By Frank Pingue
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -Scottie Scheffler will be the clear favourite when the U.S. Open begins on Thursday at Oakmont Country Club where the devilish course is sure to torment many of the world’s best players vying for the year’s third major title.
There are 156 players in the field this week but it is the familiar trio of world number one Scheffler, defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and Masters winner Rory McIlroy who are commanding much of the attention at Oakmont.
Scheffler enters the U.S. Open in stellar form having secured three wins in his last four starts. His driving proficiency and unflappable temperament make him well suited to be in contention come Sunday.
The notoriously challenging Oakmont, which is hosting the U.S. Open for a record 10th time, will demand pinpoint accuracy off the tee given the five-inch rough lining the narrow fairways that lead to lightning fast greens on the par-70 layout.
“There’s not really many areas where you step on the tee box and you’re like, hey, I can miss it right here, hey, I can shade towards the left side of the fairway because right is really bad,” said Scheffler.
“Actually, if you hit it in the right rough, you’re probably not going to get it to the green; if you hit it in the left rough, you’re probably not going to get it to the green. So might as well try and split the difference there and hit it in the middle.”
A win for Scheffler would put him alongside Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth as the only active players with three legs of the career Grand Slam of golf’s four majors and give him a shot at completing the feat at the July 17-20 British Open.
FAN FAVOURITE
Big-hitting DeChambeau, who went close at the year’s first two majors, is looking to become the first repeat U.S. Open winner since Brooks Koepka in 2018.
DeChambeau, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the field this week, is a fan favourite and fully expects to use their energy to help him get across the finish line and collect a third major title.
“It’s been a lot of fun just experiencing what the fans are giving me. It’s so much energy,” said DeChambeau, who briefly held the final-round lead at the Masters in April and finished runner-up at the PGA Championship last month.
“The only reason why I’m still here with this much energy is because of them, and even last week (at the LIV Golf event) in Virginia, the crowds were really great and pumping me on.
“Am I tired? For sure. But am I excited? I’m more excited than I am tired.”
‘BEST ATTITUDE’
World number two McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam at this year’s Masters but has struggled since, will be hoping to get his mojo back but enters the week fresh off his first missed cut of the season.
The Northern Irishman, a U.S. Open runner-up the last two years, has been errant off the tee ever since being forced to switch drivers at the PGA Championship where his preferred one was considered non-conforming following a routine inspection.
Despite a less-than-ideal build-up to the U.S. Open, McIlroy pronounced himself ready for a test that will challenge both the physical and mental parts of players’ games.
“It’s very penal if you miss. Sometimes it’s penal if you don’t miss,” McIlroy said of Oakmont’s rough. “But the person with the most patience and the best attitude this week is the one that’s going to win.”
Among the other favourites this week are British Open champion Xander Schauffele, Spaniard Jon Rahm, Swede Ludvig Aberg and Ireland’s Shane Lowry.
Six-times major winner Mickelson, a record six-times U.S. Open runner-up who will celebrate his 55th birthday on Monday, needs a win this week to complete the career Grand Slam.
This is the final year of Mickelson’s five-year exemption into the U.S. Open for winning the 2021 PGA Championship and he has said this could be his last start at the major.
(Reporting by Frank PingueEditing by Toby Davis)
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