PINEHURST, N.C. – As he forces us to rethink what’s potential on this supposed period of parity, Scottie Scheffler stands alone right here on the 124th U.S. Open. Whether or not he reigns once more at Pinehurst is sort of irrelevant to the general dialog; there’s no disputing, with 5 wins in his final eight begins and a Tiger-esque stat line, that he’s the most effective participant on the planet. And it’s not significantly shut.
However please, if you happen to can, attempt to not point out that to him.
As proficient as Scheffler has been with a 7-iron in his hand, he’s confirmed to be simply as efficient at deflecting behind a microphone.
“I nonetheless don’t really feel like there’s a lot of a goal on my again,” he mentioned Tuesday. “After we begin event week, we’re all at even par, and it’s not like anyone is on the market taking part in protection.”
Scheffler mentioned, in his good thoughts, he’s battling himself and the course greater than anybody or anything.
“A goal on my again, I don’t actually really feel it,” he mentioned, “and I don’t actually give it some thought a lot, no.”
What Scheffler didn’t know, after all, was that over the earlier seven hours, his fellow taking part in rivals had sat on that very podium and considered it loads, analyzing the gulf that now exists between him and everybody else.
Bryson DeChambeau described Scheffler because the “gold customary.”
Viktor Hovland famous that Scheffler, with no gaping holes in his sport, is “very dependable” and that makes even his common weeks distinctive.
Rory McIlroy marveled at how “relentless” Scheffler has been – that even via his numerous adversities this 12 months (placing woes, higher ranges of fame, fatherhood, a public arrest) he has remained a constantly dominant pressure.
“The one factor that took him from successful a golf event was going right into a jail cell for an hour,” McIlroy mentioned, laughing. “Undoubtedly the most effective participant on the earth on the minute, by a good distance. It’s as much as us to attempt to get to his stage.”
Most attention-grabbing, although, was the attitude of Jon Rahm, and what he did (and didn’t) say.
At this event a 12 months in the past, they had been considered as equals, and maybe even budding rivals. Combining for six wins within the first 5 months of the season, Scheffler and Rahm had been Nos. 1 and a pair of, respectively, within the Official World Golf Rating, separated by only one level. Nonetheless of their late-20s, they had been frequent combatants within the largest occasions, together with singles opponents within the Ryder Cup, whereas remaining deeply respectful of the opposite’s immense skills.
However for now, at the very least, they seem headed in several instructions.
Scheffler is on such a tear that he’s almost doubled up the brand new second-ranked participant, Xander Schauffele, on the earth rating. He’s simply the second participant since 1950 to publish 5 victories, together with a significant, earlier than the U.S. Open.
A reporter requested Scheffler, straight-up, what it was wish to be “by far” the most effective golfer on the earth.
He chuckled.
“I attempt not to consider the previous. I attempt not to consider the longer term. I attempt to reside within the current,” Scheffler mentioned. “That’s how I’ve all the time been. … I attempt to reside one second at a time and soak all of it up, since you by no means understand how lengthy it’s going to final.”
Rahm must be questioning the identical factor.
It isn’t simply that he’s winless over the previous 14 months. It isn’t simply that he’s fractured a few of his relationships after bolting for LIV Golf in a deal that can pay him a reported $300 million. However in latest press conferences, Rahm has additionally appeared to bristle on the notion that he’s fallen off, or that he’s turn into considerably of an afterthought amid the Scottie tsunami.
A few of the season-long metrics at the very least partially assist his argument – he’s nonetheless high 10 in Knowledge Golf’s rankings and strokes-gained whole throughout each excursions – however his tone has come throughout as dismissive, terse and defensive.
When requested about his probabilities this week at Pinehurst, Rahm mentioned, “Anytime I tee it up, I really feel like I’ve probability.”
That got here on the heels of one other query about whether or not he felt any added stress, understanding how inevitably glorious Scheffler has been.
“No,” Rahm shot again.
Later, he mentioned, “It’s not like I’ve been taking part in dangerous, though plenty of you make it sound like I’m taking part in dangerous.”
Rahm had been battling a left-foot reduce and an infection earlier than withdrawing late Tuesday afternoon.
Rahm simply so occurred to have performed his worst within the two largest occasions of the 12 months thus far. He was a non-factor in his title protection on the Masters, tying for 45th, after which he missed the reduce final month on the PGA Championship. His substandard main season bought even worse Tuesday, when he withdrew due to a painful an infection in his left foot.
“To say I’m disenchanted is an enormous understatement,” he mentioned.
The U.S. Open has been the key through which Rahm, the 2021 champion, has constantly fared the most effective. However it was additionally a missed alternative for a participant who, on this present divide, has simply 4 probabilities annually to remind the broader golf world of his well-earned stature. If he’s not within the combine subsequent month at Royal Troon, he should know the scrutiny will solely intensify – about his controversial selection, about his weekly preparation, about LIV’s aggressive environment.
Earlier than his withdrawal, Rahm was requested three questions particularly about Scheffler, two about his readiness to compete and one other about his stage of profession happiness – a set of queries that, when packaged in a single 15-minute session, should gnaw at a fiercely aggressive participant in his prime. Left unsaid was that, final 12 months, he was the fascination of the golf group – a participant who had received 5 instances in a nine-event span. The dominant world No. 1 others had been requested about incessantly. The gold customary.
“It’s fairly unimaginable to see what he’s been capable of accomplish,” Rahm mentioned. “As a competitor, it’s added motivation to see someone accomplish that properly as a result of that’s what all of us attempt for.”
That half should wait. For now, he’s headed again residence, winless and with a throbbing foot, with one final probability in 2024 to do one thing about golf’s new world order.