OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Xander Schauffele wrapped up nine holes of the most punishing U.S. Open course and was smiling. This was on a Monday, only a practice round at Oakmont. But the image illustrates why Schauffele rarely seems to suffer at the major reputed to be the toughest test in golf.
He has finished out of the top 10 only once in his eight previous U.S. Open appearances. His highest score is a 75 in the third round at Brookline in 2022. He tied for 14th that week.
“Maybe I’m just sick and enjoy the challenge,” Schauffele said with another smile. “Something about it playing really hard. I think a good attitude goes a long way. It’s obviously easier said than done, hard to keep a good attitude through the entire stretch of 72 holes, practice rounds as well. I don’t know. I think they’re a lot of fun.”
The attitude will be tested at Oakmont, the course with rough that looks like a cabbage and greens so fast it can feel like putting in a bathtub. The Stimpmeter was developed after the inventor read about Gene Sarazen hitting a putt into a bunker at Oakmont.
Schauffele still hasn’t figured out the winning part of it, at least not at the U.S. Open. Despite his top 10s, he has yet to seriously challenge in the final hour.
This year presents a different test for the 31-year-old Californian, who broke through last year in the biggest events by winning the PGA Championship and the British Open.
He is still trying to find his groove after missing two months with a rib injury that significantly slowed the start of his season. That was a serious challenge — sitting at home, resting, doing next to nothing.
“I felt like I was playing at a pretty high level. Then I got hurt,” he said. “My expectations of what I knew I could do to where I was were different. And accepting that was tough. I think that was sort of the biggest wake-up call for me coming back.”
So a U.S. Open at Oakmont — fun, he calls it — might be a good measure of where he is.
Most of the 156 players, and even a few alternates, made their way out to the course on a relatively dry day that should stay that way at least until the weekend.
Justin Thomas was among those who came to Oakmont a few weeks ago to get in some serious study, knowing practice rounds can be the biggest grind because they take so long. Everyone is trying to figure out what to do from the rough, where to miss, how to avoid mistakes.
Dustin Johnson played nine holes, his first time back at Oakmont since he won his first major nine years ago. He played the final seven holes not knowing if the USGA was going to penalize him for his golf ball moving on the fifth green. That’s some serious mental toughness.
There have been a few changes, including even fewer trees.
“The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder,” Johnson said.
The USGA likes to test every part of the game, and that includes the mental side of it. Jack Nicklaus, a four-time U.S. Open champion, said he used to listen to players complain in the days leading up to the Open and figure he could rule them out.
“I hope it psyches a lot of players out,” Thomas said. “I understand this place is hard. I don’t need to read articles, or I don’t need to hear horror stories. I’ve played it. I know it’s difficult. I also have faith that if I go play well and I’m driving the ball well and I’m hitting my irons like I know I can, I’m going to have a lot of birdie opportunities.”
Thomas also mentioned the need to have a good attitude. The definition is different for each player. For him, it’s being committed over every shot on every hole and accepting the outcome.
“I think once I start second-guessing myself or not trusting my instincts is kind of where I get myself in trouble,” Thomas said. “Then when I do that, I naturally am pretty pissed off if it doesn’t work out. It wasn’t because of the shot, it was more from the lack of commitment. That’s where it starts for me generally.”
With Schauffele, it can be hard to tell when he loses his cool. And he’s not a big believer that anyone throwing a club is costing himself shots. Tiger Woods, who won the U.S. Open three times, was among the best at putting any anger behind him before he settled over his next shot.
“I think I look pretty level-headed when I play, but internally I might be absolutely just thrashing myself,” Schauffele said. “I think truly having a good attitude is just sort of accepting what happened and allowing yourself to be pretty much at zero to hit the next shot.”
It’s not just the U.S. Open where Schauffele has shown remarkable consistency. He rallied down the stretch at Quail Hollow to make the cut, and his cut streak is at 65 tournaments going into Oakmont. That’s the longest streak since Woods made 142 cuts in a row that ended in 2005.
He has game, clearly. And he has the right head for the U.S. Open.
“Part of my attitude thing is we’re all playing the same course, and it’s going to be hard,” he said. “You may think something’s unfair, but it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Whoever can deal with it the best is going to play well. That’s the attitude I’ve had — look at it as a fun challenge versus feeling like you’re living in a nightmare.”
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