BROOKLINE, Mass. — It was, as Scottie Scheffler put it, a “really cool year of golf” for him.
No, he wasn’t talking about this current year, in which he’s bloomed from a rising to a bona fide star. He was talking about 2013, when he was still a student at Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas, lighting up the youth golf scene. That year saw him win the U.S. Junior Amateur in California, a UIL individual state title in Texas and advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
“I have good memories of this place,” the 25-year-old Dallas native mused on Tuesday at his U.S. Open pre-tournament press conference.
Back in Brookline this week, back as the world’s top-ranked golfer, back as the reigning Masters champion and back in the midst of an equally cool year of golf, Scheffler’s sight is set on a second major championship and a fifth win this season alone.
He’ll tee off at 12:35 p.m. on Thursday alongside Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith.
“I like the challenge,” Scheffler said of United States Golf Association events. “I think these events are really hard obviously. For me it’s kind of fun just challenging yourself like that.”
Much has changed since that really cool year in 2013. The course in Brookline is among the differences, Scheffler pointed out. But since he lost to Australian Brady Wyatt in the fourth round of that year’s U.S. Amateur, Scheffler has become something of a major contender.
He’s finished within the top 10 in four of his last five major championship starts, including a tie for seventh at last year’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in California. A Masters championship in April was the high watermark. A missed cut at last month’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. proved to be the low.
“You can learn anything from failure,” said Scheffler, who shot a 71 and 75 in the first two rounds and missed playing the weekend by two strokes. “That’s always a good learning time. For me, I’m not going to sit there and be, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, how did this happen? How could I ever miss a cut? What’s going on?’ Just sitting back and looking, ‘Well, I could have approached this differently. Mentally, I could have been a little bit different approaching this shot.’ It’s more stuff like that versus, ‘I missed the cut, what am I doing out here?’ ”
He returned to Texas the following weekend and finished second at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, and tied for 18th at the RBC Canadian Open last week.
Scheffler can become the first golfer since Koepka (2018) to win two majors in one season. The last player to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season? Fellow Dallasite Jordan Spieth in 2015.
And, speaking of Dallas, Scheffler remembers walking The Country Club course back in 2013 alongside coach Randy Smith. A renowned Dallas-based golf pro, Smith also taught Lake Highlands graduate Justin Leonard, who — at the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club — sank a momentum-swinging putt which helped secure a victory for the American side.
“So, we both have great memories of this place,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler wouldn’t be the first North Texan to do something memorable on the course in Brookline if he were to win Sunday. But the continuation of another really cool year can still be had.
“This style of golf I think really suits how I play and suits mentally how I approach tournaments,” Scheffler said of USGA events, such as the U.S. Open. “And so for me, I’m excited for this week and getting started.”
