PINEHURST, N.C. — Superman struggled.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the world by a wide margin, has left himself in jeopardy of missing the cut at the 124th U.S. Open.
Scheffler entered this week at Pinehurst No. 2 having won five of his previous eight tournaments with his worst result being a eight-place finish at last month’s PGA Championship.
He followed his 1-over-par 71 in Thursday’s first round with a 4-over-par 74 in the second round Friday to stand at 5-over par through 36 holes.
At the time Scheffler completed his round, he was two shots on the wrong side of the cut line, which stood at 3-over par. The top 60 scores and ties among the 156 players in the field make the cut.
Scheffler was in a tie for 90th place at the time his round was finished.
If, when the afternoon rounds are complete, Scheffler’s 5-over-par isn’t inside the cutline, it’ll mark the first time he’s failed to make the weekend in a tournament since he missed the cut at the FedEx St. Jude in August 2022.
That was 38 made-cuts and seven wins ago.
Scheffler, after his opening-round 1-over-par 71, said he did nothing well in the round Thursday.
On Friday, he did less than that, failing to make a single birdie.
That’s the first time in his 18-career major championships as a professional that Scheffler has failed to make at least one birdie in a major championship round.
In Scheffler’s 36 holes, he managed just the two birdies he made Thursday, when he also had three bogeys.
On Friday, Scheffler, who started on No. 10, parred his first five holes and then bogeyed the par-3 15th and the par-3 17th. Then, on his back nine, he took a double bogey on the par-5 fifth hole.
What made all of this so stunning is the fact that Scheffler came to Pinehurst after having won the Memorial on Sunday, his fifth win this season.
But his preparation was somewhat abbreviated.
Scheffler arrived Monday afternoon from Ohio and did some chipping and putting. He played the back nine Tuesday and played the front nine Wednesday.
Interestingly, Scheffler opted not to visit Pinehurst before tournament week to familiarize himself like many top players do.
In fairness, he’s had a lot going on. His wife, Meredith, was deep in her pregnancy and had the couple’s child in mid-May.
Scheffler, too, went through that entire arrest and jail detention situation at the PGA in Louisville, where the charges were later dropped.
“With some of the circumstances that have been going on outside the golf courses, it’s been a bit more challenging,’’ Scheffler said before the tournament when asked about compartmentalizing.
Scheffler didn’t play Pinehurst in 2014, the last time the U.S. Open was played on the No. 2 Course.
“I think the golf course is going to play pretty tough this week, but it’ll be a fun test,’’ Scheffler said Tuesday. “I think the golf course is great. It’s extremely challenging.’’