Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are among the favourites to win the 125th US Open, but neither have been able to get to grips with the Oakmont Country Club’s troubling greens
The US Open is hitting its stride, yet it’s proving a tough nut to crack for top contenders Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Both the Northern Irish golf star and the New Jersey-born icon have bagged the last two majors with victories at the Masters and PGA Championship respectively.
The Oakmont Country Club’s merciless greens are giving elite players a run for their money, with neither McIlroy nor Scheffler spared from the challenge.
According to former pro, and CBS analyst, Dottie Pepper, the pair will now be working on how to break their way back into contention, with two very different views on how the game should be played, reports the Mirror US.
Discussing their behaviour on the course and how their styles vary, Pepper, 59, told the Sliced Podcast: “Rory is more apt to roll the dice than Scottie is. Scottie rolls the dice by the way he flights the golf ball into tough targets.
“Before the tournament at Pebble [Beach, in January] got started this year, Scottie played at Cyprus and [I] talked to the kid that caddied for him and he said ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’.
“Because he never really took on flags directly, the way Rory does. He took a line and moved the golf ball toward it, took a line and moved it right, took a line and moved it left – so everything fed toward the hole. So there’s a different flight pattern, there’s a different artistry.
“They are both extraordinarily powerful. They’re both definitely motivated to win, you don’t want to get in their way. But Rory has this way of doing something unpredictable and then has that flair to recover.”
Pepper also remarked that while some golfing aces relish a “big production” with an entourage and high-tech gadgets, Sheffler opts out of such theatrics.
“He sees things, he feels things,” Pepper added. “Everyone else is out there with their diagnostics and their team, and all of that. But there’s not a lot of business around them [Scheffler and his team].”
At the time of writing, Scheffler is T45 while Mcilroy is T52. Scheffler endured a first round of 73 and is now in the midst of his second. Speaking after his first round, Scheffler said: “I made some silly mistakes and I just need to be a little sharper.”
McIlroy had a promising start on Thursday but faltered with four bogeys and a double bogey ending the day at four over 74. The 36-year-old arrived at Oakmont after missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open.
He has now hit 71 or higher in five straight rounds, going back to the PGA Championship. McIlroy declined to speak to the media about his round on Thursday, and tees off later on Friday for his second.
Meanwhile out in front on the leaderboard is U.S. star JJ Spaun. Thriston Lawrence is currently in second, while Si-Woo Kim and Sam Burns are behind in third.
