The greens at Pinehurst No. 2 have Scottie Scheffler seeing red.
The world’s top-ranked golfer flipped his putter into the air at the U.S. Open after his 17-foot putt for par on the 15th hole kissed the lip of the hole, but wouldn’t drop in.
Scheffler, who had made par on holes 10-14 to open Day 2 of the tournament, sank a seven-inch putt for a bogey on the par-3 hole, his first of the day.
He entered the second day of the tournament tied for 46th with a 1-over 71.
The greens at Pinehurst No. 2 were seemingly designed to elicit such reactions from the best golfers, with defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark describing them as “borderline” unplayable.
He wasn’t alone.
“When [course designer] Donald Ross did this golf course and made the greens this severe, I don’t think he intended it to be running at 13 on the stimpmeter,” Tiger Woods said earlier in the week, referring to the device that measures green speeds. “They were the speed of fairways. It’s going to be a great test and a great war of attrition this week. It’s going to be a lot of fun for all of us.”
Maybe not for Scheffler, anyway.
He also struggled with his tee shot on 17, sending it 203 yards into a bunker to the left of the green, and eliciting a telling reaction from his own caddie.
“Maybe the worst golf shot I’ve ever seen you hit,” he was overheard saying on the broadcast.
The 27-year-old came into the weekend hoping for a quieter experience than what he experienced at the PGA Championship earlier this month, when a traffic incident near the Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville led to his arrest.
He was released in time to play his second round — a stunning 5-under 66 on the day — en route to an eight-place finish.
All charges against Scheffler were eventually dropped, though he is still dealing with the fallout from the entire scene.
“It’s not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course,” he said before the Memorial Tournament, in which he finished first at 8-under.
