Scottie Scheffler had 5 bogeys and 4 birdies in the second round at Oakmont today. To say that the #1 had a tough time would definitely be an understatement. He was already struggling on Thursday after a series of mistakes in the first 18. Everyone witnessed his burst of frustration on the 14th hole after his approach shot didn’t land where he wanted it to. And on Friday, it was inevitable that Scottie would be a little more cautious.

Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, and Collin Morikawa took some time to finish the second set of 18 holes. In total, the trio needed around five and a half hours to complete the round. Concerned about the delays, one of the reporters asked the 16x PGA Tour winner, “I know it’s hard out there, but why is it taking so long?” After a little back and forth, Scheffler tried to shift the blame, “It felt long to me. Both the par-5s, we basically walked up on the group in front of us. When it’s up on No. 8 — you’ve got a drivable par-4 on 17. 8 is basically a drivable par-4, too. You guys are the ones watching. I’m just trying to play. I’ve got too many concerns other than the pace it takes to get around this place.”

Oakmont Country Club certainly is one of the meanest courses in the world. As Scheffler confessed, he tried to keep up with the expected pace of play. However, he put the group in front of him under the bus by suggesting that they can’t continue playing if Sam Burns & Co. couldn’t push ahead quickly enough. That’s not where his series of excuses ended.

When asked if it got under his skin at all, Scheffler knew just exactly what he needed to say. He added, “No. Going into a golf course like this with this many players and this tough of a golf course, you know it’s going to take a while. If it was, like — if we’re playing threesomes at Travelers next week, the scores are obviously going to be a bit different. There’s not nearly the distance in between holes. Look at the ground we’ve got to cover out there to walk 18 holes. That’s a big piece of property. It just takes time. It just takes time to hit that many golf shots.”

A he admitted, it’s challenging to manage time when your primary focus is to make par or, if you’re lucky, under par. But Scheffler & Co. still received a lot of backlash for their “snail-pace play.” Fans called for penalties and disqualifications after suffering through the delays they caused. Especially because they had to endure the 71 minutes Scheffler, Hovland, & Morikawa needed to complete holes 10, 11, and 12. As Golf Digest suggested, that would have led to “a potential seven-hour round” if the group hadn’t pushed through the next 4 hours and 10 minutes, approximately.

The added time did give Scottie Scheffler an advantage, though. While many around him faltered, he was still able to hold on to a respectable score on Friday. Let’s see how he performed.

Slow-playing Scottie Scheffler & Viktor Hovland are ready for the weekend

The five and a half hours of grueling tests benefited Scottie Scheffler & Viktor Hovland more than they would like to admit. As frustrating as it must have been to tackle the pace of play, both individuals had great rounds to show for it. Hovland struck a 2-under 68 to jump up to the third spot. He had 5 birdies, an eagle, 3 bogeys, and 1 double bogey to end up with 1-under 139 after 36 holes. The Norwegian is only 2 strokes away from the leader.

Scheffler, on the other hand, improved on his score from the first round. He managed a 1-over 71 and is sitting at T23, tied with Jon Rahm and his groupmate, Collin Morikawa. “I feel like I battled really hard, it’s challenging out there. I was not getting the ball in the correct spots and paying the price for it. Felt like me getting away with 1-over today wasn’t all that bad. It could have been a lot worse,” he said of his second round.

Going into Saturday, the #1 will be 7 strokes from the top of the table, which is led by the golfer from the group in front of him, Sam Burns. Does Scottie Scheffler still have a shot at winning the 2025 U.S. Open? When it comes to him, you just never know when he picks up pace. So he is absolutely a contender for the third major of the year and the second of the season for him.