Entertainment

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler denied on Tuesday that there was a “target on his back” ahead of his US Open showdown with Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy at Pinehurst No 2

Published

3 months ago

June 12, 2024

Scheffler arrives as the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite to claim a third major title after a one-shot victory at the Memorial Tournament on Sunday, his fifth win in eight PGA Tour starts.

The American has also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players, The Masters and RBC Heritage during a remarkable run of results, posting top-10 finishes in 12 of his 13 starts this year and last missing a cut in August 2022.

Scheffler finished joint runner-up at the 2022 US Open and took third last June in Los Angeles, with the 27-year-old now drawn to tee it up against his two closest challengers in the world rankings for the first two rounds of this year’s contest.

“I try not to think about the past too much, and I try not to think about the future too much,” Scheffler told the media on Tuesday. “I just try and live in the present. Sometimes it’s easier and sometimes it’s a bit harder.

I feel like coming off of last week, I was really excited and celebrated for a few minutes there, but my mind kind of just goes on to the next thing. I was getting ready, trying to get out of there and trying to prep for next week.

“I’m not thinking about my wins anymore. All I’m focused on is this week and getting ready to play. Just because I won last week doesn’t give me any shots against the field this week. We all start even par, and the field is level again starting on Thursday. Last week doesn’t really matter.

I still don’t feel like there’s much of a target on my back. It’s not like anybody is out there playing defence. When I play with Xander (Schauffele) and Rory (McIlroy) here Thursday and Friday, they’re not going to be saying weird stuff to me out on the golf course or trying to block my putt from going in the hole.

“We all kind of got to go out there and play our game. 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.”