Is Pinehurst 'borderline'? Scottie Scheffler had the proper reply

In the event you had been requested to say one thing good about Scottie Scheffler, you wouldn’t have a very powerful time.

You would possibly begin together with his golf sport, which has already produced 5 PGA Tour wins this season. You can reward his comeback triumph on the Gamers Championship or his runaway win on the Masters. You can praise his iron play, which has been preposterously good for a number of years. Or you could possibly marvel at his placing, which has gotten dramatically higher in latest months, unlocking all the above.

You can say that Scheffler looks like a stable household man, the kind of man who was prepared to depart the Masters if the decision got here from his pregnant spouse Meredith. Even in the event you thought that individual storyline was overblown you could possibly level out {that a} golfer and his spouse who hit their local tavern when she’s 9 months pregnant to have a good time the large win appear to be they’ve bought a great factor going.

You can reward Scheffler for the best way he’s dealt with one of many strangest sports activities situations in latest reminiscence, his arrest by the hands of the Louisville Police Division as he headed in to prep for his second spherical of the PGA Championship. Scheffler dealt with issues respectfully off the course and responded with extra terrific play on the course — together with a high 10 that week, a runner-up the subsequent week and a victory ultimately week’s Memorial.

But when by some means that isn’t sufficient then you could possibly look to the best way Scheffler has dealt with this week’s U.S. Open. He’s been a bit bit off from the beginning; he was outclassed on Thursday and Friday by enjoying companions Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele and battled on Friday simply to make the minimize on the quantity. Scheffler was clearly pissed off on the course, notably on the greens, the place he ranks close to the underside of the sector. However as soon as he completed? He stored his poise. That was true after Friday’s 74 and it was doubly true after Saturday’s 71, a spherical that left him definitively outdoors of competition.

That’s a good distance of introducing the concept that Scottie Scheffler had some attention-grabbing issues to say after his spherical on Saturday they usually supplied us with useful perspective on how Pinehurst has performed this week.

Requested for some perception as to how Pinehurst No. 2 would play the remainder of the day, Scheffler was clear that issues had been troublesome.

“Undoubtedly difficult pin positions,” he mentioned. “It’s going to get firmer. The solar is out. The wind is blowing sufficient that the greens are positively going to dry out. I positively seen that coming down the stretch. They’re getting fairly agency. With the best way these runoffs are, it’s going to be fairly difficult this afternoon.”

A reporter adopted up: Any holes you discover to be borderline, dicey?

Scheffler grinned.

“You actually wish to write about this?”

That phrase “borderline” echoed the sentiment expressed by defending champ Wyndham Clark earlier within the week. It’s additionally a charged phrase with regards to this championship. Scheffler is aware of that.

“I believe with regards to the U.S. Open, “borderline” is such, like, a set off phrase,” he mentioned. “It doesn’t matter what I believe, you may have a fairly good understanding of the place you’re making an attempt to hit the ball. It’s after I begin not hitting the ball into the locations the place you need to hit the ball, that’s the place issues get difficult.”

The course proved lots powerful because the day went on, with contenders pushing aside greens, ping-ponging chips forwards and backwards and making double and triple bogeys at essential junctures. However was it truthful? Scheffler cited the worst gap of his championship, the par-5 fifth, the place he had a troublesome time on Friday, and defined the course utilizing that gap.

“I take into consideration No. 5. Yesterday I made double,” he mentioned. “Hit it within the waste space, unhealthy break, can’t get it up on the inexperienced. The following one, there’s not sufficient sand beneath the ball. You’ll be able to blame it on luck or no matter. I knew to not hit the ball down there. I knew the place to hit it and to not hit it. In the event you’re hitting the ball in the midst of the golf green, in the midst of the inexperienced, you may positively make 18 pars.

“Now, granted misses are going to harm right here greater than subsequent week at Vacationers. That’s simply the character of the golf course, the character of the event. You’re going to get injured extra right here for a nasty shot than final week at Memorial.

“That’s simply how the U.S. Open is.”

The sentiment echoed that of Rory McIlroy, who has mentioned he’s been making an attempt to embrace the problem of a U.S. Open setup. He described one 151-yard shot that he was making an attempt to fly 146 yards.

“I can’t land it 144, ’trigger it’s not gonna stand up there,” he mentioned. “And I can’t land it 148, ’trigger it’s gonna go over the again of the inexperienced.”

So it goes this week. Scheffler put it succinctly, concluding the topic.

“The sport of golf is a psychological torture chamber at instances, particularly the U.S. Open,” he mentioned.

Scheffler was additionally self-deprecating.

“I wouldn’t be utilizing me as a bearing for what’s good. Fairly mediocre at finest proper now,” he mentioned. However he was additionally fairly clear: Life’s good. The remainder of his day?

“Hit the health club this afternoon, pack up, put my ft up for the remainder of the day, hang around with my little man and my spouse,” he mentioned. “I’ll present up tomorrow morning able to play. Like I mentioned, I’ll go to the health club at present, get up within the morning, prepare to return out to the course once more, see if I can be taught.”

See if I can be taught. He’s fairly good at that.

Add it to the listing.

Dylan Dethier

Golf.com Editor

Dylan Dethier is a senior author for GOLF Journal/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams Faculty, the place he majored in English, and he’s the creator of 18 in America, which particulars the yr he spent as an 18-year-old residing from his automotive and enjoying a spherical of golf in each state.