Scottie Scheffler insisted he was proud of his efforts at the 2024 US Open despite surprisingly facing an anxious wait to see if he made the cut.
Scheffler cut a frustrated figure on Friday morning at Pinehurst No.2.
The American world number one began the second round of the third men’s major of the year with his score on one-over par.
He hoped to make some early birdies to force himself back into contention.
Instead, Scheffler went backwards and never recovered.
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In the end, he posted a second round of four-over 74 to sit on five-over for the championship.
At the time of publication, Scheffler was right on the cut line.
“Around this place you have to hit such good shots,” Scheffler said when a reporter asked him how much a grind his round was.
“The golf course is challenging. I think personally it’s fun to play, but yeah, it was definitely a grind.”
Scheffler did huge damage to his scorecard at the par-5 fifth.
He was greenside in two, but walked off with a double bogey after he played a bit of ping pong having found the waste area with his second.
His playing partner Xander Schauffele also had the same issue and also walked off with a seven.
Asked to explain what happened, Scheffler said: “I think that’s part of the mystery of the kind of sandy areas.
“You get down there and it’s kind of luck of the draw whether or not you have a shot.
“Preferably I would have loved to have hit like a little runner out of there, but I had a bush in my way to where I couldn’t play the runner that I would have hoped to.
“Really all you’re trying to do from there is get it up on to the green somewhere, and I felt like I took the best route I could think of at first, and just because it’s so unpredictable.
“So yeah, just pretty challenging spot for your ball to end up in.”
Scheffler now faces the prospect of missing his first cut since August 2022.
It seems a remarkable proposition for a player who was as short as 3/1 to win this major and his third overall.
A reporter asked Scheffler: “You’ve been playing so well, so consistently. Is it kind of a readjustment out there to remember how to play when it’s not going your way?”
He replied: “Not really. I think this week — yesterday I felt like I played really well and got a lot out of my game, which I feel like I’ve done a good job of this year.
“Today was kind of the opposite. I felt like especially the back nine today I actually hit it really well. I just couldn’t get a putt to fall early.
“Then I had that unfortunate deal on number five which probably on any other golf course if I hit those two shots, driver, 3-wood into a green on a par-5 and probably have a pretty good look at birdie, I’m not going to have walking off with a seven.
“But [it was] just [an] unfortunate place for me to put myself.”
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler said he did not believe five-over was going to be good enough.
That being said, he used the word ‘proud’ to describe how he fought.
“Today I just couldn’t get the putts to fall,” he said.
“This golf course can be unpredictable at times, and maybe it got the better of me the last couple days.
“I’ll sit down and think about where we’re going the last few days and figure it out.”