No.1 Scheffler, four-over, says don't count him out at US Open
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler endured a frustrating second round at the US Open, a harsh mental and physical challenge, but vows he's not out of the title hunt at Oakmont.
Scheffler, coming off three wins in his past four starts including his third major at the PGA Championship, fired a one-over par 71 in Friday's second round to stand on four-over 144 for 36 holes.
"Mentally this was as tough as I've battled for the whole day," Scheffler said. "There was a lot of stuff going on out there that was not going in my favor necessarily.
"I felt like Teddy and I did a great job of battling, especially coming down the stretch."
Scheffler said that he could have missed the cut with the struggles he faced but instead has himself within reach of victory with a weekend fightback.
"With the way I was hitting it was easily a day I could have been going home and battled pretty hard to stay in there," Scheffler said.
"I don't think by any means I'm out of the tournament."
Scheffler made five bogeys and four birdies in a roller coaster round.
"I feel like I battled really hard. It's challenging out there," he said. "I was not getting the ball in the correct spots and paying the price for it.
"Felt like me getting away with one-over today wasn't all that bad. It could have been a lot worse.
"I anticipated to hit it better... any time you're not hitting it the way , or playing up to my expectations, I think it's frustrating."
Scheffler won't be trying to impose his will upon Oakmont as he tries to mount a fightback.
"I bounced back really well to a lot of the mistakes that I made," he said. "Forcing it around this place is probably not a good recipe to play too much good golf for me.
"You've got to be hitting fairways, you've got to be hitting greens, and hopefully I'll be able to do that on the weekend."
Rounds were dragging well beyond five hours with waits on certain holes a factor adding to the tension.
"It felt long to me. Both the par-fives we basically walked up on the group in front of us," Scheffler said. "I'm just trying to play. I've got too many concerns other than the pace it takes to get around this place."
Scheffler said the delays are not a shock.
"With this many players and this tough of a golf course, it's going to take a while," he said. "That's a big piece of property. It just takes time to hit that many golf shots."
js/rcw
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
US Open golf: Sam Burns fires 65 to grab lead at Oakmont as big names stumble
Sam Burns watches his hit on the ninth hole during the second round of the US Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP) Oakmont: Sam Burns matched the third-best US Open round ever fired at Oakmont, shooting a five-under par 65 to seize a one-stroke lead after Friday's second round as big names struggled. The 28-year-old American made six birdies against a lone bogey to stand on three-under 137 after 36 holes on the punishing layout. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! "It felt like I played really well. Today was really nice," Burns said. "There's obviously a lot of golf left on a very tough course." The only two US Open rounds at Oakmont lower than Burns's 65 were Johnny Miller's final-round 63 to win in 1973 and a 64 by Loren Roberts in the 1994 third round. American J.J. Spaun made bogeys on three of the last four holes to shoot 72 and stand second on 138 with Norway's Viktor Hovland third on 139 after a 68 -- the top trio being the only players under par after 36 holes. "I was definitely anxious to get back out here and see how the game would pan out, and it ended up being a pretty good day," Spaun said. "It was more of a true US Open round, a lot of back and forth, a lot of grinding, bogeys. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo It was still an overall good day. I'm still right there." World number 14 Hovland marveled at 22nd-ranked Burns and his stunning round. "Super impressive," Hovland called it. "It just feels like you have to play absolutely perfect and have some good breaks going your way, as well, but it's definitely doable." Heavy rains drenched Oakmont, halting play for the day at 8:15 p.m. (0015 GMT) with 13 golfers yet to finish their second rounds. World number two Rory McIlroy struggled to make the cut, with double bogeys at the first and third holes, but sank a five-foot birdie putt at the 18th to shoot 72 and stand on 146, securing a spot inside the low 60 and ties to make the weekend. Bryson DeChambeau fired a 77 to stand on 150 and miss the cut, the first defending champion to miss the US Open cut since Gary Woodland in 2020. Also missing the cut was six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, who needed a win to complete a career Grand Slam. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Spain's Jon Rahm were seven adrift on 144. Scheffler fired a 71 with five bogeys and four birdies. "Felt like me getting away with one-over today wasn't all that bad," Scheffler said. "It could have been a lot worse." Rahm fired a frustrating 75. "I'm too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective," Rahm said. "Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn't sniff the hole." 'A punch in the face' With few exceptions, Oakmont was delivering blows to golf's top talent. "Everyone seems like they're exhausted when they come in off the course just because it's a punch in the face," American Denny McCarthy said. "It just takes a lot out of you." Back-nine starter Burns drained a 21-foot birdie putt at 11, a six-footer to birdie the par-three 13th and back-to-back short birdie putts at 17 and 18. Burns answered a bogey at the first with a five-foot birdie putt at the second and reached the green in two to set up a tap-in birdie at the par-five fourth hole, then parred into the clubhouse, sinking a 22-foot par putt at the ninth to close his round. "It's really difficult," Burns said. "Sometimes the best thing is just to take your medicine." Burns, who shared ninth at last year's US Open for his best major finish, last won at the 2023 WGC Match Play, but he fired a Sunday 62 before losing a Canadian Open playoff last week. "I felt like my game was in good form coming in here," he said. Australian Adam Scott and American Ben Griffin shared fourth on 140. France's Victor Perez aced the par-three sixth hole from 192 yards, hitting the 54th hole-in-one in US Open history but only the second ace at a US Open at Oakmont. Perez shot 70 to stand sixth on 141.
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Late miscues cost Phil Mickelson a shot at the weekend in his 34th -- and maybe last -- US Open
There was no grand gesture as the 54-year-old Mickelson loped up the hill. No wave to the crowd the way Arnold Palmer did in the same spot on the same course 31 years ago. No lengthy standing ovation from the gallery in return either. The man whose decades-long pursuit of the U.S. Open made him a fan favorite in his prime — not unlike Palmer in some ways — instead quietly marked his ball 16 feet from the hole, then walked over to the far edge of the green and stared at the leaderboard that glowed in the rainy twilight. A birdie would have let Mickelson stick around for the weekend at his 34th — and perhaps last — trip to the national championship. Wearing a white hat featuring the logo of his LIV Golf team, the HyFlyers GC, Mickelson stood over the line trying to get the right read. When the putt slid a foot left of the hole to keep Mickelson one outside the cut at plus-8, a small groan arose from those who stuck around. There was a shout or two of 'We love you Phil!' Along the railing, a man leaned toward a friend and said, "His exemption is done. No more U.S. Open for you Phil.' Maybe, maybe not. The five-year exemption into the tournament that Mickelson received when he captured the 2021 PGA Championship is expiring. Whether he'll be back to make a run at the one major that has eluded him is anyone's guess. Mickelson sure isn't saying. He politely declined to talk to reporters after emerging from the scoring area, disappearing into the clubhouse and an uncertain future at a tournament where he's been a runner-up six times. There are a number of ways for Mickelson to make it to Shinnecock next June. The USGA could offer him an exemption, as it did at Torrey Pines in 2020, though that doesn't appear to be USGA chief championship officer John Bodenhamer's first choice. 'I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he'd tell you the same thing,' Bodenhamer said Wednesday. "That's what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn't put it past him.' Mickelson became the oldest major champion ever when he triumphed at Kiawah in 2021 at age 50. A lot has happened since then. Both on the course and off it. The man known universally as 'Lefty' played a major role in LIV Golf's rise, a move that has taken a bit of the shine off of his popularity back home. And while Mickelson's game can still show flashes — he really did knock a sideways flop shot into the hole during a LIV event last week in Virginia — and he looks fitter now than he did two decades ago, the reality is the swashbuckling approach that once endeared him to so many doesn't work that much anymore at the U.S. Open. Mickelson appeared to be in solid position to play the weekend when he stood on the 15th tee. He even on the day and 4 over for the tournament, well inside the cutline. A tee shot into the ankle deep rough at the 489-yard par 4 led to double bogey. He still seemed to be OK when he got to 17, a short uphill par 4. His tee shot sailed into the rough above a greenside bunker. There would be no magic this time. His attempted flop splashed into the sand instead. He blasted out to 25 feet and three-putted for another double bogey. That put him in a position he's been familiar with for a long time: heading to 18 at the U.S. Open needing to make a birdie of consequence. It didn't happen. And as he disappeared into the clubhouse, along with it came the realization that at this point, it likely never will. golf: /hub/golf
Economic Times
10 hours ago
- Economic Times
Sam Burns sizzles with 65, takes surprise US Open lead
AP The only two US Open rounds at Oakmont better than 22nd-ranked Sam Burns's 65 are Johnny Miller's iconic final-round 63 to win in 1973 and Loren Roberts's 64 in the third round of the 1994 edition.. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Sam Burns matched the third-lowest round ever recorded at Oakmont in US Open history, carding a five-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead after Friday's second round. The 28-year-old American delivered a near-flawless performance, tallying six birdies and just one bogey to move to three-under 137 through 36 holes on the notoriously challenging course, as several top contenders only two US Open rounds at Oakmont better than 22nd-ranked Burns's 65 are Johnny Miller's iconic final-round 63 to win in 1973 and Loren Roberts's 64 in the third round of the 1994 edition."It felt like I played really well. Today was really nice," Burns said. "There's obviously a lot of golf left on a very tough course." — usopengolf (@usopengolf) Overnight leader JJ Spaun slipped with bogeys on three of his final four holes, finishing with a two-over 72 to drop to second place at two-under 138. Norway's Viktor Hovland climbed into third with a solid 68, sitting at one-under 139 — making the trio of Burns, Spaun, and Hovland the only players under par after 36 holes. — usopengolf (@usopengolf) "I was definitely anxious to get back out here and see how the game would pan out, and it ended up being a pretty good day," Spaun said."It was more of a true US Open round, a lot of back and forth, a lot of grinding, bogeys. It was still an overall good day. I'm still right there." Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau won't be around, carding a disastrous 77 to finish at 150 and miss the cut — becoming the first reigning US Open winner to miss the weekend since Gary Woodland in 2020. World number two Rory McIlroy narrowly made the cut after a shaky start that included double bogeys at the first and third holes. He recovered late, sinking a clutch five-foot birdie putt at the 18th to post a 72 and finish at six-over 146 — just enough to stay inside the top 60 and ties for the weekend. Also heading home early was six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, whose quest to complete the career Grand Slam ended with a missed cut. World number one Scottie Scheffler and Spain's Jon Rahm sit seven shots back at four-over 144. Scheffler endured a rollercoaster 71, mixing five bogeys with four birdies.
