Rory McIlroy Jokes That Only Jail Can Keep Scottie Scheffler From Winning

Stephen Douglas | Jun 11, 2024

Jun 18, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Rory McIlroy speaks in a press conference after finishing in second place in the U.S. Open golf tournament at Los Angeles Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are grouped together for the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. The star-studded trio is scheduled to tee off at 1:14 p.m. ET in what has to be the most interesting grouping of the tournament. McIlroy addressed the media on Tuesday and had the line of the tournament about the world's No. 1 golfer.

During his press conference, McIlroy joked that only jail could keep Scheffler from winning a golf tournament right now, a nod to Scheffler's trouble with the law at the PGA Championship a few weeks ago.

"The fact that the only thing that took him from winning a golf tournament was going into a jail cell for an hour."

While it's a funny comment, it's not entirely true. Scheffler was arrested, but he was still able to make his tee time and shot a 66 in the second round and head into the weekend with a legitimate chance to win. Unfortunately, once the adrenaline wore off he fell back to Earth and shot a 73 in the third round. He ended up finishing tied for eighth, 8 shots behind Schauffele who won his first Major.

Now the two will play together in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open alongside McIlroy, who is seeking his first Major championship since 2014. As long as all three make it through security, it should be quite a show.