As U.S. Opens can be, last week at Pinehurst No. 2 was an absolute grind. Forget playing 72 holes on an extremely difficult track, just walking a few holes at a time as a spectator took its toll given the high heat index.

Off the back of a tough setup at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, it became even tougher in North Carolina. And even the best were feeling the effects.

“Playing the week before, a lot of it depends on the golf course," world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said from Pinehurst. "And I think last week with the golf course the way it is, it probably was not the best prep work for me coming into another really challenging event."

Remember – he WON at Muirfield Village. But he acknowledged two weeks of grinding in a row is tough. And now, Scheffler and company have to back up for this week’s Travelers Championship, the last Signature Event of the season.

While the script flips from grind to birdie-fest at TPC River Highlands, that doesn’t mean fatigue from the last two weeks – and for some three weeks – won’t come into play.

“I'd say it's (more) mental, but I think there's definitely a physical aspect to it,” Scheffler said of playing tough competition in back-to-back weeks. “(Sunday) I made more of a conscious effort to make sure I got kind of my legs going in the swing. That's maybe something I'll assess in the off-season, as well.

“I feel like I've played a lot of my best golf not late in the season, maybe a bit early in the season, so that's maybe something to look at, whether or not I need to get more mental rest as the year goes on or maybe need to have better physical endurance. I'm not really sure which one it is.”

As the +350 favorite with BetMGM Sportsbook, Scheffler has the statistical profile to dominate at TPC River Highlands. But will the aforementioned fatigue trip him up? None of his 11 TOUR wins were after playing three consecutive weeks.

The last time Scheffler played three weeks in a row was the 2023 FedExCup Playoffs and he was T6 at the TOUR Championship. He also played three in a row mid-season, with the last start being the Memorial. He was third that week thanks to diabolically bad putting. Not once this season has he played three weeks in a row – until now.

We can look at the next four players on the odds board as well to see how they’ve fared in the third week of playing consecutively.

Xander Schauffele (+750) has had a three-week run three times prior this season. He was T54 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T5 at the Valspar Championship and T23 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, when paired with Patrick Cantlay.

Cantlay (+2000) played the same run of three into Zurich Classic for the T23 finish and also did an earlier run of three, culminating in a T11 at Pebble Beach.

Collin Morikawa (+1000) was T23 at the Zurich Classic after playing the Masters and RBC Heritage the two weeks prior while he also went on a three-week run into the Charles Schwab Challenge and finished fourth at Colonial. Interestingly the middle week was a major – the PGA – where he contended.

Ludvig Åberg (+1400) has just one three-week stretch this season, playing either side of the Masters. He was T10 at RBC Heritage to finish off the run.

While none of these above stars have won this season on the back of three or more consecutive starts, others have pulled off the feat.

Matthieu Pavon (Farmers Insurance Open) and Taylor Pendrith (THE CJ CUP Bryon Nelson) plus the team of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry (Zurich Classic of New Orleans) won in their third straight start.

Hideki Matsuyama (Genesis Invitational), Akshay Bhatia (Valero Texas Open) and Chris Gotterup (Myrtle Beach Classic) all won in their fourth consecutive start.

But the Iron Man award goes to Robert MacIntyre, who took out the RBC Canadian Open in his sixth straight week on TOUR.

While we are in a unicorn situation of Signature Event – major championship – Signature Event, we can try to look at recent history at the Travelers to see if rest prior matters.

Last season Keegan Bradley missed the cut in the U.S. Open before coming out and winning the Travelers Championship. Does this give the likes of Viktor Hovland and Max Homa a bit of an edge this week?

In saying that, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Min Woo Lee and Rickie Fowler all finished inside the top 13 at Travelers after being inside the top 5 at the U.S. Open a year ago.

In recent years Harris English and Chez Reavie parlayed third-place finishes at the U.S. Open into wins at TPC River Highlands.

I’m going to lean on the side of form rather than worry about fatigue. It will knock out someone, but not all. Scheffler is the player I am staying away from but my other picks, I’m hoping a few ice baths and recovery sessions have them ready to continue their form.

I’m adding Schauffele, Matsuyama, Cantlay and Pavon from the U.S. Open top seven on my card this week along with Brian Harman and Keegan Bradley who played decent without being in the furnace of contention.

Benny's bets

• Outright: Xander Schauffele +750, Hideki Matsuyama +2200
• Top 5: Patrick Cantlay +333
• Top 10: Brian Harman +250
• Top 20: Keegan Bradley +125
• Top 30: Matthieu Pavon +110
• Longshot: Akshay Bhatia – Sprinkle markets: Outright +8000, Top 5 +1100, Top 10 +500, Top 20 +200, Top 30 -120.

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