SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — One of the 72 shots Scottie Scheffler hit Thursday at the U.S. Open was a lash with a fairway wood on the 16th hole. He followed up by placing his hands on his knees and squinting into the emerging sunshine while asking caddie Ted Scott if he saw where the ball ended up.
A few minutes later, everyone knew the answer. There was Scheffler jumping up and down in a bunker situated 150 yards shy of the green — and 10 feet lower
than the fairway — to catch a glimpse of the flag on the putting surface ahead.
What resulted was a rare bogey 6 for the world's No. 1 player on one of those rare par 5s in pro golf that wasn't remotely reachable in two — thanks to it being uphill and dead into a 25 mph wind. The 16th played at 0.41 strokes over par midway through the first round, fifth-hardest hole on the course.
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“You had to be hitting a great shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment,” Scheffler said after walking off the windswept golf course at 2-over par, a reasonable four shots behind early leader Sam Stevens but feeling beaten up. “I think ‘good’ would put you in some tough spots.”
Scheffler, who needs this tournament to complete the career Grand Slam, found plenty of those tough spots over a morning round that bled well into the afternoon — a 5 1/2-hour grind through the wind that started late because of a two-hour fog delay. One of his playing partners, defending champion J.J. Spaun, fared even worse. Spaun shot 77.
Scheffler made double bogey on No. 8 after teeing off into the rough, hitting his second into a bunker some 40 yards from the hole, then three-putting.
He hit a wedge from 110 yards to the middle of the 13th green, but the ball spun and rolled off the front. That led to a bogey; blame it on the soft conditions the USGA has been trying to hang on to in wake of the wind forecast.
“Overall, yeah, it was a really challenging day,” Scheffler said. “If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on 9 that I would post 2-over today, I would definitely have taken it at the time.”
He made that putt, a 6-footer, to make the turn at 3 over. He sank a 9-footer for a sand save on No. 18 to walk away with his 72. Three of his four birdies came on the back nine.
“I feel like this course can change pretty rapidly from day to day,” he said. “I think that’s also part of the challenge of the tournament is adjusting to those conditions.”
Some 90 minutes after the round, Scheffler was still on the driving range, having an animated conversation with his coach, Randy Smith, while the wind picked up for the second wave of players, many of whom would be on the course at twilight.
As much as his swing, Scheffler knows this tournament will come down to who can untangle the conditions, then deal with them the best. He walked off the course in a tie for 75th place — not out of it, but still looking for answers.
“I think it’s a little easier sometimes in a U.S. Open,” Scheffler said, “because it’s happening to everybody.”
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