Assassin-like Scottie Scheffler creeps up Open leaderboard

 

Scottie Scheffler has a knack for lurking under the radar, and his performance at The Open has been no exception. With a level-par third round of 71, the world No. 1 has put himself just two shots off the lead, positioning himself as a formidable contender for his second major of the year.

 

Scheffler’s rise has been so subtle that many didn’t notice him sneaking up the leaderboard, even before the final pairing of Dan Brown and Shane Lowry stumbled on Troon’s 18th in the gathering gloom last night. Now, officially a serious threat to claim his maiden Open title, Scheffler’s quiet ascent has the rest of the field on high alert.

 

What’s remarkable is how Scheffler has maneuvered himself into this position with little fanfare. Like a stealthy assassin, he’s crept up on the competition, going about his business quietly and efficiently. Saturday was yet another day when the world No. 1 largely flew under the radar, putting together a steady round in tough conditions.

 

While a level-par round might not sound extraordinary given some of the scores posted earlier in the day, the context is crucial. Scheffler faced brutal weather on the back nine, which he described as “the hardest nine holes I’ll ever play.” Despite the challenging conditions, he played those final nine holes in just one-over-par, dropping shots at the 13th and 15th but recovering with a sensational three-wood on the par-three 17th, setting up a birdie with a shot to two feet.

 

Scheffler’s account of his round highlights the difficulty: “I probably don’t hit a 3-wood on a par-3 very often,” he said. “I probably don’t hit driver and a 3-wood really solid on a par-4 and don’t get there in two, either, which is what happened at 15.” He continued, “At 18, I hit a good driver and a really hard 3-iron. I’m hitting that 3-iron super low and as hard as I can, and yesterday Jordan [Spieth] hit a driver there and had 30, 40 yards to the front edge. It was 160-, 170-yard difference in length off the tee there, from his drive yesterday to my drive today. Yeah, it was pretty wild out there, but I did a good job of grinding it out.”

 

Scheffler’s Struggle with the Putter

To be honest, if Scheffler had been more effective with his putter, he might be leading the tournament by now. Despite numerous birdie opportunities on the front nine, he ranks 114th in the field in putting this week. However, he remains composed despite the missed chances. “I think about the putts I hit on eight and nine where I look up and I think it’s going in and it goes up to the hole and it lips out,” he reflected. “It can be frustrating, but I felt like today was another one of those days where I just did a really good job of not getting overly frustrated, staying in a good head space and did a good job of really staying in the tournament.”

 

Scheffler’s ability to stay focused is remarkable. Few golfers could endure the kind of tumultuous events he faced at the US PGA in May, including an arrest for second-degree assault of a police officer and reckless driving, and then come back to shoot a 66 in a major championship hours later.

 

Arriving at Troon on Saturday a couple of hours before his tee time, Scheffler looked as if he might have spent the night at a local jailhouse. One might have feared he had caught whatever bug had caused his caddie, Ted Scott, to lie down during Friday’s round. But from the moment he biffed an iron up the first fairway in heavy rain, it was clear Scheffler was laser-focused. Even as birdie putts refused to drop, his overall accuracy ensured the field came back to him.

 

“I got a good amount of guys in front of me,” Scheffler noted at the finish. “But yes, my goal going into the back nine was to do what I could to stay in the tournament and steal some shots where I could. And there wasn’t really much to steal on the back nine so it was good getting in. Other than the missed short putt on 15 there where I got a bit distracted, it was a really solid back nine.”

 

History in the Making?

By a curious coincidence, the last person to win six tournaments in a year by this stage was Arnold Palmer in 1962, who clinched his seventh at The Open at Troon. If Scheffler can find his putting form on Sunday, the rest of the field had better watch out.