US Open: Scottie Scheffler is burnt once again in brutal third round… as Matt Fitzpatrick endures nightmare moving day at Pinehurst

Scottie Scheffler is used to sleeping in on the weekends. He normally doesn’t arrive for his Saturday shift until early afternoon.

But the past few days have been a brutal example of how Pinehurst doesn’t care about reputation or rank. Or shape. Scheffler was expected to run this US Open. Instead, he was forced to sound an early alarm for once.

The world number 1 got out of bed to start moving day more than five hours earlier than the leading group. He was five over par, ten shots off the pace.

By the time Rory McIlroy arrived at Pinehurst, wearing a backwards cap, Scheffler was sitting on his back nine, burning in this furnace in North Carolina.

His scorecard shows that he deteriorated on moving day. But he wasn’t the only one. In fact, among early starters, his one-over-par 71 was one of the less painful rounds. It wasn’t the first time this week that Scheffler simply failed to sink a putt. Frustration bubbled throughout the day.

Scheffler entered Saturday’s third round 10 shots behind after a miserable tournament

But there were a number of players who were really riding their bikes on Saturday morning. None more impressive than Matt Fitzpatrick. The only problem? The 2022 champion from Sheffield put the gear lever in reverse.

Over five holes, his scorecard read: bogey, bogey, par, double bogey, double bogey. More shots were fired at eight, then at thirteen, then at fifteen. He failed to make a single birdie.

It was a massacre. It was a stark testament to how this course had become even more difficult as temperatures rose and these greens became even trickier.

When Fitzpatrick signed for a third-round 79, he sat last of the 74 players who made the cut. At that point, only three players were undersized for the day.

Scheffler was not there. Instead, moments later he was roaring to himself again, having fallen to six over par.

The world number 1 had set another unwanted record by then. On Friday, he failed to birdie over 18 holes at a major for the first time as a professional.

That brutal run continued until the eighth hole on Saturday. In all, Scheffler went 26 consecutive holes without taking a single shot – the longest streak of his career.

He’s had a turbulent few weeks, welcoming his first child into the world and then finding himself in an orange jumpsuit at the PGA Championship.

The world No. 1’s emotions boiled over as he struggled on the greens around Pinehurst No. 2

But that trip to a Louisville prison turned out to be just a brief detour during a season of dominance in which Scheffler has won five times, earned $24 million and cemented himself as the best golfer in the world. Not even a neck injury, which left him struggling to swing the club, could derail his march to Players Championship glory.

Make no mistake, this represents the biggest on-court battle Scheffler has faced all year. He didn’t even expect to stay here for so long. Not after his misery on Friday, when his putter betrayed him and his emotions also got the better of him.

The 27-year-old flirted near the cut line during his round. It wasn’t until hours after he signed for 74 – and several other players had been humiliated by Pinehurst – that his weekend plans were confirmed.

Fitzpatrick also snuck in through the back door. Not that he was long past five on Saturday. Scheffler also backed away before taking a step forward. The world number 1 made a bogey in fourth place. Then, after birdieing eight, he gave the shot right back on the par-three ninth.

Scheffler managed to get himself back to five over at 11 and gave himself several chances to get into the red that day. He missed them all and then carded a bogey at 15. By then, these greens were playing like ice rinks and Scheffler’s emotions had boiled over.