Sam Torrance: US Open favourite Scottie Scheffler’s form invites Tiger comparisons
There is no doubt who the favourite is going into this week’s US Open; Scottie Scheffler is the shortest odds that any player has been for the major since Tiger Woods was in his pomp.
It’s not difficult to see why. The world No1 has amassed five wins from 13 appearances this year, including the Masters and last week’s Memorial Tournament.
On top of that he has been second twice and only finished outside the top 10 once. That sort of form is sublime and the kind to invite comparisons with Tiger.
Scheffler didn’t sustain his challenge at last month’s US PGA Championship, but that was in the wake of his arrest over a traffic incident on the morning of the second round.
Although he played well that Friday, he had a costly bad day 24 hours later. That was so rare for the American, who – like Tiger – can play poorly and still break 70.
Shock is strange and can take a little while to hit you. I’m sure that was behind his blip but now that the charges have been dropped he has moved on and returned to form.
At the US PGA it was Xander Schauffele who set the standard and claimed the major that he had been threatening to do for many years.
I’m very interested to see how Schauffele gets on at the US Open because he is very much the type of player who could take to Pinehurst’s No2 Course.
I’ve played it and it really is a grind, while this major always has the toughest set-up, with tight fairways and penal rough designed to ensure that level par is a winning score.
It is very fair and that’s why I like it. It could also be well suited to Schauffele, whose action is very repetitive and very steady.
Two of the men you would normally expect to challenge Scheffler are Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, but there are question marks over both of them.
I normally associate 2011 champion McIlroy with winning on courses that allow for plenty of birdies and that isn’t what you tend to get at the US Open.
That said, he has worked hard to improve his game and his record at this event in the last five years is ninth, eighth, seventh, fifth and second, so let’s hope that trend continues.
Rahm, meanwhile, won the US Open in 2021 but has not been at his best lately and was forced to withdraw from last week’s LIV Golf event with a foot infection.
Collin Morikawa was top five at both the Masters and US PGA and certainly looks back to the form that brought him two majors in the space of 12 months three years ago.
Morikawa is a great driver and such a tenacious putter, and when he is good the American is very, very good indeed.
Seven of the last eight US Opens have gone to first-time major winners, so it may be that we see someone break their duck at Pinehurst.
Last year it was Wyndham Clark, who has flattered to deceive since then. He swings beautifully and is as fit as a butcher’s dog but has gone off the boil.
Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland are probably the best players without a major so they would be the most likely candidates.
Of those, Fleetwood has impressed me the most lately, whether in tournaments or in clips on social media, and has been top five at the US Open three times in seven years.
Finally, you can never count out Brooks Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau. Both are past winners and DeChambeau in particular played some magnificent golf at the US PGA.
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam