The New Jordan and Scottie?

By Chris O'Connell in 40 Acres, Special, Sports on June 17, 2016 at 9:16 am | No Comments

A young Longhorn golfer out of Dallas shot a 69 yesterday at the 116th U.S. Open and now sits tied for sixth on the leaderboard heading into day two. And his name isn’t Jordan Spieth.

Scottie Scheffler, a 19-year-old UT sophomore playing as an amateur at Oakmont, is thus far outpacing the world-class fellow Longhorn to whom he’s been compared since embarking on his collegiate career. Those comparisons will continue if Scheffler can stay consistent throughout the weekend, though he has big shoes to fill if he wants to stack up to the elder statesman Longhorn, already a U.S. Open and Masters champion at a ripe old 22. Spieth and Scheffler played practice rounds together recently at Oakmont.

Spieth, looking to bounce back from a disappointing final round at the Masters, shot a two-over 72 in a round delayed due to inclement weather. Scheffler himself is bouncing back from what he says was a difficult season at Texas.

“This year in college golf, it was tough on me,” Scheffler said in a news release yesterday. “I’m glad I was on a really good team, because that helped me get through it.”

The difference is, though, that he is doing this for the first time on the national stage. Scheffler admitted that day one was a bit overwhelming, even if it didn’t appear to affect his score.

“There is a lot more stuff going on here than what I’m used to in an amateur tournament,” he said. “The people don’t really distract me, it’s just the other stuff that goes on—just something that I’m not used to. Getting to the course tomorrow is a struggle, because we are trying to dodge thousands of fans.”

It’s still insanely early to declare Scheffler and Spieth the new Jordan and Scottie of the pro tour, but the thought of these two Texas golfers acting as a one-two punch at major tournaments for the next couple decades is an irresistible one.

Yet another reason to root for Scheffler’s is for his choice of caddie. His sister Callie, a graduate business student at Texas A&M, is on the bag for Scheffler at Oakmont, receiving the OK to depart from her summer internship for the week.

“It’s very important to me,” Scheffler told Golf Digest after his stellar round yesterday. “I’m glad she was able to get the week off to come help me out. She’s a week into an internship, and she’s already asking for a week off. Hopefully she doesn’t get in trouble.”

Photo courtesy UT Athletics

Tags: golf, jordan spieth, scottie scheffler, US Open