Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are grouped together for the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. The star-studded trio is scheduled to tee off at 1:14 p.m. ET in what has to be the most interesting grouping of the tournament. McIlroy addressed the media on Tuesday and had the line of the tournament about the world's No. 1 golfer.
During his press conference, McIlroy joked that only jail could keep Scheffler from winning a golf tournament right now, a nod to Scheffler's trouble with the law at the PGA Championship a few weeks ago.
Rory on @padraig_h: “Probably loves game of golf more than I do, in some way”
Rory on Scottie: “Only thing that took him away from winning a golf tournament was being in a jail cell for an hour”
Relaxed vibe for @McIlroyRory this AM, sporting hoodie as meets media @usopengolf pic.twitter.com/1Me4w55Sdr
While it's a funny comment, it's not entirely true. Scheffler was arrested, but he was still able to make his tee time and shot a 66 in the second round and head into the weekend with a legitimate chance to win. Unfortunately, once the adrenaline wore off he fell back to Earth and shot a 73 in the third round. He ended up finishing tied for eighth, 8 shots behind Schauffele who won his first Major.
Now the two will play together in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open alongside McIlroy, who is seeking his first Major championship since 2014. As long as all three make it through security, it should be quite a show.
STEPHEN DOUGLAS
Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.
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