2 hours ago
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — It's tempting, albeit short-sighted, to view Scottie Scheffler's Saturday at Shinnecock through the lens of his last two holes. Had he made the seven-foot par putt after an exceptional bunker shot on 17, and had he holed the downhill four-foot birdie putt on 18, he'd have finished at three under, just three shots behind Wyndham Clark, who was fighting his own battles many holes behind. It would have guaranteed Scheffler a spot in the final group and given Clark a few unsettling scenarios to ponder. It would also have meant he shot a frankly unbelievable 30 on the back nine and come off the course with the kind of torrid momentum that would have to rattle the seemingly unshakeable leader, at least a little.
But let's temper the recency bias just a bit with a few relevant facts:
—Scheffler shot a 69, one under, which was one of exactly two under par rounds in the entire field (shout out Emiliano Grillo who somehow found a 67 out there.)
—He shot a 32 on the back nine, best of the field, and the list of players who broke par on that brutal inward nine is three names long—Scheffler, Clark and Sahith Theegala.
—The USGA upped the green speed, the wind blew (though maybe not as much as the gleeful amateur meteorologists were predicting), dust was in the air, and the list of players under par dwindled from ten to three.
But let's temper the recency bias just a bit with a few relevant facts:
—Scheffler shot a 69, one under, which was one of exactly two under par rounds in the entire field (shout out Emiliano Grillo who somehow found a 67 out there.)
—He shot a 32 on the back nine, best of the field, and the list of players who broke par on that brutal inward nine is three names long—Scheffler, Clark and Sahith Theegala.
—The USGA upped the green speed, the wind blew (though maybe not as much as the gleeful amateur meteorologists were predicting), dust was in the air, and the list of players under par dwindled from ten to three.
