Scottie Scheffler has seemingly been in the worst form of his career at the US Open, after shooting four consecutive rounds over par for the first time since turning professional in 2018.
The two-time Masters champion was a heavy favorite to claim his third major title at Pinehurst No. 2 and came into the week with his fifth victory of the season in the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
However, Scheffler barely survived second-round cuts on Thursday, as he admitted he had felt the effects of a grueling weekend at Muirfield Village after Saturday’s third-round 71.
“Yesterday afternoon I thought about it a little bit,” the 27-year-old said. “I think in terms of prep work for a week that I know is going to be as difficult as this one, I’m leaning toward not playing the week before.
“I especially believe in visiting Jack’s house, which can be quite similar to the US Open setup, especially the way the weekend was played.
Scottie Scheffler, 27, barely survived the second-round cut at the US Open on Thursday.
“I did most of my damage under par there at the beginning of the week, so I think going into the bigger championships, especially the ones we know are going to be really challenging, it may be best for me to not play the week “. before.
‘Like I said, that’s something I need to figure out later this year. Those are some of my thoughts as I sat looking at the cut line yesterday afternoon.
Scheffler did not play the week before winning his second Masters title in three years in April and is not scheduled to play in the Genesis Scottish Open before the Open Championship at Royal Troon in July.
The New Jersey native, who reached the halfway mark at five-over after a birdie-less 74 on Friday, carded two birdies and three bogeys on Saturday to stay well down the field at six-over.
“Another frustrating day,” Scheffler said. ‘Today was a day where I thought I played much better than my score.
‘I’m having a lot of trouble reading these greens. I had a lot of putts today and I felt like I hit them really well. I looked up and they weren’t going the way I thought they were going to go.
“I felt like the last 27 holes I played, I did really well, but I couldn’t get it close enough, which is tough on this course.”
Scheffler refused to blame track conditions and some diabolical positions for his problems, adding: “I think about fifth place yesterday, where I did double.”
‘Hit it in the waste area, bad break, can’t get on the green. The next, there is not enough sand under the ball.
“You can blame it on luck or whatever (but) I knew not to hit the ball down there. I knew where to hit it and not hit it.
“If you hit the ball in the middle of the fairway, in the middle of the green, you can definitely make 18 pars.”