Scottie Scheffler trying to chase down Wyndham Clark at U.S. Open

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Scottie Scheffler finally showed some emotion. 

On the 14th hole at Shinnecock Hills on Saturday, the game’s best player roasted a drive 351 yards to the middle of the fairway but saw his approach bounce along and off the back of the green. That tends to happen here. But Scheffler hit a nifty pitch back up the slope and watched as it rolled into the cup for a birdie – the first of three in a row on his back nine – and he spent the entirety of the walk from the back of the green to the cup pumping his fist. 

“At that point I'm still over par for the tournament, staring at a pretty tough up-and-down. So, to steal a shot there at least is a pretty good feeling. We've been battling for three days now, and yeah, at that point over par for the tournament, you can feel like it's kind of slipping away. To steal one there was really nice,” Scheffler said. 

It might be too little, too late, but we’ve got to Sunday at the U.S. Open and, perhaps, reached the intersection of divine intervention and great golf. You never know in this crazy game. 

Alas, it will still be a tall mountain to climb – even for the game’s No.1-ranked golfer. He’ll be in the final pairing alongside leader Wyndham Clark who – despite a shaky 18th-hole bogey – leads by six shots. 

“We've been battling hard for a few days, and I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament. I'll need a really nice round tomorrow if I'm going to try and catch Wyndham,” Scheffler admitted. 

Clark’s six-shot lead on Scheffler, Sahith Theegala, Sam Stevens and Tom Kim is the fourth-largest 54-hole advantage in U.S. open history. Twenty-one times in major history, a golfer has held a lead of six shots or more heading into the final round and just once has that lead not been converted to a trophy. 

“Scottie is the best player in the world, and he's going to play probably really good. He always does, but it's nice to have a six-shot lead on him. But really, I'm just going to keep approaching it the same way,” said Clark, whose effort on the greens has been the difference as he sits first in strokes gained: putting for the week and made over 50 feet of just par putts on Saturday.  

“If I go out and execute and go through my process and hit the shots I know I can hit, I like my chances.”

This is Scheffler’s first crack at capturing the career grand slam, and he’s at least given himself a shot.

Sunday is father’s day. And it’s also his birthday. 

“I think it’s appropriate to understand what’s at stake,” Scheffler said. “I’ve worked really hard for a long time to have a chance to win golf tournaments and to win major championships. I think understanding the moment and giving it your best shot is all part of the process.”

Scheffler could not have had a more disastrous start to his moving day at Shinnecock Hills, chopping out of the rough for his approach and needing to roll in a nine-footer to save bogey on his first hole. He then missed a six-footer for par on the par-3 2nd, and his day was slipping away from him as quickly as it had begun. 

“Got off to a tough start today. I hit a decent drive there on 1. I got the worst lie I've seen from anybody all week that you couldn't even advance really with a wedge. Ended up making a really nice bogey. Hit a couple of decent shots there on the second. Made another bogey. Just did my best to try and stay patient,” Scheffler said. 

He steadied himself after that, making seven straight pars before making the turn. Scheffler then hit one of the tidiest approaches to No. 10 that we’ve seen all week, essentially a flop shot, he said, from about 70 yards away that ended up just seven feet from the hole – one of just 12 birdies on the hole for the day. 

“I made a really nice birdie there on the 10th. That was a hole where it's really hard to hold that green, so it was really nice to kind of steal a shot there,” Scheffler said. 

Scheffler was the first golfer to get into the house in red figures through 54 holes after shooting a 1-under 69. He added an 11-foot birdie on the par-4 15th and then hit an incredible approach from 272 yards away to just 13 feet for an eagle on No. 16. 

His day could have been better had he not missed a six-footer for par on his penultimate hole. But overall, and especially considering how he started, Scheffler was happy with his round – one of just two under-par efforts for the day. 

“Proud of how we played on the back nine, and going into tomorrow, just continue to do what I need to do and try and execute,” Scheffler said. 

So, history figures to be at stake one way or another on Sunday in the Hamptons. 

Either Clark will have one of the largest collapses in major championship history or Scheffler, who leads the PGA Tour in final-round scoring average, will pull off his latest magic trick – and complete the career grand slam in his first attempt on a day he’s already being celebrated.  

“This is why we practise and play, to have an opportunity to win golf tournaments,” Scheffler said. “And that’s what tomorrow is.”