Scheffler set for ‘hardest’ test at Oakmont for US Open

Oakmont, United States: World number one Scottie Scheffler said Wednesday the formidable Oakmont course could provide “the hardest” challenge of his career at the 125th US Open this week.

Lightning-fast sloped greens combined with deep, dense rough and bunkers designed to leave balls along the edges had many players calling it the toughest layout they have faced as Oakmont hosts a record 10th US Open.

“This is probably the hardest golf course that we’ll play, maybe ever,” said Scheffler, who won last month’s PGA Championship for his third major title, ahead of Thursday’s opening round. Second-ranked Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, called Oakmont a “big brute” and added: “You’re going to have to have your wits about you this week all the way.”

Not since American Jordan Spieth captured the 2015 Masters and US Open has anyone won consecutive majors, but two-time Masters winner Scheffler is on a hot streak. Scheffler has won three of his past four starts, matching a PGA Tour record for low 72-hole total to take the Byron Nelson and defending his Memorial title 10 days ago in addition to his major triumph.

“He’s in the middle of every fairway,” third-ranked Xander Schauffele said of Scheffler. “It takes a serious amount of discipline to play away from pins and hit really good shots to safe targets, and that’s what it takes to play well at US Opens.”

Three-time major winner Spieth said most players will pitch onto fairways from the thick rough rather than try to blast out short of the green. “It magnifies once you make a mistake if you don’t play the right shot,” Spieth said. “It may cost you half a shot to get back in the fairway a little further up.

“They give you more green here to entice you into doing more than you should. There’s some risk-reward on this place. You’ve got to avoid compounding mistakes for sure.” Finding the fairway is crucial, McIlroy said. “Decent lies in the rough are few and far between,” McIlroy said. “You don’t want to ride your luck on this golf course.

“You hit the ball in the rough and you’re not going to have any control of your ball going into the green, especially these greens that are pitched away from you. “You have to be able to spin the ball going into these greens if you want it to finish anywhere close to where you want.”

And sometimes the rough just wins. “I had some lies that were not playable,” fourth-ranked Collin Morikawa said of his time in the rough during practice rounds. “There was no loft.”

Scheffler, who turns 29 the Saturday after the tournament, made his major debut at Oakmont at the 2016 US Open, missing the cut as a 19-year-old amateur with his older sister Callie serving as his caddie.

One year later, Scheffler was low amateur at the US Open and five years after that, he was a Masters champion. “I remember coming here and thinking it was really fun, really cool to be able to play in the US Open,” Scheffler said. “But what I really remembered was coming back the next year and ... finishing low am.”

Scheffler also recalled rushing off the course to watch game six of the 2016 NBA Finals, when LeBron James led Cleveland to victory on the way to taking the title over Stephen Curry and Golden State.