Ranked Nos. 1, 4 and 14, respectively, in the Official World Golf Ranking, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland know the ins-and-outs of golf’s rules and protocols better than most. But the challenging grind presented by Oakmont at this 2025 U.S. Open had all three of them flustered and flubbing basic etiquette in multiple instances during one round.
Scheffler revealed the hilarious incidents of PGA Tour star-absentmindedness on Saturday at Oakmont.
Scheffler messes up Morikawa’s U.S. Open scores
In Friday’s second round of the U.S. Open, Scheffler, Morikawa and Hovland played together for the second day in a row. Based on their experience in the opening round, all three stars knew the tough, exhausting test that awaited them when they teed off No. 10 at 7:40 a.m. ET.
But despite going three over as a group, by day’s end the star trio would be reduced to laughter in response to a series of errors more commonly seen at your local muni than at pro golf tournaments.
In a quick interview with NBC following his third round, Scheffler provided the details.
“It’s challenging, this golf course is tough,” Scheffler began.
He then explained that at separate points in Round 2 when the grind got particularly tough, both Morikawa and Hovland accidentally walked through Scheffler’s putting line, one of the most basic etiquette breaches in the game.
“You know Collin [Morikawa], Viktor [Hovland] and I were laughing in scoring yesterday because there was one instance yesterday where Collin kind of walked through my line because he got flustered by chipping it over the green,” Scheffler explained. “Viktor did the same thing the hole before because he had played a little hockey.”
But it turns out the award for the biggest error of the day in their group goes to Scheffler. As he admitted on Saturday, the World No. 1 wrote down an incorrect score on Morikawa’s scorecard not once, but twice.
“I had messed up some scores on Collin’s card. So we’re sitting there laughing in scoring, like ‘What are we doing out there?’ Maybe once or twice a year you mess up somebody’s score, and I messed up two of Collin’s yesterday,” a smiling Scheffler said.
“So it’s challenging in a lot of different senses,” he continued.
It’s a good thing they noticed the errors, otherwise the rules would have been brought into the discussion and it’s unlikely any of them would have been laughing.
Scheffler and Hovland’s U.S. Open chances on Sunday
Etiquette breaches and laughter aside, all three players still have 18 holes left to play in one of the most important events of the year. But they find themselves in slightly different situations as Sunday’s final round begins.
At eight over through three rounds, Morikawa is out of it. Even a Johnny Miller-esque 63 wouldn’t earn him the U.S. Open trophy on Sunday.
Hovland, on the other hand, is one of the favorites heading into Round 4. At one under, he is one of only four players under par at this point and will begin the final round three shots off the lead as he fights for his first major victory.
While Scheffler is five shots further back at four over, he thinks he still has a shot, as he revealed Saturday night.
“Overall, I still have an outsized chance going into tomorrow, so I’m going to go hit a few balls, get some rest and get ready for another grind tomorrow.”
