Scottie Scheffler labels Oakmont the ‘HARDEST’ course ahead of US Open!

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Scottie Scheffler speaks to the media ahead of the 2025 US Open at Oakmont, sharing his thoughts on what makes the historic course such a brutal test.

#scottiescheffler #usopen #golf

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scotty just a few quick thoughts on the golf course Uh yeah golf course is good Rough is healthy Um golf course is in great shape so it should should shape up for a really good week Um it doesn’t look like we’re getting rain today or tomorrow so it should be pretty firm come Wednesday which um you know should make it play nice We’re going to open it up to questions right here on the right Scotty just wondering what memories you have of being here you know almost a decade ago you know sister on the bag playing well just what you remember Yeah I mean I remember coming here and thinking that was really fun really cool to be able to play in the US Open You know my first major and um it was maybe my third start on the pro tour at the time I think I’d played in the Byron Nelson once and then St Jude once um FedEx St Jude and then um those are very cool experience you know I played a practice round with uh Dustin and Brooks I felt like I learned a lot from those guys at the time And um it was definitely you know made me excited to try and get out here for real because it was it was a pretty fun week Obviously you know I had I had a pretty good first round I didn’t play as good in the second That was a tough pill to swallow missing the cup by one But um you know what I really remembered was um you know come back the next year and uh I think I made like a putt on 18 to get into a playoff and qualifying end up getting through the playoff and qualifying and um you know then coming in finishing low am that was you know something I kind of marked on my calendar something I wanted to get back and and try and do because you know I was pretty disappointed the way um it ended for me here you know nine years ago and so it was nice to kind of bounce back and and uh have a better week the the next year center left King Scotty I wanted to ask you about an interaction you had um on hole eight today in your practice round so obviously both you and Sam hit driver but it looked like Noah Noah Kent hit a three iron and Sam said something like this is making us feel bad about ourselves but can you just talk us through that hole and what y’all were chatting about well Noah has got this three iron that he carries like 270 in his bag He it’s something I think he had built this week and um you know could be a bit of a fairway finder for him We were kind of messing around cuz Sam and I both grabbed driver and Noah grabbed his three iron Then he asked his caddy if it got to the green and I was like absolutely not No way that got to the green even though I think it did but I wasn’t going to tell him that Yeah it it did get on the green somehow Um and then just generally what are your thoughts on that hole and how are you going to approach it this week uh I mean I’m going to try to hit the green whether it’s a three-ter driver from that back tea I mean depends on wind direction but basically you’re just going to try and get the ball in the green and two on the right Dave Yes Scotty Uh good afternoon Um question about uh uh the rough and and curious if we know we know that length is a factor and and is a weapon but how important is just pure strength in dealing with this golf course um I I’d say there’s definitely a strength factor coming out of the rough Um you know this golf course there’s not many trees out there but there’s so many bunkers I don’t really know if this is a golf course you can necessarily just overpower with kind of a bomb and gouge type strategy especially with the way the rough is Like you have to play the angles Um some of the greens are elevated other ones are pitched extremely you know away from you And I mean there’s certain holes where like you’ll get like three and four You got the church piece on the left and then you get to some of the holes in the back like 14’s a short hole but the bunkering is so like just one after another of walled bunkers I mean there’s not really many areas where you step on the T- box you’re like “Yeah I can miss a right here.” Or “Hey I can kind of shade towards the left side of the fairway because right’s really bad.” It’s like actually if you hit in the right rough you’re probably not going to get to the green If you hit in the left rough you’re probably not going to get to the green So might as well try and split the difference there and hit in the middle On the left Doug couple things What What kind of experiences have you had in the rough this week in terms of what kind of various shots have you played what kind of lies have you given yourself uh you know it’s kind of interesting It’s one of those weeks where you’re not even really sure if it’s going to be a sevenwood week because like for us when we go play like Tory Pines at the beginning of the year that’s a pretty obvious sevenwood week The rough’s about 4 in and um you get a lot of those shots from like 180 to 200 if you’re in the rough where you can kind of try to run it up And um around this golf course it’s almost more of a decision whether or not you’re going to use a 700 or the three iron because most of the lies you either can get like a seven iron on it because it sits up or you’re just going to hit a lob wedge 50 yards down the fairway Um so really a lot of times you hit in the rough you know you can get fortunate sometimes with the lie but for the most part I think you’ll be wedging it out pretty much Also wanted to ask you a little bit about your your confidence level uh from this perspective of just how you feel about your game U how much it’s changed from this from the start of your season through and what makes it spike Is it simply winning that makes you feel good about your game or are there various like checkpoints that you could feel it increasing yeah I I think it’s more of a feel thing for me Um you know there was points in the year I I really felt like I was trending most of the year I felt like each week I was out I was starting to play better I was starting to feel more comfortable with my swing and my body and um everything was kind of getting back to normal and I felt like I was just trending most of the year and I think I talked about a decent amount in Houston Houston I finished second That was right before the Masters and that was when I really felt like I was starting to do some good things and uh my ball striking just wasn’t where it needed to be But I was making a good amount of putts and um I felt like if I could just sharpen up my swing just a little bit more a little bit more I felt like I was going to kind of get into the you know the right the place where I wanted to be And then um showing up to Byron you know I had a really good week there and that was some some pretty good confidence kind of moving forward Back right to Kira Uh Scotty last year after the US Open you mentioned that you didn’t feel as prepared as you could have been especially for the native areas around Pinehurst How would you describe your preparation process going into now this year well I think it’s a big difference having the week off You know Memorial is always such a difficult test And I mean I think last year I won at maybe eight or nine under and this year was at 10 and I won by a few shots And so I mean it’s just one of those golf courses where I mean that’s a place that wears you down and you have to be so focused for 72 holes that coming from that test to this one was pretty challenging back backtoback weeks Um so having the week off was really important for me to get home get some rest recover and you know I showed up here on Sunday and was able to play I think maybe 11 holes and um really get used to the conditions and um feels much more like my normal major prep versus you know last year where you’re coming in from basically a major championship test Coming into another one is is pretty challenging And we hear so much about Oakmont being so difficult but what are the green light places around here if there are any um green light places I mean there’s some opportunity when you’re in the fairway Um but a lot of it depends on the pin position on certain holes like uh it it a lot of it depends on where the USGA sets it up There’s certain holes where you know when you step on the T- box four is going to be a really good score or sorry par is going to be a really good score But you know there’s certain holes where there’s some opportunity Like you look at two you look at four five Um when you’re in the fairway there’s opportunity but what what’s so special about this place is pretty much every time you’re off the fairway it’s going to be very difficult I think for you to get the ball to the green You know there’s an element of of luck when you hit the ball in the rough But that’s why I say this golf course is so well bunkered that um especially for a golf course without trees I think this is a place that can get away with it really well because there’s just so many bunkers everywhere and they’re they’re deep and it’s a I mean it’s a real penalty when you hit the ball in the bunkers here Front right Uh Scotty for those who care about such things sports books have said you’re an overwhelming favorite this week Do you notice those kind of things at all do you pay any attention to it and then somewhat related when you’re out there do you ever hear from fans that maybe have a financial investment in in your outcome i think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial uh benefit or anything in their outcome Um that’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win Wasn’t a good feeling Um but no I don’t I don’t pay attention to the favorite stuff or anything like that I mean it starting Thursday morning we’re at even par and it’s up to to me to go out there and play against the golf course and um you know see what I can do Any other questions for Scotty right here back right was talking to a player today who felt like the first hole was maybe the only hole that you could miss the fairway and still hit the green with the shot just the way it kind of able to roll balls up Are there any other holes where you feel like if you miss the fairway you can still hit the green well the the the right rough on one’s maybe the only spot Um I mean it just a lot of it is just completely lie dependent Like there’s some areas like the rough is so thick and healthy that sometimes it stays on top and you can actually get a club on it Like I played with like Sam today got to number three and two after he hit in the rough Um but then like you get holes like seven and nine where you’re so far back that I mean it can be pretty challenging But I mean a lot of it really just totally depends on the lie and um sometimes you get a good one and probably more often than not you’re going to get a pretty bad lie every time you hit in the rough Back to Doug on the left I don’t know how much um work you got in last week but the the week off you had before the majors How how is your practice session is it any different than it was going into Augusta going into Quell Hollow coming into here i mean it was maybe slightly different last week just based on needing to get a bit more rest after Memorial Um I think it can be a bit different coming off of a tournament in which you win or you’re at least close to winning like when um I mean Memorial is one of the biggest tournaments that we play um outside of I’d say the majors and the players it might it might be the biggest and um you know with Mr Nicholas being there on on site and it being his golf course I think that’s a tournament that we’re all very motivated to play well in And it’s such a difficult test I think a lot of that factors into the mental fatigue like coming off a week in Houston where the scores are a bit lower and you can kind of hit it anywhere off the tea and it’s more of a second shot golf course It it’s a just a different feeling when the week is over when you’re in contention there versus like for instance when you’re in contention you finish second and playing with the lead at Memorial and having to grind it out Um it it’s just a different level of fatigue and so I took a couple couple days at the beginning of the week to rest and um you know got back to work on on Wednesday Well I I kind of equate some of the major test to I mean like the majors in tennis you’re playing on a different service like you got grass clay and then a hardcourt and it’s a different style of game And the US Open compared to the Masters is a completely different type of test I think in the Masters you have a lot more shot making when you get around the greens because it’s a lot of fairway you know there’s pine straw there’s not really the rough factor Um and then when you get here it’s a lot of hacking out of the rough that they still have to be extremely precise but it’s a bit more of like when you talk about strength and power I think that becomes more of a factor at these tournaments because when you hit in the rough you got to muscle it out of there And it’s just a different type of test than you see at the Masters Both of them are fantastic tests I mean it’s I mean this is probably the hardest golf course that we’ll play maybe ever And I mean that’s pretty much all it is It’s just a different type of test Like when you miss a green at the Masters the ball kind of runs away and it goes into these areas and you can play a bump you can play a flop There’s different options here When you hit the ball over the green you just get in some heavy rough and it’s like let me see how I can pop the ball out of this rough and somehow give myself a look It’s just a different type of test And I don’t know if one of them’s better than the other but they’re just different And here I mean the winning score I don’t think is going to be what the winning score was at the Masters It’s just it’s just different A few more front right Adam I just wanted to follow up on that Venmo account you’ve closed Uh what’s the most someone would send you as a thank you what’s the most anybody Oh I don’t remember the most that somebody would send me A couple bucks here or there Um that didn’t happen nearly as much as the request did On the left Keith Scotty the way the US is the way the US Open is set up it always ends on the Father’s Day What’s it like mean for you to play on Father’s Day on a Sunday at the US Open yeah I mean it’s uh Oh gosh stand in the eye No it’s very special You know my dad is here this week and you know I’m a father now Um so it’s I mean it’s a very special day and Mother’s Day is pretty special too and being able to come here and you know hopefully be playing on Sunday and and have a chance and um you know that’ be would be pretty fun What’s more reactive of you being a father now or playing for your father what’s more reactive yeah What what brings more out of you being a father now or or playing for your dad you know I think ha having a son gives me much greater appreciation for my dad You know I don’t think um you know when you’re young you don’t really understand like what it’s like to be a parent I don’t think you like my dad can tell me what it’s like but I don’t think you understand it till you experience you know looking at your own son And then I think being on this side of it it’s given me much greater appreciation for you know my parents and the work that they did Being you know on this side of it not the one receiving all the love you know the one giving it to your son instead you know Two more up the middle Paulo uh you mentioned the mental fatigue and the mental test that these tougher golf courses kind of bring Um do how do you manage that and and just in the same way that maybe you prepare for harder shots is there something you do to prepare for that mental fatigue that you feel at the end of you know one of these rounds well no I I think it’s more just managing it throughout the course of a season And so like there’s certain weeks when you finish where you just feel like like after the PGA I just feel like you got almost hit by a bus just because there’s so much emotion like there’s a lot of stuff that goes into the tournament after you win and you know you basically don’t get any sleep that night because you still got adrenaline your stomach hurts and it’s just I mean it’s just a heightened state of emotion I think And so I’ve learned over the course of my career to focus a little bit more on the rest side of things especially when I get home Um early in my career I was I’ve always been the guy that I I think works the hardest and um you know if something’s not the way that I feel like it should be I’m going to go out there and figure it out And that’s that’s just kind of how I’ve always approached things And um at the early career I was able to come out to courses and I could spend as much time as I wanted to out here And that’s just because I didn’t really have any other obligations I just come up and I could just practice practice practice and you know do whatever I wanted to do But now you know things a little bit differently with having a a wife and a son and um you know some other obligations at tournaments as well It’s just the schedule’s just a bit different Last question here on the right Hey Scotty I read a story from 2016 that said you rushed through your first round to watch the NBA finals Do you recall that and and will this year’s finals affect uh your schedule this week uh this year’s finals probably not going to affect my affect my schedule as much I think Golden State was playing Cleveland last time in the finals and I really wanted to watch that because you know you had LeBron playing staff and um you know ever since the Mavs traded Luca I’ve just been a little bit you know a little bummed watching the NBA it hurts a little bit still So uh yeah we’ll have to regroup and get ready for next season for the Mavs We appreciate the time Scotty Thanks