Scottie Scheffler: My preparation schedule for US Open was not ideal

The two-time Masters champion was a hot favourite to claim his third major title at Pinehurst and came into the week on the back of his fifth victory of the season in the Memorial Tournament, which is hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

However, the world number one admitted he had felt the effects of a gruelling weekend at Muirfield Village after Saturday's third round of 71, his fourth successive over-par score.

"I thought about that a bit yesterday afternoon," Scheffler said.

"I think in terms of prep work for a week that I know is going to be as tough as this, I'm leaning going forward to maybe not playing the week before.

"I think especially going around Jack's place, which can be pretty close to a US Open set-up, especially the way it was playing on the weekend.

"I did most of my damage under par there at the beginning of the week, so I think going into the major championships, especially the ones we know are going to be really challenging, it may be in my best interests to not play the week before.

"Like I said, that's stuff for me to figure out later in the year. That's some of my thoughts sitting around watching the cut line yesterday afternoon."

Scheffler did not play the week before winning his second Masters title in three years in April and is not scheduled to contest the Genesis Scottish Open ahead of the Open Championship at Royal Troon in July.

The 27-year-old, who made the halfway cut on the mark of five over par after a birdie-free 74 on Friday, carded two birdies and three bogeys on Saturday to remain well down the field on six over par.

"Another frustrating day," Scheffler said. "Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score.

"I'm having a lot of trouble reading these greens. I had a lot of putts today where I felt like I hit it really good. I looked up and they were not going the way I thought they were going to go.

"I felt like the last 27 holes I've played, I've hit it really nice, but I just haven't been able to hit it quite close enough, which is difficult around this course."

Scheffler refused to blame the course conditions and some fiendish pin positions for his troubles, adding: "I think about number five yesterday where I made double.

"Hit it in the waste area, bad break, can't get it up on the green. The next one, there's not enough sand underneath the ball.

"You can blame it on luck or whatever (but) I knew not to hit the ball down there. I knew where to hit it and not to hit it.

"If you're hitting the ball in the middle of the fairway, in the middle of the green, you can definitely make 18 pars."