U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

June 13, 2023

Scottie Scheffler

The Los Angeles Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please join me in welcoming World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. How does it feel to be back at LACC?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Good to be back. I have good memories of this golf course. I remembered most of the holes before we showed up this week, so that's kind of unusual for me. Usually I don't remember too much.

Good memories of this place, and looking forward to a nice week.

Q. What do you remember most about the golf course?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I remember it being pretty challenging. I don't recall playing my best here during the Walker Cup, but I remembered it being pretty difficult. If my memory serves me well, it's a pretty hard course.

It's got a good mix of holes where you have some of those holes that you really need to get after, and then you have other holes out here where you're kind of hanging on.

You're hitting a lot of different clubs into greens and it gives you a lot of options, and it's a really good test.

Q. Talk about your game right now. Coming in in good shape, but how do you feel from a prep standpoint?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I feel good. I had a good off week at home last week. Got some good rest. It's always important. Four weeks in a row is a pretty long stretch for me, especially being in contention most of those weeks. Those weeks are definitely long, and I got some good rest last week.

Q. You played today with Omar Morales. What can you tell me about his golf game and what did you guys talk about?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, he seemed like a good player. He's only going to be a junior in college, so anytime you can just qualify for this tournament you've obviously got a pretty good amount of talent and you can compete out here on TOUR.

He seemed like he hit it pretty hard and had good hands around greens and hit a lot of different shots, so he seems to me like a pretty talented guy.

Q. I saw you testing like a putter on the putting green yesterday and playing with the weights. I was wondering what you were looking for out of that?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, so I practice with a wedge from time to time just as a feel thing just to feel the release, and so that's what I was doing. It's a good drill for me to kind of put the wedge in there behind the hole and I can really just kind of feel everything with my hands.

That's been a good drill for me in the past and something I go back to from time to time.

Q. What about the putter you were testing, too, on the --

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: There was one that had a little bit of -- it looks a lot like mine but it's just a little bit bigger. I don't know what it's called, but it's just slightly bigger than the one that I use.

Q. And similar weight and stuff?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah.

Q. Are you changing putters this week?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: You guys can find out Thursday.

Q. What goes into thinking and the philosophy of changing before a major like that? How much of a big decision is that for you or anyone?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don't ever take decisions on switching equipment lightly. I think it's strange that I've been struggling the past few weeks with my putter.

The PGA I actually felt like I rolled it pretty good. Few putts here or there that lipped out that should have gone in.

Memorial obviously had an off week on the greens or probably would've won that one.

I mean, sometimes you just got to bring another putter around there to make the original one scared. I've never really been one to try and overthink things, so I try and keep things as simple as possible.

I looked at that one that's a little bit bigger, and I still am kind of undecided on what I think of it.

Q. Do you think there is a scorable stretch on this course? And then just an overall thought on 16, 17 and 18.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I would say if I was to choose a non-scorable stretch it would probably be 16 through 18.

Yeah, the golf course -- I feel like the front nine is a bit easier than the back. The front nine hole you have hole 6, you have hole 8 that are very gettable. You have hole 1 that is very gettable.

Then let me think. Like 3 is another wedge hole where the fairway is pretty wide. So there's definitely some opportunity on the front. As you turn, you get 10 that's a wedge, and then the golf course kind of just hits you and you've got to play -- I think 11 through 18 is probably the toughest stretch on the course.

I mean, 11 obviously being such a big par-3 and then 12 if you don't put the ball in the fairway you pretty much can't hit it on the green, and so you're fighting for par.

I think 12 is probably one of my favorite holes out here. I think it's just a great design.

Then 13 through 18, there's really not much to say. There's just a lot of long, hard, difficult holes.

Q. Not to overthink it, but is changing a putter or changing equipment for guys like you sort of the last line of whatever, like after everything else hasn't worked? Where does it fit in?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I would say it depends on the club. I think if you're looking at like a driver or irons it's probably a little bit of a different discussion.

Putting is such a weird thing. Sometimes when you're on the green sometimes when you feel good you feel like you're never going to miss and then sometimes when you feel terrible you feel like you're never going to make.

Putting is just so different than the rest of the game, so when it comes to putters, it's all personal.

Q. Is there a specific memory from the Walker Cup here that stands out?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I remember I played two matches. I remember a lot of both of those matches. I remember celebrating with everybody on the team after we got done. We played a lot of golf around this course.

I just have a lot of memories of hanging out with the guys on that team. A lot of those guys are out here on TOUR now, so lots of good memories with good friends.

Q. A lot of talk about the par-3s this week. Can you talk a little bit about a hole that would play as low as 80 yards?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I remember -- I don't think I was playing the day that it was 78 yards during the Walker Cup, but 15 is one of those holes where you can kind of do whatever you want with it.

It's really kind of a genius design with the way the green is. I love those little short par-3s. I think that's the way most par-3s should be, just because there is opportunity for birdie and bogey.

I think they're good separator holes. We'll see what the USGA decides to do with that one this week.

Q. Last putting question. When you're trying to heat up on the greens or just put something right, is there anything specific that you go back to maybe mentally or some drills that you do just to really focus in on your putting during an important week like this?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I try and focus on it as little as possible. When you're out there competing, I think when you're doing your best you're kind of just flowing and letting things happen. Putting is different because it's one of those things that has finality attached to it; whereas if I hit a really good 6-iron, sometimes it's going to go to two feet and sometimes it's going to go to 15 feet.

It's like, oh, well to you it doesn't make a huge difference. If I hit a six-footer and I hit a really good putt and one time it goes in and then one time it doesn't, everyone is like, oh, why did he miss that putt?

It's like, well actually, I hit a really good putt and there's a heel print, there's something. Putting is such like an art that I try not to add too much finality to what I'm doing on the greens, if that makes sense.

Q. We all know that our putter needs to be put away and put in a timeout occasionally. Glad to see you were looking at other things. How do you feel about playing on Bermuda for a U.S. Open? Doesn't happen a lot.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah. That was one of the things is that surprised me most about coming to this course for the first time, was that it was all Bermuda and the greens were bent.

I was expecting -- I don't even know what I was specking. I think I was probably expecting more poa on the greens than anything. It was unusual just to see pure bent. It's a good test.

The rough out here can be a bit chancy to where sometimes you can go into it and be in rough that's this long, and Bermuda, which I've never seen before.

And like today I hit it in the right rough on 5 and it was like eight-inch rough. I hit a pitching wedge as hard as I could and carried like 90 yards.

And usually in Bermuda you're kind of hitting into those areas where you're just trying to judge a flier.

Here sometimes you're judging a flier and then sometimes you're hacking it out. So just a guessing game what's going to happen when you hit it in the rough. It's definitely very U.S. Open-like.

Q. Have you reached out to anyone as a second set of eyes with your putting?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No. My coach, Randy, has taught me since I was probably seven years old, and he's taught me everything I know about the game. I actually got to see him a couple times last week, which was nice. It was good just getting him out to the course again to hang out. He had surgery a couple months ago, and so we got some good work in on the greens.

Q. How does Teddy help you on the greens?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: So Teddy and I read a lot of putts together. I think you've seen that probably the last -- since he started caddying for me. He's a great green reader and he's good mentally. A lot of the stuff -- like I said, putting has that finality attached to it where the ball either goes in or it doesn't, and you're kind of judged by that, and I'm trying to get more and more away from that, to where if I hit a really good putt I'm more happy -- if I hit like a really good 7-iron into a green and I think it's going to be two feet and it comes up 25 feet short, I'm not overly pissed off because I'm like, wow, I hit a great shot.

And so if I'm sitting on the greens and I can hit really good putts it's a lot easier to live with the results.

So I would say the PGA I did a good job of that.

Colonial I did a fantastic job of that.

And then I think Memorial just -- I just had a really off week on the greens there.

I'm most proud of what I did mentally there to still somehow give myself a chance to win when I wasn't putting my best. I think that's something that I've worked on over the years out here being on TOUR, is having that kind of mental edge and not taking things -- I don't know if too seriously is the right word, but sometimes I'd let a few bad swings or bad putts ruin my day, and I didn't do that, and I haven't done that in a while.

I'm very proud of the kind of consistent results that I've put up on the board.

Q. Where were you and what was your reaction to the news last week, PGA TOUR and PIF?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was at the gym. I didn't really know what was going on. Still don't really have a clue.

Q. The average width of the fairways is 43 yards, which seems wide. Effectively, though, what do you think they are? Is it a quarter less of that? You mentioned 5; like 3, 5, 8, 13 have a lot of tilt to them. How much less than 43 do you think effectively are the fairways?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: That's a good question. It really depends on the holes. Because like 2 and 3 I would say play wider than they are.

3 is a huge fairway.

1 is tight.

5 plays super small.

6, I don't even know if I'm going to even try hitting the fairway. I don't know what I'm going to do on that hole yet. It just depends.

8 plays wider.

10 is pretty wide.

But then you get to the back nine and 12 plays so narrow.

13 is so narrow.

16 depending on the wind can play super narrow.

I think this course is a really good mix of holes. And yeah, the fairways maybe average a little bit wider than they usually are, but when you get fairways that are very firm, any sort of curve you put on the ball makes it play so much smaller.

With how firm I think we're going to get this golf course, it's going to be a really good test for all parts of the game.

Q. You said there that you are still in the dark pretty much about this whole peace agreement that's been broken out. Is that a case of not getting the information you need or is it just because you're coming up to a major championship you want to put that off to one side and just forget about it?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, so one of my big things is controlling what I can control, and so when I talk about golf swings, it's mostly that. Like if I hit a really good 7-iron and it doesn't turn out the way I want it to, I did what I could. If I hit a really good putt and it doesn't go in, I did what I could.

This is another one of those scenarios where I've been focused on preparing for this week and that's something that's out of my control. I don't really know what's going to happen in the future, but I'm interested to see because it does affect me.

We'll see what happens. But like I said, I don't have a ton of control over that and things are really starting to kind of -- things are barely starting to take form with that whole deal, so I really just don't know.