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Scottie Scheffler’s shock 5-over Masters begin has him flirting with the U.S. Open cutline.
Darren Riehl/GOLF
PINEHURST, N.C. — Golf has entertained Scottie Scheffler lots over these final six months, however Friday on the U.S. Open appeared to deliver him amusement of a distinct type.
The sort of good time that sends eyes into the heavens and cusses from the throat and golf clubs fluttering through the sky. That sort that’s in all probability not an excellent time in any respect.
Name it gallows humor. Name it laughter to maintain from tears. Name it biting sarcasm. Name it no matter you’d like, Scottie Scheffler had it on Friday at Pinehurst No. 2, the identical day he shot 4-over 74 to flirt with the U.S. Open cutline.
“I imply … probably not,” he stated Friday when requested if he’d loved himself. “Taking part in poor golf isn’t enjoyable.”
In what is simply a praise to the extent of golf Scheffler has maintained over these final six months, the above sentence reads as nothing wanting astonishing. Scheffler, the identical man who labored his approach all the way down to a three-to-one favorite at Pinehurst by Wednesday afternoon, going through the prospect of lacking the weekend altogether? Certain, and I’ve bought some beachfront property to promote you within the Carolina sandhills.
However the reality was even scarier, largely as a result of because the scores saved rising on early Friday afternoon, Scheffler’s agitation grew … cheerier. The World No. 1 was in a near-biblical state of calm as his irons careened off of Pinehurst’s domed greens and into assortment areas, his drives skipped previous the golf green and into the native areas, and his putts burned edges — sharing smiles and quite a lot of patented chuckles.
Within the second he wished it most, his sport faltered him greater than it has all yr. And so Scheffler smiled, sporting the identical placidly faux-entertained disposition of an agoraphobe at Coachella. Not as a result of he felt like smiling, however as a result of the reality was humorous: The identical factor that made him the head-and-shoulders favourite at Pinehurst — his quintet of wins in 2024 — had precipitated his struggles at Pinehurst.
“Perhaps the worst golf shot I’ve ever seen you hit,” he stated to himself, laughing, as one notably ugly tee shot soared in the direction of the sand.
He laughed once more as one other putt lipped out on the fifteenth, his sixth gap of the day and what felt like his sixtieth near-miss, flipping his putter into the sky and sending it crashing again to earth with an audible thud.
It was that sort of Friday for Scheffler, who sunk to five over on the event and, on the time of this writing, immediately on the U.S. Open cutline. Nothing went fairly as anticipated, and the end result was one thing fairly sudden: Scheffler’s first really unhealthy begin of 2024.
The purpose for that unhealthy begin is what has a lot of the golf world perplexed on Friday night. Is it potential, as Scheffler instructed, that he simply wasn’t ready sufficient for the problem that laid earlier than him?
“There was undoubtedly a little bit of a fatigue side,” Scheffler stated Friday, admitting his latest stretch of utter dominance had caught as much as him at Pinehurst. “I feel going ahead I’m going to need to take a more in-depth take a look at my preparation.”
Or is it potential that Scheffler’s supposed lack of preparation has a distinct origin? Not exhaustion or psychological drain, however one thing extra sinister. Like, say, a golf course designed to search out and exacerbate his weaknesses.
After 5 wins in seven begins, preparation figured to be the least of Scheffler’s worries heading into U.S. Open week, or on the very least a small ripple subsequent to his tidal wave of benefits. Like being a high-ball hitter with shotmaking prowess and short-game wizardry at a golf course that rewards exactly these issues. Scheffler’s newest win on the yearly brutish Memorial solely strengthened his case; if he may win by just a little at slim, toothy Muirfield Village, he may by a lot at wider and firmer Pinehurst.
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However the U.S. Open presents challenges unseen in the remainder of the golf season, and this yr the worst of these challenges could be discovered on the fringes. Native grass (because it’s referred to as right here) is the first protection of Pinehurst No. 2, capturing from the bottom in sandy patches of hell. Scheffler hit into it far too typically throughout his first two rounds on the nationwide championship. Worse but, he appeared uncertain of how finest to maneuver out of it. (In his protection, his choices have been unfriendly: punch out and get slapped on the wrist, or swing for the fences and threat going to jail.)
“The one side of Pinehurst I don’t actually love is the unpredictability of the native areas,” Scheffler stated Friday with a sheepish grin. “I’d have most well-liked for it to be simply regular for Bermuda tough, however after all that’s why I’m not a course designer.”
Scheffler is just not a course designer, but when he have been he’d know that Donald Ross smiled from above when he heard that remark. The mark of an amazing golf course is just not in its skill to problem a golfer’s skill, however quite to problem a golfer’s thoughts.
On Thursday and Friday at U.S. Open, Pinehurst challenged the thoughts of one of the best golfer alive — with vast fairways and no tough — and gained. Scheffler appeared to acknowledge as a lot on Friday afternoon, which was why he couldn’t assist however smile. He was not joyful, however he was amused.
Amused as a result of golf is difficult. Even for one of the best participant on the earth.
And it may be hardest whenever you’re beating your self.
