Scheffler runs out of birdie for 74 and fears early exit from US Open

PINEHURST, North Carolina – Scottie Scheffler picked the tee iron for position Friday at the U.S. Open and sent it straight down the fairway toward trouble, whether it was a bunker, the dusty dunes or the native plants dotting the landscape.

“What are you doing?” he said to himself as he watched the ball sail offline.

Not playing good golf would have been an answer if he wanted to.

The No. 2 Pinehurst has been getting the best of the No. 1 player in the world. Scheffler had his first birdie-free round in just over two years, a 4-over 74 that left him doubtful he would return this weekend.

“Today I just couldn’t make the shots fall,” Scheffler said. “This golf course can be unpredictable at times, and perhaps it has gotten the better of me the last few days. I’m going to sit down and think about where we’re going and figure it out.”

Much more was expected of Scheffler for several reasons. He was leaving his fifth victory of the year at the Memorialanother tough test, making him the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to win five times on the PGA Tour before the US Open.

He’s only finished in the top 10 once this year, and that was a tie for 17th at The American Express in the California desert.

Most of the damage came in a hole, the par-5 fifth, among the easiest at Pinehurst No. 2. Scheffler was in the fairway and about 10 yards away from getting a decent look at the eagle. Instead, his ball fell off the crowned green to the left, landing on a sandy patch of grassy bushes, facing a shot that climbed a steep hill to a short pin.

He would have preferred a low corridor, but he felt there was a bush in his path, so he tried to push him against the hill. He came up terribly short and rolled back into the sandy area. Then it exploded across the lawn. He hit the weakest chip of the day – maybe the year – to 15 feet. And then he missed the putt and ended up with double bogey.

“Probably on any other golf course, if I hit those two shots — driver, 3-wood — into a green on a par 5, I’d probably get a good look at birdie,” Scheffler said. “I’m not going out with a 7. Just an unfortunate place to put myself.”

It wasn’t just that hole. Scheffler didn’t convert reasonable birdies through three holes early and had a tee shot going wide of the green on the par-3 15th. He got just over 15 feet and thought his par putt was fine until it grazed the edge.

Scheffler tossed his stick into the air in disbelief — a common sight in his infuriating game, except he didn’t even try to catch it, letting it fall to the grass.

Three holes later, his driver sailed right on the 18th as he rounded the turn, and Scheffler smashed the tee into the ground in disgust as he sailed into the unknown. This type of photo is easily found. It turns out that players have no idea what kind of break they will have – clean lie, soft lie, between wire bushes or right behind them. It gets old.

“I think this golf course is fun to play. It’s exciting,” Scheffler said. “The only aspect I really don’t love is the unpredictability of the native areas. I would have preferred it to be in Bermuda, but I’m not a course designer.

“My job is to not get it right as often as I did this week.”

It also left him thinking about his preparation. Winning can be draining, and Scheffler said he was feeling it after a hard-fought win at Muirfield Village. He prefers not to play the week before a major tournament, but the Memorial is hard to miss, not only because it’s an exclusive $20 million event, but also because Jack Nicklaus created and hosted the tournament.

“It was definitely a little tired,” he said.

Give him a mulligan and Scheffler said he could have come to Pinehurst No. 2 before heading to Ohio for the Memorial. He says he may not have been as prepared as he would have liked when he stepped onto the first tee on Thursday afternoon.

But was funny?

“Not really,” Scheffler said. “Playing bad golf is not fun. But I like the challenging aspect of it.”

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