Scottie is favorite at Oakmont, but he doesn’t pay attention to it
OAKMONT—Scottie Scheffler is a recent major winner, and he’s finished top four in the first two majors this season. But despite being installed as the betting favorite to take home the championship at the US Open this weekend in Oakmont, he made his feelings clear on Tuesday about what being a favorite ultimately might mean on the course.
“I don’t pay attention to the favorite stuff or anything like that,” Scheffler said. “Starting Thursday morning we’re at even par, and it’s up to me to go out there and play against the golf course and see what I can do.”
How does the PGA Championship winner tune out the noise? He acknowledged it isn’t easy, especially in this modern era of increased sports betting, and that it even occasionally demands a drastic action or two.
“I think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial benefit or anything in their outcome,” Scheffler said. “That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling.”
What is a good feeling is winning golf tournaments, and Scheffler has done that three times already this season. In addition to his win in Charlotte last month, he also triumphed at the Memorial Tournament earlier this month and at the Byron Nelson in early May—meaning he has won three of the past four events he has taken part in.
Still, that hot streak isn’t exactly an anomaly, as the 28-year-old has nine Top-10 finishes since February.
“Houston I finished second, and that was right before the Masters (a fourth-place finish). That was when I really felt like I was starting to do some good things,” Scheffler said. “I felt like if I could sharpen up my swing a little bit more, I felt like I was going to get into the right—the place where I wanted to be.”
Prepared and rested
When he tees off at Oakmont Country Club, he’ll do so not only with the confidence of a golfer playing exceedingly well, but also in feeling prepared and rested.
“Having the week off was really important for me to get home, get some rest, recover and I showed up here on Sunday and was able to play maybe 11 holes and really get used to the conditions,” he said, noting that approach came in sharp contrast to last year’s US Open, where he came in the week after a win at the Memorial Tournament and felt less prepared than he could have been.
“It feels much more like my normal major prep versus last year where you’re coming in from basically a major championship test, coming into another one is pretty challenging. … I’ve learned over the course of my career to focus a little bit more on the rest side of things.”
