Scottie Scheffler had 5 bogeys and 4 birdies in the second round at Oakmont today. To say that the #1 had a tough time would definitely be an understatement. He was already struggling on Thursday after a series of mistakes in the first 18. Everyone witnessed his burst of frustration on the 14th hole after his approach shot didn’t land where he wanted it to. And on Friday, it was inevitable that Mr. Inevitable would be a little more cautious.
Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, and Collin Morikawa took some time to finish the second set of 18 holes. In total, the trio needed around five and a half hours to complete the round. Concerned about the delays, one of the reporters asked the 16x PGA Tour winner, “I know it’s hard out there, but why is it taking so long?” After a little back and forth, Scheffler tried to shift the blame, “It felt long to me. Both the par-5s, we basically walked up on the group in front of us. When it’s up on No. 8 — you’ve got a drivable par-4 on 17. 8 is basically a drivable par-4, too. You guys are the ones watching. I’m just trying to play. I’ve got too many concerns other than the pace it takes to get around this place.”
Oakmont Country Club certainly has one of the meanest courses in the world. As Scheffler confessed, he tried to keep up with the expected pace of play. However, he put the group in front of him under the bus by suggesting that they can’t continue playing if Sam Burns & Co. can’t push ahead quickly enough. That’s not where his series of excuses ended.
When asked, “Does that get under your skin at all?” Scheffler knew just exactly what he needed to say. He added, “No. Going into a golf course like this with this many players and this tough of a golf course, you know it’s going to take a while. If it was, like — if we’re playing threesomes at Travelers next week, the scores are obviously going to be a bit different. There’s not nearly the distance in between holes. Look at the ground we’ve got to cover out there to walk 18 holes. That’s a big piece of property. It just takes time. It just takes time to hit that many golf shots.”
A he admitted, it’s challenging to manage time when your primary focus is to make par or, if you’re lucky, under par. But Scheffler & Co. still received a lot of backlash for their “snail-pace play.” Fans called for penalties and disqualifications after suffering through the delays they caused.
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