SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Scottie Scheffler can become the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam if he wins his first U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Sunday.
Scheffler can accomplish the feat on his 30th birthday, but the world No. 1 insists joining that elite club won't be his motivation when he tees it up in Thursday's opening round.
"For me, would it be a dream to win the U.S. Open? Of course," Scheffler said. "But at the end of the day, the Grand Slam has never been a motivating factor for me. I always just wanted to be the best version of myself, and that got me this far."
It will be Scheffler's first attempt at trying to achieve the career Grand Slam after he won both the PGA Championship and Open Championship last year. He already has two Masters victories (2022, 2024).
Scheffler would join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only golfers to capture the four major championships in the Masters era.
McIlroy finished the career Grand Slam in his 11th try, most among those who have done it, when he won the first of back-to-back Masters titles in 2025.
"It's kind of a funny thing," Scheffler said. "It's like, yeah, if I win this tournament, that would be amazing. But I think then I show up the next week, and it's like, 'OK, now Scottie's won the Grand Slam, he's won all these golf tournaments. Now, where do we go from here?'
"So no matter what, I think as a player and as a professional athlete, you're never going to live up to the expectations of people. ... I think the goalposts are always just moved further and further."
Scheffler enters the week winless in his last 11 starts since picking up his 20th victory on the PGA Tour in his first start of the year at the American Express on Jan. 25.
He has been runner-up three times, with seven top-five finishes. He has finished in the top 25 in each of his 12 starts.
Scheffler finished in the top 10 in four of his past five starts in the U.S. Open.
"Golf is such a funny game," Scheffler said. "A good example [is] if I finish second this week, it's almost like, 'Hey, you failed in your first chance to win the career Grand Slam.' Is finishing second a failure? It can feel that way, but I think sometimes when you look at more [from] a wider view of the sport and where your game's at, second is not always that bad.
"But man, does it fricking hurt at the same time."
It's the 13th consecutive major in which Scheffler is the world No. 1. Only Woods had more with 21 straight from 2005 to 2010 and 20 in a row from 2000 to 2004, according to Elias Sports Bureau. No other golfer did it more than 10 straight times.
Scheffler's slow starts are part of the reason he hasn't won more often this season. Since the American Express, he has been inside the top 15 at the end of the first round in only two of his 11 starts. His scoring average in the first round (69.92) is more than two strokes higher than in the final round (67.5).
"I feel like I've been close most of the year," Scheffler said. "I feel like I just haven't been as sharp as I needed to be. I think the margins in this game are so small. For me to be winning a lot of tournaments, you've got to just be really, really sharp. I feel like maybe I've just been a touch dull."
