Scottie Scheffler's Strategic Play at the U.S. Open
Scottie Scheffler's U.S. Open performance highlights his elite putting skills and smart course management. Scottie looks to remain in contention this weekend.
Video Transcript
We'll start with Scottie.
Well, I, I wanna just kinda run through Scottie Scheffler in the US Open.
So, he first played as a professional.
He p- he qualified as an amateur, but in 2021, his first one, he finished T7.
2022, finished at second.
2023 at LA, finished as third.
Pinehurst, surprising, I think we all expected him to play well- Yeah finished 41st.
For sure.
Then last year, finished his T7.
But what that tells you is that, you know, it- it's not surprising.
Like, Scottie contends just about any place he goes, but it feels like US Opens, are designed for Scottie Scheffler.
It feels like it rewards patience, it rewards a good discipline, and that is exactly what Scottie Scheffler, has, you know, made his, his, his bread on on the PGA Tour and, and these major championships.
So when I think about a place like this that might frustrate people, that aren't equipped to be able to first execute the shots, number one, but then also have the discipline and the course management to be able to hit to certain spots, I think that is what Scottie Scheffler is going to be able to hopefully be able to do.
'Cause, you know, of course, the storyline for him this week is the Grand Slam potential, winning on his 30th birthday on Sunday.
but a couple things that I wanna like point out to you from a statistical standpoint that I find interesting for Scottie is that his, his bogey avoidance is first.
The one thing that I think that you'll love, and, and I think people don't realize about his putting this year, is that he's 17th in putting, but you look at it, you're like, "Huh, what, where, where is the reason why he's so much higher this year?"
Dude, it's his bonus putting.
It's the putts outside of 25 feet.
Interesting.
He's made 17 putts this year outside of 25 feet, in his ca- and in really in his career, he's only done that like one time where he's actually made more than 17 putts outside of 25 feet.
The last two years, he didn't even get to 17, and we're already at the US Open, so it tells you that he's holing a lot more putts from further away.
But also his proximity this year is the one thing that you point to that you're like, "Huh."
Like, his iron game has been off, and we're like, but it's, it's not that off because he actually leads the PGA Tour in greens and regulations.
You're like, "Gah," like I, I wish I could like be tough on the guy, but he leads the tour in hitting the green in regulation, which is an impressive thing to do, but his proximity from a feet standpoint, he's like five feet further away than he typically averages.
and then also his wedge game's a little bit off as I throw my stuff again.
You- you're doing good just like getting rid of- I, I know all your research.
But, what I wanna ask you is with Scottie and, and knowing that it's really his It's his first, I guess, is this his first crack at- First crack at the, at the, at the career Grand Slam- 'Cause, yeah because he won the Open, the last major of 2025.
So, what, what are your expectations knowing that he's an accurate driver of the golf ball, his, his iron game, of course, he's gonna find a lot of greens.
the putting is, is sure up, and he's an ac- he's third in scrambling.
It's like why, why isn't Scottie gonna win this week?
It, it's, so this is an interesting one because we've done a lot of talking about, you know, this crisis we're having with Scottie Scheffler while looking at stats and saying, "Wait a second."
Like, this guy's one of, been the best, one of the best players on tour this season.
We just hold him to so much of a higher standard.
We hold him to the highest standard really of anyone since prime Tiger Woods, right?
So it's a little bit unfair to him.
There has been a lot of talk in, in the past couple months, and from smart people, not just like people on the internet, like randos, about the differences in his swings and, and, and, you know, swing width, arm width, things like that, and particularly off the tee.
And that's one where, maybe I'd throw it back to you too just to like- Well, wouldn't you say that the off the tee wouldn't be quite as a big of a deal this week- I- because he's gonna, he's gonna find- I- 70% of his fairways- Sure at worst.
But I, I think, and this is why I asked the question of Wyndham, and this is why I'm just curious to see how it plays out, because again, let's go back one major and look at what's, what Scottie did early at Erinniscool is he didn't He, he, you know, he, he played it really smart.
Like he was, you know, bunting little 280 yard, 270 yard drivers and laying in the, in the, in the, in the correct place, and then he didn't do that as much on Friday and beyond and, and wasn't, you know, obviously did not win that major.
But I, I think that there are a lot of holes out here where he has the length to take a more aggressive line, but it requires like a lot of precision and, you know- Yeah landing in a narrow area.
Now I'm, I'm not saying- It's such a second shot golf course though, so like I'm, I think every bit of this test is about iron control and then ability to be able to get up and down around the green.
I, I think, a- and I think I agree with all that.
I just, I guess I think back to the frustration with some of the lies he found off the fairway at Pinehurst in 2024, and this is very different, but you know, we just talked about fescue, like you could pull a good lie and be lucky or you could just be completely boned, have to chip it out.
And so I think that, you know, like a lot of guys, I think the same thing of, of Rory.
He recently was talking about his swing mechanics and how he prefer I know he, I know he's a drawer of the golf ball, but he prefer to hit like a cut off the tee, but his miss is further out in the toe and so goes left.
And so it's one thing if like you, you hit a draw normally and then you draw it a little bit further and you can kind of shut down the right side of the golf course.
If you have a two-way miss out here, that's where I'm curious to see how much guys get penalized.
