It has been a tough outing for Scottie Scheffler at The Open Championship. A lot of things have not gone his way, beginning with his caddie getting sick. Being grouped with fellow stars Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young also made the challenge at Royal Troon a little trickier. Despite Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, and Russell Henley atop the leaderboard, he is keeping a level head and taking it one stroke at a time at the 152nd Open Championship.

Following his third round Saturday, Scheffler addressed his struggles with a stunning comment.

“I can think of a couple of days with some crazy high winds that may have been more challenging. Overall, the back nine, I think was probably the hardest nine holes that I'll ever play. I shouldn't say ever, but it's definitely the hardest that I've played to this point, I think,” he declared.

Struggles at The Open Championship

Jul 19, 2024; Ayrshire, SCT; Scottie Scheffler walks off the 18th green during the second round of the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
© Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

Scottie Scheffler is doing his best to stay afloat in The Open Championship.

He nearly holed an insane 238-yard shot on the par-3 17th hole during Saturday's third round to show just how great he was at defying the odds. That insane demonstration of technical brilliance at Royal Troon reminded everyone why he is the best player in the world.

Entering the final day of competition, Scheffler sits eighth among all The Open participants. He is looking up at Daniel Brown, Billy Horschel, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Justin Rose, Thriston Lawrence, and Russell Henley. Scheffler noted that the constant change in weather may have bogged him down quite a bit.

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“I think it evolved more so. Here, you never really know about the forecast. There was some rain in the forecast but it was supposed to be a southwest wind, which was similar to the wind we've had the last couple of days. It came more directly into us on the back nine versus down off the left. It was definitely very challenging,” he added.

Scottie Scheffler remains optimistic

Despite his struggles, Scheffler has a plan to slowly get back into contention.

“I'm three back. We'll see what happens on 18 for those guys. But overall I got a good amount of guys in front of me, but yes, my goal kind of making the turn going into the back nine was to do what I could to stay in the tournament and steal some shots where I could. There wasn't really much to steal on the back nine so it was good getting in,” Scheffler said.

“I think I played the back nine in maybe 1-over. Other than the missed short putt on 15 there where I got a bit distracted, it was a really solid back nine,” he concluded.

Will he pull off an insane win despite looking up at guys like Rose and Horschel and claim the Claret Jug for the first time?