After Another Over-Par U.S. Open Round, Scottie Scheffler Hints at Different Approach

The world No. 1 won last week at the Memorial but said he may avoid playing the week before future majors.

Scottie Scheffler has three straight over-par rounds in this U.S. Open. / Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Sports

PINEHURST, N.C. — Scottie Scheffer called it “another frustrating day” and admitted that perhaps playing the week prior to a major championship at a strenuous venue such as Pinehurst No. 2 is not ideal.

Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking who won Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament last week for his fifth victory of the year, shot 1-over-par 71 on Saturday after making the 36-hole cut on the number.

His win last week came with a price that has seen him struggle for a majority of the tournament. All of his scores have been over par and added to his final-round score at Muirfield Village Golf Club means he’s now had four straight rounds over par for the first time as a pro.

“I think in terms of prep work for a week that I know is going to be as tough as this, I'm leaning going forward to maybe not playing the week before,” Scheffler said, having finished well prior to the leaders teeing off. “I think especially going around Jack’s place, which can be pretty close to a US Open set-up, especially the way it was playing on the weekend ...

“I think going into the major championships, especially the ones we know are going to be really challenging, it may be in my best interest not to play the week as before.

“Like I said, that's stuff for me to figure out later in the year. That’s some of my thoughts sitting around watching the cut.”

The PGA Tour’s signature event structure saw it try to keep from isolating regular events. The Arnold Palmer Invitational was played the week prior to the Players Championship, the Wells Fargo Championship the week before the PGA Championship and the Memorial prior to the U.S. Open. Next week is another Signature Event, the Travelers Championship.

Scheffler did not play the week prior to the PGA, skipping the Wells Fargo Championship. He also did not play the week prior to the Masters, which he won for his second major title.

“Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score,” he said. “I'm having a lot of trouble reading these greens. I had a lot of putts today where I felt like I hit it really good. I looked up and they were not going the way I thought they were going to go.

“Really my swing today felt a lot better than it did yesterday. I felt like the last 27 holes I've played, I've hit it really nice, but I just haven't been able to hit it quite close enough, which is difficult around this course. I haven't been able to hole the putts, the last few today.”

Asked if he believed any of the holes were “borderline” in terms of their playability or the severity of the greens, Scheffler paused.

“I think when it comes to the U.S. Open, ‘borderline’ is such like a trigger word,” he said. “No matter what I think, you have a pretty good understanding of where you're trying to hit the ball. It's when I start not hitting the ball into the places where you should hit the ball, that's where things get tricky.

“I think about No. 5. Yesterday I made double. Hit it in the waste area, bad break, can't get it up on the green. The next one, there's not enough sand underneath the ball. You can blame it on luck or whatever.

“I knew not to hit the ball down there. I knew where to hit it and not to hit it. If you're hitting the ball in the middle of the fairway, in the middle of the green, you can definitely make 18 pars.

“Granted, misses are going to hurt here more than next week at Travelers. That's just the nature of the golf course, the nature of the tournament. You're going to get injured more here for a bad shot than last week at Memorial. That's just how the U.S. Open is.”

Scheffler has not been his usual automatic self off the tee and into the greens. He was outside of the top 30 in strokes-gained off the tee although still seventh in strokes-gained approach. He’s also taken 30 or more putts in each of the three rounds.

“The game of golf is a mental torture chamber at times, especially the U.S. Open,” Scheffler said. “I thought it was challenging. The first 27 holes, I was in the native area way too much of the time. Everything felt really tough. Now that I was able to hit a lot more fairways today, it maybe felt a touch easier to me.

“Wouldn't be using me as a bearing for what's good right now. Pretty mediocre at best right now.”