Scottie Scheffler is abandoned by his Putter during His 3rd Round

Scottie Scheffler, who began the day at 5-over and just narrowly made the cut, had the potential to post an impressive score of 67 or even 66 on Saturday at the U.S. Open. Despite giving himself numerous birdie opportunities and improving significantly in his play from tee to green compared to the first two days of the tournament, his putting woes continued to hold him back.

Scheffler lost almost two strokes on the greens at Pinehurst No. 2, ranking last among the players who made the cut in strokes gained putting. His final score for the third round was a 1-over 71, a disappointing outcome considering the potential for a much lower score if he had managed to make a few more putts. A better putting performance could have elevated him up the leaderboard and into contention.

Instead, Scheffler missed one promising putt after another, often finding himself staring in frustration after yet another misread or miss. He appeared lost on the greens, a problem he hadn’t encountered since earlier in the year, before he switched to a mallet putter ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“Another frustrating day. Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score,” Scheffler remarked.

“I’m having a lot of trouble reading these greens. I had a lot of putts today, and I felt like I hit it really well. I looked up, and they were not going the way I thought they were going to go. I’ve hit it really nicely, but I just haven’t been able to hit it quite close enough, which is difficult around this course. I haven’t been able to hole putts.”

Scheffler’s struggles began at the par-5 5th hole, where he nearly reached the green in two but ended up three-putting from off the front, settling for par. He finally made his first birdie in 26 holes at the tough par-4 8th, breaking the longest birdie drought of his career. However, he immediately gave back the gain with a missed three-footer for par on the par-3 9th.

From the 10th to the 14th holes, Scheffler continued to put himself in strong positions but could not capitalize. He missed an eight-foot birdie putt on the par-5 10th and finally sank a nine-footer for birdie on the 11th, his last birdie of the day. His eight-foot attempt on the 12th slid past the hole, missing a crucial chance to build momentum. On the 13th, despite hitting his drive just short of the green, he failed to get up-and-down for birdie, settling for yet another par after missing a putt from inside 10 feet.

A bogey on the 15th followed as Scheffler couldn’t save par from just short of the green, missing another nine-footer in the process. He finished with three consecutive pars, capping off another disappointing day on the challenging Pinehurst No. 2 course. Although there is still the final round on Sunday, it seems unlikely that he will secure his first U.S. Open victory this time, despite coming into the tournament as a top contender.

Perhaps Scheffler will manage to convert some of these birdie opportunities during the final round, but it will likely be too little, too late for a significant impact on the leaderboard.