Rory McIlroy makes fun of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest, claims “a jail cell” is the only thing that can stop him
Scottie Scheffler has been so good in recent times that even Rory McIlroy can't help but be amazed. Scheffler is in the midst of an incredible run of success, one that was only somewhat halted by a brief stint in a jail cell.
The arrest before the second round of the PGA Championship was major news for the golf world. The charges, though, were later dropped.
At the US Open press conference, McIlroy poked fun at his counterpart's run-in with the law. Via Golf Monthly, he said:
"I've never been on a run like this! The only thing that has stopped him from competing is an hour in a jail cell! Even that nine he made on Sunday, people thought he might have let people in, but he's so good. The word I always use with him at the moment is 'relentless.'"
Scheffler had won four of five starts, including the Masters Tournament, heading into the PGA Championship. Despite the interruption, he still finished T8. He then tied for second at the Charles Schwab Challenge and then won the Memorial Tournament.
Rory McIlroy joked that the golf world's best hope of slowing down the world's number one player, might be law enforcement. Scheffler has dominated for the majority of the season, putting an impressive gap between himself and his companions in the world golf rankings.
Scheffler has an average point score of 16.4083. Xander Schauffele is in second with an average of 8.725. Scheffler is roughly 7.7 points ahead, which is the same as the distance between Schauffele and the 121st-ranked golfer (Michael Kim).
Scheffler comes into the US Open as the favorite, with McIlroy not far behind. McIlroy may need some external help in slowing down Scheffler, who's on a run McIlroy admitted he's himself never experienced.
Rory McIlroy optimistic ahead of US Open
In the same interview, Rory McIlroy spoke on how he feels ahead of the upcoming Major. He hasn't won a major tournament since 2014, though he's come close on several occasions. Some of his closest attempts at ending the drought came at the US Open, including during last year's edition.
Rory McIlroy admitted that his performances at the event have improved in recent times.
"But I feel like I really struggled at U.S. Open setups, 2016, '17, '18 in particular. I sort of had a bit of a I guess come-to-Jesus moment after that, tried to really figure out why that was. Then my performances from 2019 and after that have been really, really good," he said.
He ended by saying that he was excited to be back and that he really enjoyed playing at Pinehurst the last time. He hoped that the course would be kinder to him and help him finally win another title.