Smylie Kaufman has joked that he was almost frustrated to learn the simplicity of what Scottie Scheffler was working on while on the range after his opening round at the US Open on Thursday, with his focus being on his hands.
Scheffler finished tied for fourth at Shinnecock Hills. The world number one had begun the final day in the last group alongside Wyndham Clark. Many would have expected Scheffler to be the player Clark had to worry most about.
However, the 30-year-old never really got close enough over the final 18 holes in New York. Scheffler finished the week at even par, four shots behind the eventual champion.
What Scottie Scheffler practiced on the range after his opening round at the US Open
Once again, the damage was largely done on Thursday. Scheffler was eight shots adrift of Clark once the first round had concluded.
Admittedly, the conditions were far from ideal for the four-time major champion. But that did not stop Scheffler heading to the practice ground after his round to work with Randy Smith.
Scheffler looked extremely frustrated at times during the session. But it appeared to have a positive impact, as he broke par on both Friday and Saturday.
And speaking on The Smylie Show after the final round, Smylie Kaufman revealed what he learned about what Scheffler was working on after a slow start.
“I was on the call for Scottie all day, so just called his shots. And before the day and that first tee time got going, I spoke briefly with his agent and wanted to ask what did they find after that Thursday round because he’s really been hitting the golf ball well. And he said it’s always in his hands. It’s nothing ever super technical, it’s always something in his hands,” he said.
“It almost frustrated me. It’s all in the hands. I’m just thinking you sure it wasn’t five other things? As a golfer myself, I was hoping to hear, ‘well, he needed to take it back more inside, get it a little bit more here at the top, clear the hips, also get the right shoulder down, and then hold the face through the shot’. I was kind of hoping for something like that to make me feel better about my own game. ‘It’s just all in the hands’. Sure.
“It’s a Tiger thing. He very much feels it in the hands.
“It’s fun to watch him hit golf shots. I stand behind him and am just amazed at what he’s able to do with the golf ball.”
The big mistake Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at the US Open
Had fans been told before the day that Clark would win by just one shot, many would have assumed that Scheffler would be the man to make the charge.
However, Scheffler was never able to get himself under par for the day, as he made bogeys on both the first and seventh holes. And any hopes of a late surge evaporated once he dropped another shot on the 14th.
It has been the story of Scheffler’s season that he has not been able to make everything click at the same time.
And Kaufman discussed the moment that Scheffler almost immediately put himself on the back foot.
“I think today there was a couple of key mistakes that Scottie made. It started on the first hole. He took a club that was a little too conservative. And I can understand why, I think it was maybe a five iron off the first tee, but the second part if you were watching early in the day, you’d have seen that there was an opportunity to try and throw it back to that back hole location. It was soft enough, and you saw plenty of players spinning it back,” he said.
“He had 163 and he’s like 40 yards back behind Wyndham Clark. Doing the math, I’m thinking pitching wedge is what he pulled, 153’s the cover, it’s going to be landing on a downslope and the wind’s down off the left. He was getting about 10 yards of help, and I felt like a pitching wedge was a club that was going to take out going over and long, because I had watched the coverage all morning and nothing was bouncing over the green.
“It’s just a reminder of how quickly this golf course can change, when you start to get the wind to pick up.
“That was the biggest mistake I think Scottie could have made to start the day, to make a bogey and give away one quick shot, because he could have set the tone early.”
It could potentially end up being one of the most bizarre seasons in Scheffler’s career. He has played so well so often, but has just one victory at The American Express to show for it so far.
Few would have ever imagined that Scheffler would reach The Open Championship still awaiting his first major win of 2026.
