Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlory were simultaneously wrecked by 1 U.S. Open hole and golf fans loved it
Scottie Scheffler came into the U.S. Open as the unquestioned best golfer in the world. In the official golf world rankings, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlory were right behind him at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
You might expect one of them to struggle every now and then, but not all three. You certainly don’t expect all three to struggle with the same shot on the same hole.
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Enter the U.S. Open’s notoriously firm greens and brutal roughs. As the trio made their way through the second round on Friday, the No. 5 hole at Pinehurst caused all sorts of trouble as the three approached the green and it was glorious.
This is why we love the U.S. Open. Getting to watch the best in the world have to suffer the same consequences as your average duffer on the course is such a thrill. And as Scheffler, McIlroy and Schauffele each tried to get on the green from 50 feet out, not a single one could get their ball to stick near the flag.
You simply do not see this outside the U.S. Open.
The full U.S. Open experience for Rory, Xander and Scottie…
Scheffler moves to +5 which is outside current cutline
— Golfbet (@Golfbet) June 14, 2024
Seeing Scottie and Xander fail with a wedge, Rory made sure to put his shot on the opposite side of the green rather than risk the ball rolling back to his feet. That helped him save par while Schauffele and Scheffler each whimpered away with a double bogey.
Scottie was asked about his group’s odyssey around the No. 5 green afterwards and admitted it essentially all came down to luck:
I think that’s part of the mystery of the kind of sandy areas. You get down there and it’s kind of luck of the draw whether or not you have a shot. Preferably I would have loved to have hit like a little runner out of there, but I had a bush in my way to where I couldn’t play the runner that I would have hoped to. Really all you’re trying to do from there is get it up on to the green somewhere, and I felt like I took the best route I could think of at first, and just because it’s so unpredictable. So yeah, just pretty challenging spot for your ball to end up in.
Golf fans, meanwhile, loved watching the trio struggle.
Scottie Scheffler just needed 5 shots to get it in the hole from 15 yards. He's never been more relatable.
— Andy Nesbitt (@anezbitt) June 14, 2024
I can’t believe we just witnessed the top 3 players in the world all make maybe the worst mistake you could make at Pinehurst.
And then 2 of the 3 made pretty much the same mistake AGAIN by having it come back to their feet left of 5.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) June 14, 2024
The top three players in the world just took five combined shots to get out of the waste area short of No. 5 and two of them still aren’t on the green pic.twitter.com/0O3xzKIdxP
— Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) June 14, 2024
Proper US Open https://t.co/f0aXRdT8fG pic.twitter.com/Rz9Lc1BYCM
— Davis Wick (@dwick2quick) June 14, 2024
From the comfort of my couch:
“Hey, I can do that…”
Scottie-Xander-Rory group is all of us
— THP Golf (@THPGolf) June 14, 2024
Scottie is doing his best Rory impression and Rory is doing his best Scottie impression (SO FAR. I DON’T WANT TO JINX IT). pic.twitter.com/sIERJcJQuF
— Swale Golf (@swalegolf) June 14, 2024
Scottie Rory and Xander are making an absolute mess of this 5th hole. Truly warms the heart of the every day golfer to watch these dudes hit chip shots right back to their feet
— Big Drive Energy (@BigDriveEnergy) June 14, 2024