What Scottie Scheffler blamed for uncharacteristic US Open struggles

OAKMONT, Pa.— Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No.

1 ranked player, simply never got it going this week.Despite entering the U.S.Open as the overwhelming favorite to win, having won three of his previous four starts (including the PGA and the Memorial), Scheffler finished with an even-par 70 on Sunday to finish 4-over par and in a tie for seventh.Scheffler, who leads the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance, had 17 of them (and a double), which is more than he has made in any PGA Tour event in his career.“I felt like I did some good things out there,’’ Scheffler said.

“A few more putts drop today, I think it’s a little different story.My first three days, I felt like I was battling the whole time.

Today I hit some shots.I hit some putts that I really thought were going in, hit some lips.

It was just challenging.I was just right on the edge today.

I battled as hard as I did this week.’’Tyrrell Hatton, who finished tied for fourth after bogeys on the final two holes to close at 3-over, was gutted afterward.He got a bad break with a downhill lie near a bunker on 17, which halted his momentum.“It was [a] pretty tough day,’’ Hatton said.

“The finish at the end hurts a lot.What happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time.

I’m sad about how I finished, but I’m very happy for J.J.[Spaun, the winner], like to win a major in that fashion is amazing.’’Among the five Met Area local players in the field — all of whom played the weekend — Cameron Young, who grew up playing his golf at Sleepy Hollow, pushed himself into contention early in his round with birdies on Nos.

1 and 2 to get to 1-over par.But he couldn’t maintain the momentum and finished 3-over and in a tie for fourth.“I got off to a really nice start, then had no idea where the ball was going to go for about 12 holes,’’ Young said.First-timer Ryan McCormick, from Middletown, N.J., finished 14-over for the week after shooting a 71, his low round of the tournament.

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