PINEHURST, N.C. - World number one Scottie Scheffler called the U.S. Open a "mental torture chamber" after another frustrating round on Saturday left him well off the pace at Pinehurst No. 2.
The reigning Masters champion was among the pre-tournament favorites, but has found the unforgiving U.S. Open setup a stern test. Scheffler posted his fourth consecutive round over par, something he had never done previously in his career.
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His 1-over round of 71 on Moving Day left him at 6-over for the tournament, a massive 11 shots behind surprise leader Ludvig Åberg of Sweden. "Another frustrating day," Scheffler said after his round. "Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score."
One area that particularly vexed Scheffler was the greens, which he struggled to read consistently. "I'm having a lot of trouble reading these greens," he said. "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."
The statistics backed up Scheffler's putting woes, as he lost over a stroke and a half to the rest of the field on the greens. At 1.91 putts per hole, he was tied for 65th in the stacked field.
With the pressure of a major championship weighing on his shoulders, Scheffler acknowledged the mental grind was taking its toll. “The game of golf is a mental torture chamber at times, especially the U.S. Open,” he said.
Scheffler will look to steady his game in Sunday's final round to avoid his worst finish ever in a major. But with much work left to do, even a top-10 result seems a long shot for the world's top-ranked golfer at this challenging Pinehurst layout.
"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. I think especially going around Jack's place [Muirfield], which is going to be pretty close," he said. "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 before."
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How has Scottie Scheffler's performance been in previous U.S. Open tournaments
2016 U.S. Open (Oakmont): Missed the cut, shooting rounds of 69-78 to finish at +7 total.
2017 U.S. Open (Erin Hills): Tied for 27th place at +3, shooting rounds of 69-74-71-73. Finished 10 shots behind winner Brooks Koepka.
2019 U.S. Open (Pebble Beach): Missed the cut after rounds of 72-74 for a total of +4.
2022 U.S. Open (The Country Club): Finished solo third at -2, shooting rounds of 67-68-68-70 for a total of 273 strokes. He was two strokes behind winner Matt Fitzpatrick.
2023 U.S. Open (Los Angeles CC): Finished third at E, shooting rounds of 67-68-68-70 again for a total of 273 strokes. He was three strokes behind winner Ludvig Aberg.
References: https://sports.yahoo.com/scottie-scheffler-us-open-golf-is-a-mental-torture-chamber-203934274.html
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