Scheffler and Rahm focussed on fairway finding at Oakmont

Irish Independent

2 days ago

The Spanish star, champion at Torrey Pines in 2021, is fully aware that the feared Pittsburgh venue has produced a slew of power-hitting winners.
But he also knows power without control won't cut it this week.
"Length in a major like this, and even now in general in any sport, having that power is always helpful," he said of winners like Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera and Dustin Johnson.
"I would like to guess that that week their driving was very much on point. I think it's obviously nearly impossible to win a tournament here if you're not hitting it well off the tee because, if you keep putting yourself off the fairway, for lack of a better term, you're not going to get Oakmont very often."
Big-hitting DeChambeau destroyed Winged Foot playing bomb and gouge golf in 2020 before winning again last year despite late fairway misses at Pinehurst No 2.
But world number one and title favourite Scheffler agreed with Rahm that fairway finding is going to be key this week.
"This golf course, there are not many trees out there, but there are so many bunkers; I don't really know if this is a golf course you can necessarily just overpower with kind of a bomb and gouge type strategy, especially with the way the rough is," Scheffler said.
"You have to play the angles. Some of the greens are elevated, other ones are pitched extremely away from you.
"There's not really many areas where you step on the tee box and you're like, hey, I can miss it right here, hey, I can shade towards the left side of the fairway because right is really bad.
"Actually, if you hit it in the right rough, you're probably not going to get it to the green; if you hit it in the left rough, you're probably not going to get it to the green. So might as well try and split the difference there and hit it in the middle."
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DeChambeau has a new set of innovative irons in the bag this week and may use the driver sparingly.
But he insisted he won't be afraid to let loose with his biggest weapon.
"Can I be fearless on this golf course? Well, yeah, anybody really can," DeChambeau said. "Are there times to be more reserved, depending on wind locations, softness of greens, pin locations, you name it, very strategic.
"It's not like every single hole is Winged Foot out here. You can't just bomb it on every single hole and blast over bunkers and have a wedge run up to the front of the green. You can on a lot of the holes but not on every one of them.
"I think this golf course, you have to be just a fraction more strategic, especially with the rough is so long. I'm going to be as fearless as I can possibly be out there; I know that."
Rahm was the low amateur on his US Open debut at Oakmont in 2016 and while Johnson won on four-under that week, he senses that an over-par score could get the job done in a week when mental toughness will be the deciding factor.
"It's just a tough course," said Rahm, who put Scheffler under pressure in the final round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow but failed to press on down the stretch and ended up tied for eighth.
"It's so difficult where very few times anybody has won under par. If it doesn't rain, most likely, over par will win again.
"It's something that none of us, I would say, are used to, but it's a challenge you need to embrace.
"If there's any part of your game that will be tested on a week like this, it will be your mental game, that's for sure."