Alert – US Open: Scottie Scheffler is burnt once again in brutal third round… as Matt Fitzpatrick endures nightmare moving day at Pinehurst

Scottie Scheffler is used to a lie-in on the weekends. He doesn’t normally start his Saturday shift until early afternoon.

But these past few days have been a savage illustration that Pinehurst does not care for reputation or ranking. Or form. Scheffler was expected to walk this US Open. Instead, yesterday he was forced to set an early alarm for once.

The world No 1 climbed out of bed to begin moving day more than five hours before the leading pack. He was at five-over-par, 10 shots off the pace.

By the time Rory McIlroy arrived at Pinehurst, wearing a backwards cap, Scheffler was on his back nine and burning in this North Carolina furnace.

By the end, his scorecard showed that he went backwards on moving day. But he wasn’t alone. In fact, among the early starters, Scheffler’s one-over-par 71 was one of the lower scores as Pinehurst piled on the pain. ‘Golf is a mental torture chamber at times, especially the US Open,’ he said.

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler carded a third-round 71 during a brutal third round at the US Open

Scheffler went into Saturday’s third round 10 shots off the pace after a miserable tournament

Not the first time this week, Scheffler simply could not get a putt to drop and frustration bubbled all day.

But there were some players who really motored yesterday morning. None more so than Matt Fitzpatrick. The only snag? The 2022 champion from Sheffield stuck the gearstick in reverse.

After five holes, his scorecard read: bogey, bogey, par, double bogey, double bogey. More shots fell at eight and then at 13 and then at 15. Fitzpatrick stemmed the bleeding eventually but he didn’t manage a single birdie.

It was carnage and it was grim proof of how this course had become even tougher as the temperatures rose. These greens were now carefully manicured minefields. When Fitzpatrick signed for a third-round 79, he sat last among the 74 players who made the cut. At that point, only three players were under par for the day.

Scheffler was not among them. Instead, moments later, he was chuntering to himself again having dropped back to six-over par.

The world No 1 had set another unwanted record by then. On Friday, for the first time as a professional, he failed to make a birdie over 18 holes at a major.

That barren run continued until the eighth hole yesterday. In total, Scheffler went 26 consecutive holes without picking up a shot – the longest streak of his career.

The world No 1’s emotions boiled over as he struggled on the greens around Pinehurst No 2

He has had a turbulent few weeks off the course – welcoming a first child to the world and then finding himself in an orange jumpsuit during the PGA Championship.

But that trip to a Louisville jail proved only a brief detour during a season of dominance in which Scheffler has won five times, made $24million, and cemented himself as the best golfer in the world. Not even a neck injury, which left him struggling to swing the club, could derail his march to victory at the Players Championship in March.

Instead this represents the biggest on-course strife Scheffler has faced all year. He didn’t even expect to be here yesterday. Not after his woes on Friday, when his putter betrayed him and his emotions got the better of him, too.

The 27-year-old flirted near the cutline throughout his round. It wasn’t until hours after he had signed for 74 – and several other players had been humbled by Pinehurst – that his weekend plans were confirmed.

Fitzpatrick snuck in the back door, too. Not that he was five-over for long yesterday. Scheffler also went backwards before making up any ground. The world No 1 bogeyed the fourth. Then, after securing birdie at eight, he gifted the shot straight back at the par-three ninth.

Collin Morikawa, the two-time major winner, who defied the conditions to shoot a fine 66 

Scheffler hauled himself back to five-over with birdie at 11 and gave himself several chances to get in the red for the day. He squandered them all and then carded a bogey at 15. By then, these greens were playing like ice rinks and Scheffler’s emotions had boiled over.

‘I thought I played a lot better than my score,’ Scheffler said. ‘That’s just the nature of the golf course, the nature of the tournament.

He added: ‘You’re going to get injured more here for a bad shot… that’s just how the US Open is.’

Most of the field will empathise. But a couple of players did make early headway yesterday. England’s Aaron Rai, the world No 73, continued his impressive tournament with a two-under-par 68. That included an eagle and left him at one-over heading into tomorrow’s final round.

And as the leaders set off yesterday, that had been bettered only by Collin Morikawa, the two-time major winner, who defied the conditions to shoot a fine bogey-free 66 to get back to even par.