Scheffler Returns to Oakmont Where U.S. Open Journey Began

Before he became the best golfer on the planet. Before he claimed three major championships and represented his country in two Ryder Cups and two Presidents Cups. Before his bank account was worth more than the Gross National Product of several small countries.

Before Scottie Scheffler became … well, Scottie Scheffler, he was a 19-year-old amateur from Dallas, Texas playing in relative anonymity in the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

Well, he wasn’t totally a complete unknown. At least not to diehard golf fans. He had won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur, reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Amateur, and helped the University of Texas reach the championship match of the 2016 NCAA Championships at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club, a week that included taking down individual champion Aaron Wise, 4 and 3, in the Longhorns’ 3-2 loss.

And just a few days later during 36-hole U.S. Open final qualifying, Scheffler got up and down from a greenside bunker on his final hole at Wedgewood Golf & Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio, to force his way into a 6-for-5 playoff, which he would survive the next morning to play his way to Oakmont.

A few days later, he was sharing the fairways with superstars Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, who would win the next three U.S. Opens; the former in 2016 and the latter in consecutive years, the first to do so since Curtis Strange (1988-89).

Then in a sign of what the world would witness in the ensuing years, Scheffler, with older sister, Callie, on his bag, managed to post a 1-under 69 in Thursday’s opening round before weather suspended play. 

"It's really cool to be able to walk the same grounds those guys before us have walked."

Nine years ago, a 19-year-old Scottie Scheffler came to Oakmont as an amateur to play in his first U.S. Open. This week, he will make his eighth start in the championship. pic.twitter.com/kX5bQJUhCj

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 10, 2025

An on-camera interview with Fox’s Shane Bacon followed, where Scheffler said he did his best to get done before the deluge, giving him time to relax, enjoy dinner with his family and take in Game 6 of the NBA Finals between Golden State and Cleveland. Scheffler played high school basketball and is a big hoops fan, although he admitted on Tuesday during his press conference that it’s been difficult to comprehend lately with his hometown Mavericks dealing superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Harkening back to 2016, Scheffler was asked what he remembered about that experience, which included a disappointing second-round 78 to miss the 36-hole cut by a stroke.

“It was my first major and maybe my third start on the [PGA] Tour at the time,” said Scheffler, who had previously played his hometown Byron Nelson and the St. Jude Classic, in Memphis, Tenn. “I played a practice round with Dustin and Brooks, felt like I learned a lot from those guys at the time. It definitely made me excited to get out here for real because it was a pretty fun week. Obviously, I had a pretty good first round, [and] didn't play as good in the second. That was a tough pill to swallow.”

Scheffler’s learning curve continued the following year at Erin Hills, where after surviving final qualifying again in Columbus, he earned low-amateur honors, which elevated his résumé to be selected for the USA Walker Cup Team that rolled to a 19-7 win at The Los Angeles Country Club.

“That was something I kind of marked on my calendar, something I wanted to get back and try to do because I was pretty disappointed the way it ended for me here nine years ago,” said Scheffler about the 2017 U.S. Open. “So it was nice to come back and have a better week the next year.”

Nine years after his debut, so much has changed for Scheffler. Now the 16-time PGA Tour winner arrives as the favorite to collect his second major title of 2025. He’s now a father of a 13-month-old son (Bennett), something not lost on Scottie since the U.S. Open ends on Father’s Day.

Oakmont, too, has changed, thanks to a recent renovation by Gil Hanse, who returned the venerable layout hosting its record-10th U.S. Open back to the original intentions of club founder Henry C. Fownes. So, it’s not the exact course Scheffler saw in 2016. In fact, it might be more challenging.

“This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play, maybe ever,” said Scheffler, “and that's pretty much all it is. It's just a different type of test.”

One that Scheffler hopes to ace.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.