In the previous nine U.S. opening in Oakmont, only 23 players ended under par. The past three champions have scored more than par, while the Oakmont winner has a minimum score of 5 on 72 holes.
Thanks to the high rough ankle and lightning-fast greens, golf’s most difficult test is even more sinister on a route without water hazards and a few trees.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” said Jon Rahm, captain of the Lef Golf League. “A lot of unfortunate things happen. It’s hard to hit fairways, bad lies, difficult bunkers, difficult greens. It’s going to be a good test, a tough test. I think one of the most real performances at the U.S. Open.”
Will Scottie Scheffler continue when he hopes to capture the third round of the professional grand slam? Master Champion Rory McIlroy can solve his problem, has it bothered him in his last two starts? Who might be ready to lift the dark horse of the U.S. Open Trophy on Sunday?
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has won the championship in three of his last four games, including his third place in the PGA Championship. Is he the golfer he defeated again?
Mark Schrabach: The only way I can’t see Schaffler’s debate this week is if he’s wild on the tee, that doesn’t happen in the last win of the memorial. He seemed to have figured out everything that has bothered him with his driver in the final round of the PGA Championship last month at Quail Hollow Club. And, yes, this guy is so good that he might be a simple case in the wrong direction.
The world’s No. 1 golfer has won three games in the last four games, including the third-place professional champion. He has averaged 14 shots on the court in the last five games, which is nearly impossible to beat if it happens again. He got a tour in almost every stroke when it comes to hitting and driving the ball. He ranks in the top 25 of putting. Yes, good luck.
Paolo uggetti: Is it sky blue? Yes, Schefler is definitely the player that the entire golf world is chasing, and there are good reasons. Scheffler looks unparalleled. While I do think this course and setup requires his A-game – he probably won the title with a B-Game at best at Quail Hollow – Scheffler has been trending towards his 2024 Elite Awards over the past few months.
I agree with Mark that a shaky driver will pop up Scheffler this week, but I’m also curious to know how Scheffler puts fares on the troubled green complex in Oakmont. Shefleur seems to have addressed this weakness, or at least has improved it greatly (he is the 20 putters in the world this season), but if he’s hard to see the putter appear early, I’ll see him getting frustrated by it and let it slowly seep into the rest of the game. Last year, at Pinehurst, the course in Aboriginal areas near the fairway seemed to have caused unpredictability to Scheffler. If you squint and try to find the reason why Scheffler isn’t doing well this week, the greens may be the answer.
What happened to Rory McIlroy, you think he could find his own game in Oakmont?
Schrabach: Apparently, McIlroy wasn’t comfortable on a T-shirt because his former Masters driver was considered unqualified at the PGA Championship. He wasn’t a factor in Quail Hollow, where he won four titles and couldn’t drive himself in the short grass.
McIlroy used a different version of the new Taylormade QI35 driver at last week’s RCMP Open – his result was even worse. He used a shorter shaft (44 inches) to try to get more control over the ball, but he hit only 42% of the fairway. He found only four in the second round, when he exceeded 78 points at 78 points. This is the secret to the Oakmont disaster.
He used another Taylormade driver this week and he felt he was in a better position.
While McIlroy will eventually figure things out on the tee, I care more about his mentality and motivation after finishing his professional grand slam in the Masters. He talked openly about how it was more difficult to get into practice and grind for three to four hours. He talked about how many times he won on the PGA Tour, no one could match the Augusta National Golf Club victory.
“You dreamed of the last putt in the Masters, but you don’t think about what happens next,” McIlroy said Tuesday. “I think I’ve been a player who’s been working hard after a big game, after I’ve won any games. I’m always having a hard time next week showing up because you just got something done, you want to enjoy it, and you want to enjoy the fact that you’re achieving your goals.”
“I think for most of the decade and a half, chasing a goal, I think I can have a little time to relax. But at Oakmont, I certainly can’t relax this week.”
I think it will be at least a few more weeks before we see Rory’s A-Game return.
Uggetti: It sums up golf, doesn’t it? In a second, McIlroy won three games this season, including the master who completed the Grand Slam, and the general theory is that he has released now and may just continue to play at a high level for the rest of the year. Not so fast.
The fickle nature of the sport is even the best. Maybe it’s a swaying feeling, a putter, or in the case of new driver McIlroy, but even a small detail might have a proper good golf ball, and it seems McIlroy is experiencing it now.
McIlroy played 18 holes early on Tuesday and he seemed to be back to the models and specifications of the driver he used in the Masters, which is not the latest Taylor Moorder driver. Maybe that will inspire his return to golfing in Augusta. But if he found a way to win without hitting most fairways, he wouldn’t have the same leeway in Oakmont.
What do you expect from this week’s defending champion Bryson DeChambeau?
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Bryson DeChambeau: Thanks for the year since the US Open victory
Bryson DeChambeau joined the “SportsCenter” to reflect on the year that has passed since the U.S. Open and his progress on his golf journey.
Schrabach: I hope he can reintegrate. It doesn’t sound like a record-breaking, but DeChambeau also has to do better to make the drive between its own drives than it was a year ago.
Last year, at 2 Pinehurst, North Carolina, Dechambeau found only half of the fairways (57%). He can’t do it again in Oakmont. He made up for his inaccuracy by hitting the green and winning his second U.S. Open with a great hit, and DeChambeau’s putt was one of the reasons I liked his involvement this week.
As long as DeChambeau is not on the tee, he is one of the better putts around, which will be a reward for Oakmont’s demonic greens.
Uggetti: DeChambeau is not the most consistent major champion player over the past two years. He has six titles in the top six in the last nine major starts, including two runner-ups and wins. I would be shocked if he wasn’t competing in Oakmont, who came up with the canvas that suited him to play.
That being said, I’d be fascinated by where DeChambeau’s goal match was after that part of his game, which could be said to be where he returned to Augusta and Quail Hollow. During the Masters, Dechambeau hit 60% of the greens in a week, and in PGA he lost nearly half of the game in close quarters.
Of course, Oakmont’s length and rude helping prefer long hitters like Dechambeau, but if his goal game doesn’t improve (he has a new La Golf Irons in his bag this week), that could be another turnover for the defending champion.
How will Oakmont play this week?
Schrabach: If it was less than the Holocaust, I would be disappointed. In the past six U.S. Opens, each winner has scored below or higher, while in the Under-47 champions, they have scored 47. This shouldn’t be the way the United States works publicly.
“I don’t think people are turning on the TV to watch some guys who just played, like shooting 200 yards on the green, do you know what I mean?” said Xander Schauffele, a two-time major champion. “I think they’re open to the United States and seeing a man shoot and suffer when he’s 8. It’s part of the fun of opening the audience in the United States.”
On Monday, I walked with Scheffler and Gary Woodland. The rough roughness is 5 inches, juicy and rich, USGA says. Monday and Tuesday are very wet, but the clear skies are expected to be Friday, so the hot weather should dry up a lot.
I saw the crew cut on No. 18 earlier this week. Or at least I think they are cutting it with the push cutter. I’m pretty sure they just muddled it and dried it.
“I just think it takes patience and discipline,” Justin Thomas said. “If you’re just lazy, like on any drive, any wedge shooting, any chip, any putter, you can quickly look stupid, especially in places like this.”
If the weather forecast is correct, the Greens will be firm and smooth, much faster than any greens that golfers outside Augusta National have seen this season.
“Everything close to par is what they want,” Schauffele said of the potential winning score. “Members absolutely love their property, and members absolutely want it to exceed the standard. I know their roots.”
Uggetti: I’m going to rotate in another way. I do think Oakmont will be difficult – all you have to do is take a walk around the huge hotel, look down at the sweet grass, knowing that the winner will play golf all week. However, I think we often forget how these guys are doing and how the technology they use compared to the technology that players used in 2016.
Modern games and modern drivers combine an overemphasis on early skills, speed and power, thus fostering players such as DeChambeau, McIlroy and several amateurs in the fields this year who can drive it for a mile. Oakmont is more subtle than a simple bomb test, and its complexity will filter out those who do not belong. But the game is too deep now, it is too good now, the evolution of USGA is too big, as a management agency, it is impossible to expect any kind of surpassing.
Oakmont will play hard, but that is not impossible. Not suitable for these guys.
Give us a dark horse to compete/win this week?
Schrabach: Harris English has had his best results in his professional best, and he could bargain with 100-1 odds. In the last four big games, he ranked 12 in the top 12, 12 in the Masters, 10th in the Truist Championship, 2nd in the PGA Championship and 12th in the Memorial. He has a good record at the U.S. Open, with his highest ranking in the last five games. He will leave it on the fairway, will hit enough greens and be one of the best putts out there.
Uggetti: Is Keegan Bradley suitable for the bill? He is currently winning 90-1 odds this week, but seeing him at the top of the rankings over the weekend wasn’t totally shocking me. According to Data Golf, the captain of the US Ryder Cup was a first 15 years of competition, mainly due to his departure from the accuracy of the T-shirt. This season, he ranked in the top 20 in the world, won the T-shirts, and also the top 15. It seems like some sounds are made in Oakmont this week, which seems like a good recipe and does exacerbate the discussion about whether Bradley should be the captain of Bethpage.
