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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Last year, after Rory McIlroy won the Masters for the first time to become just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, his caddie, Harry Diamond, purchased him a scorecard with the signatures of the five other golfers to do so: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
McIlroy declined to add his John Hancock to it out of respect but noted that he was leaving room for when Scottie Scheffler joined him. He joked that he hoped he wouldn’t have to add his name to it next year.
This week is Scheffler’s turn to try to make history as he aims to claim the final elusive leg of the career Grand Slam at the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
“Would it be a dream to win the U.S. Open? Of course,” Scheffler said. “But at the end of the day, the Grand Slam has never been a motivating factor for me. I always just wanted to be the best version of myself, and that got me this far.”
Scheffler picked up his 20th career Tour title in his first start of the 2026 PGA Tour season at The American Express but hasn’t won in his last 11 events, which qualifies as a mini slump by his high standard. Scheffler has six top-4s and three runner-up finishes. Asked to comment on his season to date, he said, “I feel like I've been close most of the year. I feel like I just haven't been as sharp as I needed to be. I think the margins in this game are so small. For me to be winning a lot of tournaments, you've got to just be really, really sharp,” he said. “I feel like maybe I've just been a touch dull, because I think statistically I think I'm maybe leading the FedExC up, I think I'm leading the strokes gained statistics, so by no means is it a bad year. Is it up to the play I've had the previous couple of years? Probably not, but it's not far off.”
That razor’s edge is thin, and it has given the competition hope that they have a fighting chance. Or as Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee put it, “He’s still the man to beat, but he is no longer the man that can’t be beat.”
Scheffler has struggled at the toughest tests. Other than a solo second at the Masters, he finished T-24 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T-22 at the Players, T-14 at the PGA Championship and T-11 at The Memorial Tournament. Some of Scheffler’s frustration boiled over during the second round as he complained to his caddie Ted Scott when a shot didn’t come off to his liking.
“From what we saw (at Memorial), he’s very much a control freak in terms of how he plays the game and you can’t be a control freak around this golf course,” said Golf Channel’s Paul McGinley said. “It’s not a game of exact precision, and you’ve got to manage your misses. So, that’s going to be the challenge for Scottie.”
Shinnecock should be a superb setup for Scheffler — a second-shot golf course requiring long iron precision, touch around the green, bogey avoidance and the ability to flight the ball in windy conditions. Scheffler has the chance to win and complete the career Grand Slam on his 30th birthday on Sunday. And it’s not unprecedented for two legends of the game to complete the Slam in consecutive seasons. Player turned the trick at the 1965 U.S. Open and Nicklaus followed suit one year later at the 1966 British Open. For Scheffler, the hardest challenge may be blocking out the hype. On Tuesday, he spoke about the burden of expectation.
“No matter what, I think as a player and as a professional athlete, you're never going to live up to the expectations of people. I think sometimes that's a little bit of the fallacy in our sport is like, if I win the U.S. Open, then I'm going to be satisfied,” he said. “But I think the goal posts are always just moved further and further. If I finish second this week, it's almost like, hey, you failed in your first chance to win the career grand slam. It's kind of, like, is finishing second a failure?
“Like, yeah, it can feel that way, but I think sometimes when you look at more of kind of a wider view of the sport and where your game's at, second is not always that bad, but man, does it frickin' hurt at the same time.”
Whenever Scheffler dives into deep thoughts on winning, as he did so spectacularly before claiming the British Open last year, he gives a window into his love of competing and how he lives for it but he struggled with the flip side.
“You can feel like a failure in this sport oftentimes just because you're not winning, and I think that's just part of it. That's why I said I try not to focus too much on my successes or my failures, one, because you get beat up an awful lot in this game. It's a tough sport,” he said. “But, two, if I was feeling so good about all my successes, I probably wouldn't be too much fun to be around either.”
If he can become the seventh member of one of sport’s most exclusive clubs, he’ll be asked what the next mountain is he’ll aim to climb. But first, he’ll be able to join the signatures on McIlroy’s famous Augusta scorecard. There’s plenty of room just waiting for him.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: US Open 2026: Scottie Scheffler seeks career Grand Slam at Shinnecock
Continue reading...
McIlroy declined to add his John Hancock to it out of respect but noted that he was leaving room for when Scottie Scheffler joined him. He joked that he hoped he wouldn’t have to add his name to it next year.
This week is Scheffler’s turn to try to make history as he aims to claim the final elusive leg of the career Grand Slam at the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
“Would it be a dream to win the U.S. Open? Of course,” Scheffler said. “But at the end of the day, the Grand Slam has never been a motivating factor for me. I always just wanted to be the best version of myself, and that got me this far.”
Scheffler picked up his 20th career Tour title in his first start of the 2026 PGA Tour season at The American Express but hasn’t won in his last 11 events, which qualifies as a mini slump by his high standard. Scheffler has six top-4s and three runner-up finishes. Asked to comment on his season to date, he said, “I feel like I've been close most of the year. I feel like I just haven't been as sharp as I needed to be. I think the margins in this game are so small. For me to be winning a lot of tournaments, you've got to just be really, really sharp,” he said. “I feel like maybe I've just been a touch dull, because I think statistically I think I'm maybe leading the FedExC up, I think I'm leading the strokes gained statistics, so by no means is it a bad year. Is it up to the play I've had the previous couple of years? Probably not, but it's not far off.”
That razor’s edge is thin, and it has given the competition hope that they have a fighting chance. Or as Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee put it, “He’s still the man to beat, but he is no longer the man that can’t be beat.”
Scheffler has struggled at the toughest tests. Other than a solo second at the Masters, he finished T-24 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T-22 at the Players, T-14 at the PGA Championship and T-11 at The Memorial Tournament. Some of Scheffler’s frustration boiled over during the second round as he complained to his caddie Ted Scott when a shot didn’t come off to his liking.
“From what we saw (at Memorial), he’s very much a control freak in terms of how he plays the game and you can’t be a control freak around this golf course,” said Golf Channel’s Paul McGinley said. “It’s not a game of exact precision, and you’ve got to manage your misses. So, that’s going to be the challenge for Scottie.”
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Shinnecock should be a superb setup for Scheffler — a second-shot golf course requiring long iron precision, touch around the green, bogey avoidance and the ability to flight the ball in windy conditions. Scheffler has the chance to win and complete the career Grand Slam on his 30th birthday on Sunday. And it’s not unprecedented for two legends of the game to complete the Slam in consecutive seasons. Player turned the trick at the 1965 U.S. Open and Nicklaus followed suit one year later at the 1966 British Open. For Scheffler, the hardest challenge may be blocking out the hype. On Tuesday, he spoke about the burden of expectation.
“No matter what, I think as a player and as a professional athlete, you're never going to live up to the expectations of people. I think sometimes that's a little bit of the fallacy in our sport is like, if I win the U.S. Open, then I'm going to be satisfied,” he said. “But I think the goal posts are always just moved further and further. If I finish second this week, it's almost like, hey, you failed in your first chance to win the career grand slam. It's kind of, like, is finishing second a failure?
“Like, yeah, it can feel that way, but I think sometimes when you look at more of kind of a wider view of the sport and where your game's at, second is not always that bad, but man, does it frickin' hurt at the same time.”
Whenever Scheffler dives into deep thoughts on winning, as he did so spectacularly before claiming the British Open last year, he gives a window into his love of competing and how he lives for it but he struggled with the flip side.
“You can feel like a failure in this sport oftentimes just because you're not winning, and I think that's just part of it. That's why I said I try not to focus too much on my successes or my failures, one, because you get beat up an awful lot in this game. It's a tough sport,” he said. “But, two, if I was feeling so good about all my successes, I probably wouldn't be too much fun to be around either.”
If he can become the seventh member of one of sport’s most exclusive clubs, he’ll be asked what the next mountain is he’ll aim to climb. But first, he’ll be able to join the signatures on McIlroy’s famous Augusta scorecard. There’s plenty of room just waiting for him.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: US Open 2026: Scottie Scheffler seeks career Grand Slam at Shinnecock
Continue reading...
