Scottie Schefflers mediocre US Open doesnt improve after rough third round

PINEHURST, N.C.— Maybe Scottie Scheffler was simply due to run into one of these weeks. Maybe the strain of dominating the game for as long as he has, carrying the No.

1 world ranking, winning tournaments, being in contention every week, having his first child born, and even being wrongfully arrested and thrown in jail before his second round of the PGA finally took a toll on the 27-year-old Scheffler.“How was today?’’ Scheffler said Saturday, repeating a reporter’s question after he shot 1-over 71 in the U.S.Open third round at Pinehurst No.

2, leaving him at 6-over and miles from contention. “Another frustrating day.Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score.

I’m having a lot of trouble reading these greens.I had a lot of putts today where I felt like I hit it really good, [and] I looked up and they were not going the way I thought they were going to go. “My swing today felt a lot better than it did [Friday].

I felt like the last 27 holes I’ve played, I’ve hit it really nice, but I just haven’t been able to hit it quite close enough, which is difficult around this course.I haven’t been able to hole the putts the last few days.’’ Because he’s been so good for so long, it was a shock to the system to see Scheffler struggle to merely make the cut on the line at 5-over Friday. “The game of golf is a mental torture chamber at times, especially the U.S.

Open,’’ Scheffler said.“Yeah, I thought it was challenging.

The first 27 holes, I was in the native area way too much of the time.Everything felt really tough. “Now that I was able to hit a lot more fairways today, it maybe felt a touch easier to me.’’ Then Scheffler said, “I wouldn’t be using me as a bearing for what’s good right now.

Pretty mediocre at best right now.’’ Mediocre Scottie Scheffler is Bizarro World Scottie Scheffler.Because that’s how high he’s raised the bar for himself. Prodded by a reporter, Scheffler r...