OAKMONT, Pa. — Regardless of capturing an uncharacteristic 1-over 71 within the second spherical of the U.S. Open on Friday, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler mentioned he felt a way of reduction in his capability to restrict the injury on the notoriously troublesome course.
“I really feel like I battled actually onerous,” Scheffler mentioned after his spherical. “It is difficult on the market. I used to be not getting the ball within the right spots and paying the value for it.
“Felt like me getting away with 1-over at the moment wasn’t all that dangerous. It might have been rather a lot worse.”
Although Scheffler carded 5 bogeys, he additionally had 4 birdies. A day earlier, he had six bogeys and simply three birdies in a spherical of 73.
Friday marked Scheffler’s sixth consecutive over-par spherical on the U.S. Open, together with all 4 rounds final yr at Pinehurst No. 2.
Scheffler’s roller-coaster second spherical began with a birdie on No. 10. He stayed 1 underneath by the subsequent 4 holes till a bogey on 15. From there, he bogeyed 4 of the subsequent eight holes, however he additionally recorded birdies on Nos. 2 and 4.
It left him tied for twenty third, 7 photographs behind chief Sam Burns.
“Any time you are not hitting it the best way or enjoying as much as my expectations, I believe it is irritating,” mentioned Scheffler, who was again on the vary together with his coaches engaged on his swing shortly after his spherical ended. “Mentally this was as robust as I’ve battled for the entire day. … General positively not out of the event. Right this moment was, I believe with the best way I used to be hitting, it was simply a day I might have been going house and battled fairly onerous to remain in there.”
Scheffler hit into the course’s signature church pew bunkers 3 times, together with off his tee shot on No. 3. Usually even-keeled, Scheffler slammed his driver in frustration because the ball landed within the sand between berms.
“Once you get the ball out of place right here, you have simply obtained to attempt to get the ball again in play,” Scheffler mentioned. “That is actually all there’s to it. You will get fortunate generally and get a lie and perhaps be capable of get one thing to the inexperienced. However that wasn’t actually taking place for me at the moment. I made a decision to only maintain hitting it within the tough for some purpose.”
For Scheffler, the important thing to ending the day with out falling additional off the lead was remaining affected person all through a spherical that took greater than 5½ hours.
“There have been some instances at the moment the place you are feeling like you possibly can hand over, simply primarily based on how troublesome the golf course is, how my swing was feeling,” he mentioned. “… It is like, am I going to get mad about it, get annoyed, or am I simply going to chip it out and see what I can do from there? I felt like that is what a number of at the moment was about. “… On the U.S. Open I do not suppose you are ever out of the event. Put collectively two first rate days, I could also be in twenty fifth or thirtieth place or one thing like that after at the moment, and like I mentioned, in no way is that out of the event.”
