Scottie Scheffler plays it cool ahead of U.S. Open: "Never been a motivating factor for me"

Scottie Scheffler says completing the grand slam has never been a motivating factor for him. 

The 29-year-old American arrives at the U.S. Open at famed Shinnecock Hills as the pre-tournament favourite. 

Scheffler has already won four major titles and will have the opportunity to complete the career grand slam this week. 

He will get his quest to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Rory McIlroy in the history books on Thursday at 13:14 BSt. 

But he insists the feat is not and has never been a motivating factor.

"Would it be a dream to win the U.S. Open? Of course, but at the end of the day, the Grand Slam has never been a motivating factor for me," Scheffler said.

"I always just wanted to be the best version of myself and that got me this far.

"When it comes to this golf tournament, I'm going to step on the first tee and remind myself I've done everything I possibly could to play well. 

"Now it's just a matter of going out there and trying to execute and going back to enjoying the competition, versus feeling like you have to win for some reason."

Scheffler has not been at his best in 2026, winning only once at the American Express on his first start of the calendar year. 

But he has still racked up top 10 finishes in 11 of his last 14 major starts - a streak that began at the start of 2023. 

He finished runner-up to McIlroy at Augusta National and shared 14th place at the PGA Championship. 

Should he not win the gold medal, then he is absolutely not deeming the week as a failure. 

He said: "If I finish second this week, it's almost like 'hey, you failed in your first chance to win the career grand slam'.

"Yeah, it can feel that way, but sometimes when you look at a wider view of the sport and where your game's at, second is not always that bad - but man, does it frickin' hurt at the same time.

"If I win this tournament that would be amazing, but 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, as a player and as a professional athlete, you're never going to live up to the expectations of people.

"A little bit of the fallacy in our sport is like, if I win the US Open then I'm going to be satisfied. 

"I've won all the tournaments, and my career is essentially over, and I've accomplished everything I could want to accomplish. 

"But I think the goal posts are always just moved further and further."

Scheffler hit the headlines in early June when he was involved in a heated exchange with his caddie Ted Scott at the Memorial. 

He found the water at Muirfield Village's 16th hole in round one and could be heard venting his frustration towards his experienced looper. 

It led to some golf pundits, such as Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee, to declare that Scheffler is no longer the force that he once was. 

"He's still the man to beat, but he's is no longer the man that can't be beat," said Chamblee. 

But Scheffler believes he's "been close" to his best game all year. 

"I feel like I just haven't been as sharp as I needed to be," he said. 

"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 think statistically I think I'm maybe leading the FedExCup, I think I'm leading the strokes gained statistics, so by no means is it a bad year. 

"Is it up to the play I've had the previous couple of years? Probably not, but it's not far off."

Keep checking GolfMagic for regular updates of the 2026 U.S. Open.