What Scottie Scheffler blamed for uncharacteristic US Open struggles

OAKMONT, Pa. — Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 ranked player, simply never got it going this week.

Despite entering the U.S. Open as the overwhelming favorite to win, having won three of his previous four starts (including the PGA and the Memorial), Scheffler finished with an even-par 70 on Sunday to finish 4-over par.

Scheffler, who leads the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance, had 17 of them (and a double), which is more than he has made in any PGA Tour event in his career. 

A low point to his day came on No. 3, where Scheffler three-putted for the sixth time of the tournament en route to a sloppy double bogey.

“I felt like I did some good things out there,’’ Scheffler said. “A few more putts drop today I think it’s a little different story. My first three days, I felt like I was battling the whole time. Today I hit some shots. I hit some putts that I really thought were going in, hit some lips. It was just challenging. I was just right on the edge today.

“My main takeaway is I battled as hard as I did this week. I was really proud mentally of how I was over the course of four days. I did a lot of things out there that could really kind of break a week, and I never really got that one good break that kind of propels you. I’d hit it this far off, and seemingly every time I did, I was punished pretty severely for it.’’

Hours before the lead groups approached the 18th hole, Jon Rahm was the leader in the clubhouse at 4-over after shooting the low round of the day at 3-under 67.

He got there with birdies on his final three holes and said the difference was his accurate driving.

“It’s crazy because it doesn’t feel like I played that different to every other round,’’ Rahm said. 

Rory McIlroy equaled Rahm’s 67, but he finished 7-over, which ended an impressive streak of four consecutive U.S. Opens that he’s finished under par.

McIlroy carded seven birdies in the first three rounds and six on Sunday.

The par-3 eighth hole was playing 302 yards on Sunday, making it the longest par-3 in U.S. Open history.

“Luckily, it was downwind, I’ll just say that,’’ Rahm said. “How do you approach that? You most likely pull the head cover off one of the clubs and then hope it goes straight. Today, I chose to hit a 5-wood. I think 3-wood I could have landed it closer to pin high.”

Justin Hastings was the only one of 15 amateurs in the field to make the cut, so he was going to finish as the low amateur regardless of what he shot on the weekend. He finished 15-over after Sunday’s final-round 76.

“It was such a treat just to be able to play in the U.S. Open and then let alone have the success to be able to call yourself low amateur,” said Hastings, a native of the Cayman Islands. “It’s something I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life.’’

Hastings earned his way into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open fields by winning the Latin America Amateur Championship in January. 

“That tournament, I can’t even describe it with words how big it’s been for me,’’ he said. 

He said he plans to turn pro after the British Open next month.

“We want to get on the PGA Tour as soon as possible,’’ he said. “My coaches like to say that good golf takes care of all that, so we’re going to focus on playing as well as we can, and when we get opportunities the next few months.’’

Canadian Corey Conners withdrew before his final round was to begin with a wrist injury. The 33-year-old Conners, who was competing in his seventh U.S. Open, was scheduled to tee off at 10:20 a.m., paired with Ryan Fox, of New Zealand. 

He had his best finish in a U.S. Open last year, when he tied for ninth at Pinehurst, has a top 15 finish in all four major championships and has won twice on the PGA Tour. The injury reportedly occurred when Conners took a shot out of a bunker on Friday and his club got caught on a TV wire for a bunker camera.