World No.1 golfer Scottie Scheffler struggled through major tribulations during the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday. He ended up with an uncharacteristic 1-over 71. Scheffler’s mindset was laser-focused as he approached the notoriously difficult course. He was just happy to avoid the worst damage and remain competitive in the tournament.
Scheffler had rough starts on the front nine. He carded an unfortunate six bogeys against just three birdies, shooting a final-round 73. His performance on Friday was a reflection of that hardship as he came out of the box hot, sitting 1 under through the opening four holes. A double bogey on the 15th hole proved to be the fatal blow to his round.
As the day wore on, Scheffler faced increasing trouble. After an early bogey on the 12th, he bogeyed four of his next eight holes but recovered with birdies on Nos. 2 and 4. His overall score, befitting of the difficult course set-up and his own struggle for form.
Even now, I have days where I want to throw in the towel. The golf course was far from easy, and my golf swing was just broken. He made sure to mention how important resilience was to getting through the challenges of the day.
Scheffler’s frustration bubbled to the surface when he smashed his driver after his ball ended up in a sand trap separated by sand berms. However, all of these disappointments made him all the more confident in his performance. Didn’t feel nasty, didn’t feel like me escaping with 1-over today being too terrible a thing. It would have been much, much worse,” he said.
As Golf Channel analysts Andy North and Michael Collins explained, even with those difficulties, Scheffler kept himself in the hunt at the U.S. Open. He was introspective about his performance on the whole. Benson conceded that if they had played at a higher level more consistently they would have finished higher in the tournament standings. “At the U.S. Open I don’t think you’re ever out of the tournament. Put together two decent days, I may be in 25th or 30th place or something like that after today,” Scheffler explained.
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