Navigating ‘The Deuce’: How the greats see Pinehurst No. 2 ahead of the US Open

The three top-ranked golfers in the world — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy … oh, and another guy who’s spent some time at No. 1 named Tiger Woods — have gotten together in Pinehurst this week for a clinic on taming the Grande Dame — “The Deuce” — Pinehurst No. 2.

All right, so that may not have been the sole purpose of them sharing their collective thoughts. But they did spend a lot of time during their respective pre-U.S. Open press conferences discussing various strategies to somehow navigate No. 2’s myriad riddles and intricacies this week.

(Of course, keep in mind, while these guys may have 21 major titles between them, nary a one of them has conquered No. 2 to bring home this country’s national championship. So please, take their observations with a grain of salt.)

On prep work for this week’s U.S. Open

Tiger Woods: “I did a little bit of work on chipping and putting, but nothing can simulate what we have here this particular week, the amount of little shots and the knobs and run-offs, and either using wedges or long irons or woods around the greens or even putter.

“There’s so many different shots that you really can’t simulate unless you get on the property. That’s one of the reasons I came up here last Tuesday, to be able to try and do that. Quite a bit of work. The golf course has firmed up and gotten faster since then. Even this week, even with the rain we had the other night, the golf course is still faster.”

Scottie Scheffler: “We finished up in Columbus (Ohio, after winning the Memorial Tournament) on Sunday and then did all the stuff afterwards. Flew in, ended up having to fly into Fayetteville and drive an hour over here. Made it in pretty late Sunday night. Came out yesterday afternoon, did some chipping and putting out on the golf course, and (Tuesday) I played the back nine. (Wednesday) I’ll play the front. Thursday will be the tournament.

“I think the golf course is great. In good shape. I think the areas around the green are extremely difficult to play out of. I think the golf course is going to play pretty tough this week, but it’ll be a fun test.

“It’s extremely challenging. I don’t really think they have to do too much to trick it up with the way the greens are if they want the scores to be high. So, it should be a good test and a fun week.”

On their overall mindset at No. 2

Rory McIlroy: “Like most Donald Ross courses, it’s on and around the greens where I’m going to have to sort of do the most work and sort of figure out what shots to hit. Obviously, Martin (Kaymer) here 10 years ago used the putter very, very well — sort of figuring out what I’m comfortable with on and around the greens. I think that will be the big key (in my practice rounds).”

Xander Schauffele: “(No. 2 is) very much along the lines of a U.S. Open. Obviously not the traditional one with sort of really long grass, rough and stuff like that, but true test of a U.S. Open where par is a really good score, and 5 sometimes isn’t going to hurt you, either.

“Just plotting around a property. It’s sort of, I guess, old-school golf a little bit. You play to the fat side of a green. It’s okay to lay up on a par-5. Just everything that’s sort of — not against, but modern golf is sort of hit it as far as you can down every hole, get it as close to the green on every hole, wedge it as close as you can, get up and down on par-5s, that type of deal. U.S. Opens, there is a 480-yard hole, maybe you did iron off of it because it allows you to advance the ball to the best spot to make par versus you thinking of making 3 all the time.”

Tiger Woods: “This golf course is going to test every single aspect of your game, especially mentally, and just the mental discipline that it takes to play this particular golf course. It’s going to take a lot. We’ve been working on that and making sure that I understand the game plan.

“(Weather in the Sandhills) is like home. Hot and humid is what we deal with every single day at home in Florida, so that’s nothing new. It’s just making sure that I keep hydrated and the mental tax that the heat will bring. It’s going to bring it to all of us, not just me.

“Everyone is going to be tested. It’s going to make for long rounds with the falloffs and run-offs on the greens. The rounds timewise are going to be a little bit longer. Then, when you’re out in the heat for that length and period of time, that’s going to take a little bit of wear and tear on you. I would rather play in hot, humid conditions any day than anything cold.”

Scottie Scheffler: “I think a lot of it’s patience. And then there’s certain areas of the golf courses where you can’t really fake it. You just have to step up there and hit great golf shots. There’s certain holes out here where, like especially some of the par-3s, where there’s not really a place where there is a good miss. It’s just, you just better just get up there and you better hit it right where you’re looking or else you’re going to be in big trouble.

“A lot of that is just being committed to what you’re doing. I can’t really worry about where the ball is going to go because I am going to hit a lot of really good shots this week that just don’t work out, and you’re going to make bogeys hitting good shots. That’s just the nature of how difficult the golf course is.

“But what I appreciate about this kind of course is a lot of the areas around the greens are all fairway, and so it may be extremely difficult shots, but there’s always opportunity. Sometimes when there’s heavy rough, there’s not really much opportunity for a great shot.

“I appreciate more having the playability of the run-off areas more than heavy rough surrounding every green. It definitely provides a little bit more variety, a little bit more excitement and a little bit more creativity around the greens. I believe it’s a better test than just having heavy rough over the back of every green. Courses like this I think are a lot of fun to play.

“I always try to remind myself of just being committed to what I can control, and I’m not worried about the results out there. I try to do my best to execute the shot. And like I said, over the course of a 72-hole tournament, I’m going to get plenty of good breaks and plenty of bad ones. It’s all about responding to the bad and kind of rolling with the good and doing my best to control what I can control and execute.”

How to best strategize their drives

Xander Schauffele: “I think if you look off the tee, there’s no rough. But you have these sort of bushes and dirt all around every fairway. You can try and — you can elect to hit a long iron and run it down or if you try and take driver you can be a little bit more aggressive.

“The spots get really tight when you hit driver, just knowing that the ball will bounce, will roll, and then you sort of pick and choose your spots, do I want to be 3-iron, 7-iron to the middle of the fairway or 8-iron versus driver, maybe hit the fairway or sort of have to hack out, maybe catch a good lie in sort of that — I don’t even know what you’d call it, that terrain around the fairways … sandy, bush-ly, I’m not sure what it is. Native area.

“I mean, I’m not sure if it’s just the big banners and the big stands, but it feels like a big championship golf course. I do tend to like that. A lot of the tee shots look similar to me. There’s no outstanding landmark on every hole. There’s just some trees that line and then you see the native area and then you see some cut of a fairway.”

Rory McIlroy: “From what I remember in 2014, it’s obviously generous off the tee in terms of the playing corridors that you’re asked to hit it into. If you hit it outside of those, you can get yourself into trouble, this sandy waste area.

Scottie Scheffler: “Since it’s fairway, there’s opportunity for great shots. The landing area may be literally this big in order for you to hit a great shot, but there’s always opportunity. I feel like you’re never out of the hole, but you’re also not too far away from making a huge number. You’ve really got to manage your way around the golf course and execute where you need to.

“Some of the par-3s, (my caddie) Teddy (Scott) and I are walking around trying to figure out where you miss it to certain pins. It’s like, there’s not really a good spot here, you’d better just hit it in the middle of the green and try and two-putt. There’s a lot of that out here.

“I think it’s kind of fun, too, when there’s not really any hazards on the golf course. It’s not like we’re hitting over ponds or your ball is rolling back into water or into bunkers.

“You can’t get up-and-down out of. There’s definitely some areas where you’re going to be extremely challenged, but I feel like there’s always opportunity.”

Tiger Woods: “The look off the tees are about the same (as 1999). I know it’s more native and more open looking. But from when I watched from ‘05 and what I saw in ‘14, yes, there is a bit of a change. But that’s really no big deal. The surrounds are very different. Going from bent to Bermuda, it is a significant change.

“We were half joking that by the end of the week, it might be one of those Bermuda greens when they get so slick that you bend down to read a putt or bend down to fix a ball mark and your putter slips. I think it has that kind of look and that kind of sheen that it could get there by Sunday. The only thing would stop it would be the humidity that’s coming in.

“But it has that look and feel that this could be one of the Opens where whatever the leading score is, that’s probably as low as we’ll ever go after the first day.”

Strategy around the green surrounds

Xander Schauffele: You kind of name it. Whatever you’re really comfortable with. I hit a lot of putts today. I was joking with my caddie; we should probably get our putter checked. I’ve never swung so hard on my putter for nine holes than I did (Tuesday), just trying to get up and down mounds. There’s certain spots where you feel like you have to hit it really hard, and if you hit it too hard, you putt it off the other side of the green.

“Leaving yourself in a really good position is A-1, but even when you do leave yourself in a good position, the hole is not over yet. It’s sort of half the battle.

“I typically default to putting just as a comfort thing. I grew up in San Diego, but the Texas wedge is definitely my friend. Just need to get comfortable there.

“There’s a lot of spots where people are chipping, so there’s times where if you are trying to putt and you have some divots in your way, that makes putting difficult so you will have to chip or 5-wood or get some loft on it.

“I’d say most times I’d probably putt unless you really need some sort of spin.

“But for the most part, I think the course (will) really reward really crisp iron shots, and if you’re a couple feet off, it might penalize you. I think if you can keep the ball in front of you, you can make it a little bit easier for yourself that way, or you’re going to have to be a scrambling machine.”

Scottie Scheffler: “A lot of the areas around the greens here are quite different, and a lot of it depends on the lies that you get. It’s grainy Bermuda, so if you get a good lie, you can be a little more creative with what you want to do. If you have an iffy into-the-grain lie, you’re a bit limited in what you can do around the green.

“It really depends on the lie and then it depends how big of a slope there is that you’re trying to get it back up onto the green. A lot of that is going to be missing in the right spots.

“But there are certain holes out here that there isn’t a great miss, you’ve just got to step up there and hit a great shot.”

Rory McIlroy: “I think a course like this definitely demands a different skill set and also some creativity. I think that will be on display this week. I’ve already seen some videos online of people trying fairway woods or having lob wedges or putters. Even if you get half lucky and get a decent lie in that wiregrass, sandy area, being able to hit a recovery shot.”

“I think for the viewer at home, that’s more exciting than seeing guys hack out of 4-inch rough all the time. Hopefully that comes to fruition and it is an exciting golf tournament.”

Tiger Woods: “I played (No. 2 when it was) bentgrass (greens). So now having Bermuda, it’s very different. It’s grainy. We had the grain on the greens during those Open Championships, and they were softer than they are now. Granted, I know the surrounds were burnt out in ‘05, but the greens were not like what they are right now. That’s very different.

“There are a few areas in which I would putt. There are also a few areas in which I would use my 56 or 60 (-degree wedge). I have used up to a 4-iron bump-and-running it, and I’ve tried a few woods out there. I didn’t like the way that reacted.

“The shot selections around the greens I think are more plentiful this year from either putting it to wedging it … 6- or 7-irons. I’ve used long irons and woods around the greens, and I’ve seen a number of guys do the same thing. There’s a lot of different shot selections, and the grain is going to play a big part of it.

“The last few days playing practice rounds — I’m guilty as well as the rest of the guys I’ve played with — we’ve putted off a lot of greens. It depends how severe the USGA wants to make this and how close they want to get us up to those sides. But I foresee just like in ‘05 watching some of the guys play ping-pong back and forth. It could happen.

“That’s the beauty of playing Donald Ross golf courses: he tests you. And since the renovation here, I think they’ve done an amazing job of doing that. But we were talking about it the last couple days, when Donald did this golf course and made the greens this severe, I don’t think he intended it to be running at 13 on the stimp meter. They were the speed of fairways.

“That’s one of the differences when we go to most golf courses, is they’re very severe, and we’re playing under faster conditions. It’s more of a test. It’s going to be a great test and a great war of attrition this week. It’s going to be a lot of fun for all of us.”