OAKMONT, Pa. – Scottie Scheffler faced familiar challenges at Oakmont,finding himself in the Church Pews and carding a bogey after nearly reaching a green in one.

Despite these setbacks, the world’s top-ranked golfer believes he is still in contention at the U.S. Open, a sentiment echoed by betting markets.

“Overall definitely not out of the tournament. Today was I think with the way I was hitting it,was easily a day I could have been going home and battled pretty hard to stay in there,” said Scheffler,following a practice range session with coach Randy Smith. “I’m 4 over. We’ll see what the lead is after today, but around this golf course I don’t think by any means I’m out of the tournament.”

Scheffler posted a 1-over 71 on friday, a slight advancement from his opening-round 73. He aims to rediscover the form that led to victories in three of his last four starts, with 36 holes remaining.

Following a rain suspension late in the second round, Scheffler held 8-1 odds on the BetMGM Sportsbook money line, placing him among the top contenders. He was tied for 23rd, seven strokes behind the leader.

scheffler’s second round began with a birdie on the 10th hole. After a bogey on the 15th, his tee shot on the par-4 17th landed just short of the green, but he then needed four strokes to finish the hole.

“I think it’s just giving it your best on each shot. There was some times today where you feel like you could give up, just based on how tough the golf course is, how my swing was feeling,” Scheffler said. “I’d get in position there on 17 and make a mess of the hole, and feel like I was making birdie, walk off with bogey.Then I hit it in a bunker on the next hole, and it’s like I’m going to be struggling for par.”

He alternated between bogeys and birdies on the first four holes. After finding the Church Pew bunker on both the third and fourth holes on thursday, his tee shot landed there again on Friday.

Despite the challenges, Scheffler managed to save par from the rough on the 5th and from a bunker on the 6th.

“Mentally this was as tough as I’ve battled for the whole day,” he said.”There was a lot of stuff going on out there that was not going in my favor necessarily.”

At last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, Scheffler recorded over-par scores in all four rounds for the first time in a major championship. He faces the possibility of repeating that this year.

Though, a comeback remains within reach.

his patience was evident on the 9th, his final hole, where he played a wedge shot out of the rough rather of attempting a risky shot at the green. He ultimately bogeyed the hole after missing a 17-foot putt.

any important move up the leaderboard will have to wait until the next round.

“Going out early tomorrow, maybe get some easier conditions than the guys late in the afternoon. At the U.S. Open I don’t think you’re ever out of the tournament,” he said. “I might potentially be in 25th or 30th place or something like that after today, and like I said, by no means is that out of the tournament.”