SOUTHAMPTON (United Kingdom) — Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler struggled to a two-over par 72 in the first round of the US Open, saying “good” shots were not good enough in punishing winds at Shinnecock.
Scheffler, needing a victory this week to complete a career Grand Slam, followed bogeys with birdies on the next hole three times in his round, but a three-putt double bogey at the ninth was crucial.
“It felt like a day where a lot of good shots were going to get punished is what it felt like,” Scheffler said.
“You had to be hitting a ‘great’ shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment. I think ‘good’ would put you in some tough spots.”
There was, however, one saving grace in his struggles. “It’s a little easier sometimes in a US Open because it’s happening to everybody,” Scheffler said according to AFP.
With memories of watering the greens between groups in 2004 and 2018 US Opens at Shinnecock, the US Golf Association dialed back the maximum green speeds — more than Scheffler expected.
“I would say the greens were maybe a little softer than I expected, but I think with the wind that was forecasted, you always want to err on the side of caution,” Scheffler said.
“The last thing that they wanted was having balls blowing off greens, so they might have put a little extra juice on them last night to slow them down.”
Scheffler rated most of the greens as fine but warned of outliers where balls struggled to hold their positions.
“There’s a couple greens where there’s so much pitch that (if) you get the wind going down the slope it can roll off pretty easily,” said Scheffler.
“It was probably maybe a little softer than I thought. Just I had imagined it would be firm and slow, I guess.”
Even with less than the maximum test the US Open has typically been, the wind and greens and dense rough were more than enough to send scores soaring.
“Any time you get conditions like this, I think the scores are going to be high,” Scheffler said. “It’s an interesting golf course. Part of the challenge so far is judging the conditions as well, judging how this course is going to play.
“This course can change pretty rapidly from day to day. That’s also part of the challenge of the tournament is adjusting to those conditions.”
The result left Scheffler within reach but needing to adjust to make a charge for the top.
“It was a really challenging day,” he said. “Overall, it was a good battle. Get some rest, and we’ll see how the course changes.”
