Scottie Scheffler, who narrowly made the cut and started the day at 5 over par, could have shot 67 or even 66 at the U.S. Open on Saturday.
He played much better from tee to green than he had over the first two days of the championship, creating plenty of birdie opportunities, but his putter let him down again.
Scheffler lost nearly two strokes on the second green at Pinehurst on Saturday and ranks last in strokes gained on putting among players who made the cut. He ultimately shot a 1-over 71 in the third round, but could have made his presence felt up the leaderboard with a few more putts.
Instead, he missed one good opportunity after another, leaving Scheffler frustrated and repeatedly staring into the abyss. He looked lost on the greens, something he hadn’t seen since earlier this year, before switching to a mallet putter ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“Another frustrating day, just another day where I thought I played a lot better than the score suggested,” Scheffler said.
“I’m really struggling with reading the greens. I made a lot of putts today and I felt like I was hitting them really well. I looked up and it just didn’t go the way I thought it would. I was hitting them really well but I just couldn’t get them close enough, which is hard on this course. I just couldn’t hole the putts.”
Scheffler’s first solid chance came on the par-5 fifth hole, where he nearly got there in two, but three-putted from just short of the green and had to settle for par.
Three holes later, on the difficult par-4 eighth, Scheffler finally got a birdie – his first in 26 holes and the longest birdie-less streak of his career – but he quickly lost steam on the par-3 ninth, missing a 3-foot putt for par.
Scheffler then put himself in good position on every hole from 10 to 14. He missed an 8-foot birdie attempt on the par-5 10th hole, then finally made a 9-foot birdie on the next hole, but it was his last birdie of the day.
On the 12th hole, Scheffler’s shot from 8 feet narrowly missed the hole; had it fallen, he would have gained momentum. And on the 13th hole, after hitting his drive short of the green, Scheffler couldn’t get up and down for birdie, again missing a putt from within 10 feet and set for par again.
Scheffler couldn’t save par just short of the green and then bogeyed the 15th, missing another 9-foot putt in the process.
The world number one capped another frustrating day with three consecutive pars on the second hole at Pinehurst. He may be able to capitalize on those chances in the final round on Sunday, but either way, it will likely come too late and he will not achieve his first U.S. Open victory this time, despite entering the tournament at shockingly short odds.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
