The celebs might align for Scottie Scheffler at Shinnecock Hills this week, with the 29-year-old in a position to full the ultimate leg of his profession Grand Slam and turn into solely the seventh participant in historical past to take action, ought to he declare victory on the US Open.
He would additionally obtain the historic feat on his thirtieth birthday, no much less.
Scheffler, to place it mildly, has skilled an detached season on the PGA Tour in 2026. He has struggled to dwell as much as the excessive requirements he has set up to now two years, however it will be a courageous particular person to rule the world No 1 out this week, notably given what’s at stake.
For the four-time main winner, who has a whopping 20 victories on the PGA Tour, it has largely been a case of when, not if, he fulfils his future and joins Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Participant, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan within the illustrious profession Grand Slam membership, after the two-time Masters champion gained the PGA Championship and The Open in 2025.
Has Scheffler skilled a dip in type?
Scheffler started 2026 in emphatic trend, securing a four-shot victory at The American Specific in January, suggesting this yr could be enterprise as typical.
Since then, the American’s performances have been stable however a far cry from his dominance over the previous two years. Scheffler gained six instances on the PGA Tour in 2025 and eight instances worldwide in 2024 – a yr that additionally noticed him win a gold medal on the Paris Olympics.
Questions started to ring over Scheffler’s type on the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, the place he ended the event tied-Twenty fourth to put up his worst end at a PGA Tour occasion in 13 months.
Issues got here to a head at The Gamers when Scheffler, who completed his week at TPC Sawgrass tied-Twenty second, admitted he was “frustrated” together with his sport and pinpointed his errors on the course as “mental errors”.
After The Gamers, Scheffler had fallen from being first for strokes gained in whole on the PGA Tour on the finish of 2025 to 3rd. His strokes gained in strategy had taken a extra dramatic stoop, with Scheffler plummeting from first to 78th, and that is maybe the place his essential difficulty has been.
Defiantly, he hit again at those that questioned whether or not he was experiencing a stoop in type.
“If you flipped my season around and it was like, I finished 24th last week, 12th, then third and fourth, and a win, would your question be the same?” he stated.
“No matter what round of golf you look at, I think there’s always something you feel you could do better.”
A season of near-misses
Regardless of his struggles earlier within the season, the world No 1 rebounded in outstanding trend, changing into the primary participant in PGA Tour historical past to safe three consecutive solo runner-up finishes, a feat he known as “bittersweet”.
At The Masters, Scheffler surged up the leaderboard to complete one shot behind McIlroy. Per week later, on the RBC Heritage, he putted sensationally to take Matt Fitzpatrick to a play-off, however finally got here up quick. In his subsequent occasion, the Cadillac Championship, he was pipped by Cameron Younger, who gained by six photographs.
“Finishing second hurts, but when you reflect, and you’re looking at things to work on, there’s a lot less to clean up when you’re finishing second than there is when you’re finishing 30th,” Scheffler stated forward of this yr’s PGA Championship.
Scheffler ‘snug’ with present type
Whereas Scheffler remains to be not content material with sure points of his sport, there are indicators of enchancment.
Following The Gamers, he has bounced again to first for strokes gained in whole on the PGA Tour coming into this week’s US Open. He has additionally risen to high the greens-in-regulation rankings, and is now seventeenth for strokes gained in strategy.
But, a scarcity of consistency nonetheless canines his sport, and in the course of the first spherical of this yr’s Memorial Match, he vented his frustrations at his caddie Ted Scott, after sticking an strategy shot into the water on the par-three sixteenth gap.
After carding an even-par 72 on day two, he sensationally claimed he “felt like he was going to shoot about 90”, including he was “hitting the ball the worst I have in a couple of years”.
Scheffler improved by means of the weekend and completed tied-Twelfth on the leaderboard, however after the event he opened up on the struggles in his sport, explaining: “I just couldn’t really get anything going.
“Simply little issues, little errors that I do not usually make, I felt like I used to be making this week. So just a few issues to wash up within the off week, however total, I really feel fairly snug with the place my sport’s at.”
How can Scheffler win the US Open?
Because the age-old saying goes, ‘it is you in opposition to the course’. And maybe that would not be more true this week on the very testing Shinnecock Hills, a course with a historical past of controversy, which has tormented a number of the finest gamers on the earth when the previous two iterations of the US Open had been held there in 2004 and 2018.
If the wind is up, Shinnecock Hills can play like a hyperlinks. Slender fairways, swirling hills and sticky tough all mix to present gamers a headache.
“It’s one of those courses where there’s a ton of space out there, but the areas you have to hit into are quite small,” Scheffler stated on the Memorial Match.
He added: “The greens are going to play really small, especially if they get firm. It should be a really challenging week.”
Maybe, although, for final yr’s Open champion, considered one of his largest threats lies throughout the discipline.
The usual of competitors on the PGA Tour this season has been distinctive, with Younger, McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Alex Fitzpatrick and Aaron Rai all having fun with wonderful seasons.
Scheffler just isn’t one to regulate the leaderboard, and whereas he likes to manage what he can on the golf course, there’s a case to be made that the world No 1 could should be vigilant over what the remainder of the sector are doing, notably as he has been pipped on three events this season.
There’s additionally the matter of his personal sport. It appears to be trending in the precise path since The Gamers Championship, however Scheffler has nonetheless voiced issues about ball-striking heading into the week, and can want a quick begin on spherical one to keep up proximity with the leaders.
One factor that may rely in his favour is his pedigree of fine performances on the US Open and he has come near successful this event earlier than. Scheffler ended final yr’s occasion tied-seventh, and his finest end got here in 2022, when he positioned tied-second, one shot again from winner Matt Fitzpatrick.
And what in regards to the profession Grand Slam?
The prospect of constructing historical past on his thirtieth birthday on Sunday is one thing Scheffler just isn’t attempting to entertain.
Like each golfer, he desires of successful a profession Grand Slam, however will strategy the week not wanting previous every shot he’s offered with.
“Was it pretty awesome watching Rory win the Grand Slam? Of course it was,” he stated after the 2025 Masters. “But as far as my life goes, I try to stay in the present. I don’t think very often about career goals.
“Successful the profession Grand Slam, I feel that is one thing that any golfer would dream of, however, on the finish of the day, I am simply attempting to get probably the most out of myself. That is about it.”
There is no such thing as a query the 29-year-old has failed to satisfy his highs of 2024 and 2025. Sustaining a degree of dominance throughout three consecutive seasons is certain to be mentally fatiguing, and so too is coping with inconsistencies in a single’s sport.
He’s world No 1 for a purpose, although, and his dedication to return to successful methods has seen him enhance the points of his sport that troubled him in March.
And even when his iron play is lower than scratch this week at Shinnecock, it’s horrifying that Scheffler can lean on different points of his sport to hoist himself up the leaderboard.
You wouldn’t guess in opposition to him becoming a member of the profession Grand Slam membership at this week’s US Open.
When is the US Open dwell on Sky Sports activities?
Watch dwell protection of the US Open from 12.30pm on Thursday and Friday on Sky Sports activities Golf, with motion dwell till not less than midnight throughout each the primary two rounds.
Dwell protection begins at 3pm for Saturday’s third spherical and 4pm for the ultimate day on Sunday, with the US Open dwell on Sky Sports activities Golf till lengthy after the ultimate putt is holed on each days.
A bonus ‘Dwell from the US Open’ present will provide bonus build-up and information throughout Tuesday and Wednesday of event week, whereas there can be one-hour highlights obtainable for all 4 rounds.
The US Open is a part of a triple-header of dwell golf on Sky Sports activities, with the ultimate two days of the Newbie Championship and the ultimate spherical of the LPGA Tour’s Meijer LPGA Basic additionally dwell on Sky Sports activities Combine. Get Sky Sports activities or stream with no contract.
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