US Open: Is Scotty Scheffler ready to fulfill his destiny at Shinnecock Hill and complete a career Grand Slam? | golf news

The stars could align for Scottie Scheffler this week at Shinnecock Hills, with the 29-year-old able to complete the final leg of his career Grand Slam and become only the seventh player in history to do so, should he claim victory at the US Open.

He will also achieve the historic feat on his 30th birthday, no less.

Scheffler, to put it mildly, has experienced an indifferent season on the PGA Tour in 2026. He has struggled to live up to the high standards he has set over the past two years, but the world number one will be a brave man this week, especially considering what is at stake.

For the four-time major winner, who has 20 wins on the PGA Tour, it was essentially a case of him fulfilling his destiny and joining Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan in illustrious careers, after winning two Grand Slams on the PGA Tour. Open in 2025.

Have a dive experience in Scheffler form?

Scheffler started 2026 in emphatic fashion, scoring a four-shot victory at American Express in January, suggesting this year will be business as usual.

Since then, the American’s performance has been solid but far from his dominance over the past two years. Scheffler won six times on the PGA Tour in 2025 and eight times worldwide in 2024 – a year that also saw him win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

Scheffler’s form began to be questioned in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished the tournament 24th to post his worst finish at a PGA Tour event in 13 months.

Things came to a head at The Players when Scheffler, who finished his week tied for 22nd at TPC Sawgrass, admitted he was “frustrated” with his game and marked His mistakes on the course as “mental errors”..

After The Players, Scheffler fell from first to third for total strokes gained on the PGA Tour through the end of 2025. As Scheffler dropped from first to 78th, his strokes took a more dramatic downturn, and that was probably his main problem.

Perversely, he attacked those who questioned whether he was experiencing a slump in form.

“If you look at my season and it’s like, last week I was 24th, 12th, then third and fourth and a win, would your question be the same?” He said

“No matter what round of golf you look at, I think there’s always something you think you could do better.”

A season of near misses

Despite his early season struggles, the world No. 1 recovered in remarkable fashion, becoming the first player in PGA Tour history to achieve three consecutive singles runner-up finishes, a feat he called “bittersweet”.

At The Masters, Scheffler moved up the leaderboard to finish one shot behind McIlroy. A week later, at the RBC Heritage, he made a sensational effort to take Matt Fitzpatrick into the play-offs, but came up short in the end. In his next event, the Cadillac Championship, he was pipped by Cameron Young, who won by six shots.

“Finishing second hurts, but when you reflect, and you look at things to work on, there’s a lot less to clean up when you’re finishing 30th than in second place,” Scheffler said before this year’s PGA Championship.

Scheffler ‘comfortable’ with current form

While Scheffler still isn’t satisfied with some aspects of his game, there are signs of improvement.

Following The Players, he moved back into first place on the PGA Tour for stroke total coming into this week’s US Open. He topped the greens-in-regulation rankings and tied for 17th in strokes gained.

Still, a lack of consistency still dogged his game, and during the first round of this year’s Memorial Tournament, he vented his frustrations to his caddy, Ted Scott, after sticking an approach shot in the water on the par-three 16th hole.

After carding an even-par 72 on the second day, he excitedly claimed he “looked like he was going to shoot about 90”, adding he was “hitting the worst ball I’ve had in years”.

Scheffler improved through the weekend and finished tied for 12th on the leaderboard, but after the tournament he opened up about his struggles in his game, explaining: “I couldn’t really do anything.

“Just little things, little mistakes that I don’t normally make, I felt like I was making this week. So the off week to clean up some things, but overall, I feel pretty comfortable with where my game is at.”

How can Scheffler win the US Open?

As the old saying goes, ‘it’s you against the course’. And that might not be true this week at the very testy Shinnecock Hills, a course with a history of controversy that has plagued the world’s best players when the last two iterations of the US Open were held in 2004 and 2018.

If there is wind, Shinnecock Hills can play like a links. Narrow fairways, rolling hills and sticky rough all combine to give players a headache.

“It’s one of those courses where there’s a ton of space, but the areas you have to hit are pretty small,” Scheffler said at the Memorial Tournament.

He added: “The greens are going to play really short, especially if they are firm. It should be a really challenging week.”

Perhaps, though, for last year’s Open champion, his biggest threat lies within the field.

The quality of competition on the PGA Tour this season has been exceptional, with Young, McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Alex Fitzpatrick and Aaron Rae all enjoying excellent seasons.

Scheffler isn’t someone to keep an eye on on the leaderboard, and while he likes to control what he can do on the golf course, a case has to be made that the world number one needs to be wary of what the rest of the field is doing, especially since he’s been pipped on three occasions this season.

There is also the matter of his own game. It seems to be trending in the right direction since the Players Championship, but Scheffler still worries about ball-striking titles during the week and needs to start fast in the first round to keep close to the leaders.

One thing that will count in his favor is his pedigree of good performances at the US Open and he has come close to winning this tournament before. Scheffler finished tied-seventh in last year’s event, and his best finish came in 2022, when he finished tied-second, one shot behind winner Matt Fitzpatrick.

And what about the career grand slam?

The prospect of making history on his 30th birthday Sunday is something Scheffler isn’t trying to entertain.

Like every golfer, he dreams of winning a career Grand Slam, but will come into the week without looking past every shot he’s dealt.

After the 2025 Masters he said, “Was it great to see Rory win a Grand Slam? Of course it was.” “But as far as my life goes, I try to live in the present. I don’t often think about career goals.

“Winning a career Grand Slam, I think that’s something that any golfer would dream of, but, at the end of the day, I’m just trying to get the most out of myself. That’s what it’s all about.”

There is no doubt that the 29-year-old has failed to meet his 2024 and 2025 heights. Maintaining a level of dominance for three consecutive seasons is bound to be mentally exhausting, and at the same time dealing with inconsistencies in one’s game.

He’s world number one for a reason though, and his determination to get back to winning ways has seen him improve aspects of his game that bothered him in March.

And even if his iron play isn’t up to scratch this week at Shinnecock, it’s scary that Scheffler could lean on other aspects of his game to propel himself up the leaderboard.

You wouldn’t bet against him joining the career grand slam club at this week’s US Open.

When is the US Open live on Sky Sports?

Watch live coverage of the US Open on Sky Sports Golf from 12.30pm on Thursday and Friday, with the action live until at least midnight between the first two rounds.

Live coverage begins at 3pm for the third round on Saturday and 4pm for the final day on Sunday, with the US Open live on Sky Sports Golf until the final putting hole on both days.

A bonus ‘Live from the US Open’ show will provide bonus build-up and news on Tuesday and Wednesday of tournament week, with one hour of highlights available for all four rounds.

The US Open is part of golf’s triple-header live on Sky Sports, with the final two days of the Amateur Championship and the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Major LPGA Classic also live on the Sky Sports mix. Get Sky Sports or Flow without any contract.