The trophy didn’t come at Oakmont, but that doesn’t mean that the tournament didn’t teach Scottie Scheffler some valuable lessons.
Finishing four over par, the world number one still managed to notch another top-10 finish, showing once again why he’s the most consistent player in the game right now.
It wasn’t a flawless week. A few missed chances – especially on Saturday – left him chasing from behind, and by the time Sunday rolled around, there just wasn’t enough daylight to catch the leaders.
But with The Open Championship still to come and plenty left on the calendar, Scheffler didn’t leave Oakmont empty-handed – at least not in terms of momentum.
Speaking to reporters after his final round, he opened up about what he took away from four demanding days at Oakmont.
Scottie Scheffler gives honest review of his week at Oakmont
Despite not adding another major to his résumé, Scheffler wasn’t in a sour mood. In fact, his post-round comments were about as insightful as ever.
Reflecting on his performance, Scheffler pointed to the mental grind more than anything else.
“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,” Scheffler said.
“Even today, I make that double early, and then I come back, I birdie 4. I hit what I feel like is a good tee shot on 5, and it’s just off the first cut and I don’t have a stance again. Just little things like that add up over the course of a week. That’s the second time this week it’s happened where I thought the ball is in the fairway, I get up there, and I actually don’t have a stance, I’m chipping out sideways.
“I hit…I could go on and on. Hitting a pin with an iron shot where the ball should be a foot from the hole and all of a sudden I’ve got 20 feet. Just little stuff like that, where the weeks that you win, you need to have good luck sometimes in order to win tournaments. This week the way I was battling, I wasn’t able to give myself enough chances.
“Yeah, I think that’s really what it came down to. If I had four days like I did today, I think it would have been a different story. I was playing kind of behind the eight ball most of the week hitting the ball in the rough. Overall, proud of how I battled, gave myself a chance, but ultimately didn’t have enough.”
Did Scheffler believe three over was enough to win?
Even late on Sunday, Scheffler still felt he had a shot. Walking up 18, he knew a birdie could have put real pressure on the leaders and maybe even given him a chance to post a winning number.
But a tough lie off the tee turned any hopes of a closing birdie into a battle just to save bogey. He finished at four over, wondering what might have been with just a few better breaks.
“Yeah, I’m going to try to make birdie, hit it in close in there, see if I can hole one. I’m not limiting myself to anything. My first job was to get the ball in the fairway, which I didn’t do. Then I thought to myself, maybe this is the one, maybe this is the time I get the lie, and I got up there, and it was probably the worst lie I had all week. Dang, it was a tough pill to swallow,” Scheffler added.
“Overall, that’s why you hit the ball in the fairway so you don’t have to deal with that stuff. Typically, I’m good at it. This week I wasn’t as good as normal, and I paid the price for it.”
Oakmont proved just how fine the margins can be, even for the world number one. If Scheffler finds a bit more rhythm with the driver and irons by the time the Open rolls around, he’ll be right back in the hunt for another major.
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