Oakmont (United States) (AFP) – Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler enters next week’s US Open with three victories in four starts, including a third career major title, and will be the man to beat at Oakmont. The 28-year-old American won last month’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow after capturing Masters green jackets in 2022 and 2024 and has three top-seven finishes in his past four US Open starts.
“Scottie is obviously the best there is right now,” US rival Rickie Fowler said. “He’s someone that obviously has proven he’s in very much control of his game.” Scheffler defended his title last week at the PGA Memorial tournament, his ninth win in a row when leading after 54 holes, and won the Byron Nelson last month by matching the lowest 72-hole stroke total in PGA Tour history.
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After winning nine times last year, including Paris Olympic gold, and bouncing back from a right hand injury that sidelined him for a month at the start of this season, Scheffler has found his most dominant form. He won by eight strokes at the Byron Nelson, five shots at the PGA for his largest major win margin, and four at the Memorial.
“Look at the record he has had the last few years. It’s unbelievable,” said 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, the Memorial host. “He’ll compete to what he has to do. He doesn’t want to brag about what he does but he has the ability to bring his level to whatever level it needs to be. That’s what good players do. And he’s not a good player. He’s a great player.”
American Ben Griffin, who has won twice in the past two months and finished second at Memorial, was a junior rival of Scheffler. “He definitely wasn’t as dominant as he is now,” Griffin said. “He has just really perfected his craft and really loves the grind and is always trying to get better, so that’s what separates him so much from a lot of guys is he has just put in so many hours of being pretty much a robot.”
Such relentless form, Scheffler said, comes from being patient and smart when playing with the lead. “I try and bring the same level of intensity to Thursday as you do Sunday,” Scheffler said. “So when you’re coming out here late on Sunday, nothing really changes for me because I try to bring that intensity to the first tee on Thursday.”
– ‘Ridiculous’ consistency – Fellow shotmakers remain most impressed at just how well Scheffler can control his golf ball when it matters most. “The way that he can control his distances with different trajectories, different shapes, I think that’s pretty impressive,” Austrian Sepp Straka said of Scheffler. “With his iron shots, that’s probably the most impressive thing. But it’s a long list of things that makes him impressive. That’s why he’s as good as he is.”
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth says Scheffler’s trademark consistency comes from what he can do with the face of his club. “His consistency is ridiculous,” Spieth said. “And then that just leads to his distance control being phenomenal. It’s elite consistency because his tempo and club face control yields these kind of results.”
© 2024 AFP
