champions

Justin Leonard, who won the Open back in 1997, is now playing on the PGA Tour Champions.

Before his recent win, Leonard had been finding it tough to get back into form.

That changed after he spent some time with Smith recently. The work paid off quickly.

Smith helped him sort out his putting, and not long after that, Leonard won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.

“I worked with Randy Smith three weeks ago. I changed putters and actually got it the day before, and when I walked in Randy’s office and I said, ‘Hey, I brought another putter for us to try out,’ boy, his ears perked up, and he loved the fact that it was a mallet of course,” he began by saying.

“And then one little thing he just noticed with my lower body. A couple of little injuries here in the last three or four months have probably got me into a little bit of a thing with my right knee.

“And so it’s this cool kind of odd balance of the two, but it works, and they’re making it work for me, which is great. So yeah, it’s been really solid since then, and you need to be solid on a day like today.”

Justin Leonard was also coached by Justin Thomas’ father

Randy Smith is not the only coach who has made an impact on Leonard’s career. He has also worked with Mike Thomas, the father of PGA Tour star Justin Thomas.

Thomas assisted Leonard with his swing path during The Open Championship in Northern Ireland, and his play improved after that.

“I got in a couple of habits that I really kind of was able to work my way out of.

“It really started at The Open at Portrush, being able to spend a couple of days with Mike Thomas there and get more on plane.

“I was a little shut and a little inside going back, and that’s just kind of been the catalyst for all this.”