Scottie Scheffler: “Target on my back, I don’t really feel it”

Scottie Scheffler does not feel the pressure of having a target on his back

Fresh from a fifth title this season at the Memorial, Scottie Scheffler brushes off the ‘target on his back’ tag and insists it’s a level playing field come Thursday.

When the World No.1 tees off with Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy on Thursday for the 124th US Open, he will not be concerned with anyone placing any’ targets’ on his back.

“When we start the tournament week, we’re all at even par and it’s not like anybody is out there playing defense, said Scheffler.

“As far as a target on my back, even if there was, there’s really not much we can do in the game of golf. Most of it is against the golf course and playing against yourself.”

Scheffler insists that all he is focused on is “getting ready to play,” and just because he lifted silverware last week, it doesn’t count for anything this week, especially with the unique challenge of Pinehurst No.2 awaiting.

Speaking of the revered course, Scheffler said: “I think the areas around the green are extremely difficult to play out of. I think the golf course is going to play pretty tough this week, but it’ll be a fun test.”

“The golf course is great. It’s extremely challenging. I don’t really think they have to do too much to trick it up with the way the greens are if they want the scores to be high.”

Staying patient is going to be key for those in contention come Sunday afternoon, another attribute Scheffler appears to have in abundance, frequently demonstrating an ability to bounce back from blotches on the scorecard.

“I think I learned over the course of my career to stay as patient as possible. When I made a triple on that hole [at Memorial], I really didn’t hit that bad of a shot, it just hit a tree and went out of bounds, said Scheffler.

“I kind of reminded myself I was playing good golf and as long as I kept a good head on my shoulders I could continue to go about my day and was able to bounce back nicely.”

While admitting some of the circumstances around the golf course have made life challenging in recent weeks, referring to his debacle with Louisville PD, Scheffer says he now looks back and can have a laugh at himself.

Those who can’t do that on a course when good shots can still result in bogey are in for a long week, or two days for that matter.

Scottie Scheffler starts the week at 3/1 with the bookmakers to win a third Major.

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About the author

Ross Tugwood

Senior Digital Writer

Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.