Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy Dish on their Scouting Trips to Shinnecock

All eyes should be on Jack’s Place and the Memorial Tournament this week. It’s one of the best events on the schedule and an opportunity to celebrate one of the greatest players of all time. That said, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t starting to think about Shinnecock and the U.S. Open—and I’m not alone.

On Wednesday, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy sat with the media for pre-tournament press conferences at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, and each said they spent some time on Long Island on Monday to get an early look at the golf course.

While McIlroy was part of the 2018 U.S. Open, Scheffler said it was his first time on property. So, what did he think?

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“I had heard some rumors about how difficult the greens were. I was a little surprised at the width of the fairways, but the green complexes there are extremely difficult, and I think that's where the greatest challenge comes from,” Scheffler said. “The rough, also, was a really good penalty, I think, for the width. Once you start missing fairways out there, you have no chance. But the fairways are generous enough to where it provides you some opportunity and that way it's just that the green complexes are extraordinarily difficult, and so they can put the pins wherever they want and make the scores as high as they could possibly want 'em to be.”

Scheffler will have more than just the U.S. Open title on the line in a few weeks. He’s also going for the Career Grand Slam, a club McIlroy joined last year after winning the Masters. If he goes on to win, he’ll become the seventh player in history to win all four major championships.

As for McIlroy’s trip to Shinnecock, he echoed most of the World No. 1’s points.

“The fairways are very generous," McIlroy said. "They're more generous than they were in 2018. But the first cut of rough is 5 inches long. So it's like the first cut is maybe three paces wide and then it gets into the fescue. So if you miss the fairway even by a yard, you're going to—but you shouldn't. The fairways are very, very generous. So if you miss the fairway, I feel like you deserve a bad lie.”

McIlroy added that the greens were running right around 11 on the Stimpmeter, and that they don’t need to get any faster than that.

“I think if they can keep them at that green speed, they can get them firm, and they can use the hole locations that they want to use without having some of the struggles that they have had the last couple of U.S. Opens…If it's set up the right way, I think it's one of the best championship tests in the country.”

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While Scheffler is hoping to join him in Club Slam, McIlroy has plenty to play for. If he wins at Shinnecock, he’ll be an Open victory away from completing the Career Grand Slam twice. Only Tiger Woods and this week’s tournament host, Jack Nicklaus have done that.

But for the next four days, Scheffler and McIlroy will put their game planning for Shinnecock aside and focus on Muirfield Village. Scheffler is going for a three-peat, while McIlroy is hoping to get his first, the last box on his resume he’s yet to check, according to Mr. Nicklaus.

I don’t know about you, but I’d be okay with a Scheffler/McIlroy final group on Sunday.