2026 U.S. Open

[Don Wassall]

It begins Thursday morning at Shinnecock Hills in the ritzy Hamptons on Long Island. It's one of the oldest golf clubs in the country and has hosted the Open six times previously, the first time in 1896, when the grand prize for the winner was $150. It was also played there in 1986, won by Raymond Floyd; 1995, won by Corey Pavin (one of Greg Norman's many near misses in majors); 2004, won by Retief Goosen; and 2018, won by Brooks Koepka. This week's winner will pocket $5 million.

It's supposed to be windy every day, especially tomorrow when if it's gusty enough play may even be suspended. The course has some very difficult greens that have at times been called unfair after some short and medium range putts rolled far beyond the hole. Phil Mickelson famously putted his ball in '18 while it was still rolling.

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Scottie Scheffler needs to win the Open to duplicate what Rory McIlroy did last year at Augusta and become just the seventh man to win the career grand slam. He's the heavy betting favorite, followed by Rory, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Ludvig Aberg, and Bryson DeChambeau.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Looks like it's tough going as usual at the US Open as 90% of the field is even or over par! Weather conditions are probably not helping either.
Pulling for Scheffler, Spieth and my local guy JT Poston who won the Memorial 2 weeks ago!

 

[NolanCromwell]

Scottie off to a slow start again. McIroy's ball striking and putting are very solid. Should he continue this trend he will be very difficult to beat. Rose, Thomas, Xander etc.. .They tee off later due to delay.

 

[Don Wassall]

Wyndham Clark held the lead by four shots after the first round and now enjoys a six shot margin after three rounds.

Clark is at -7 on a very difficult course. A lot of players fell back today:

Clark: -7
Scheffler: -1
Kim: -1 (Kim is Korean)
Sam Stevens: -1 (the obligatory unknown)
Sahith Theegala: -1 (U.S. born Indian)
Burns, Schauffele, Mitchell and Grillo are all at even par

Only one time has a player lost a major when entering the final round with at least a six shot lead, that being Greg Norman's infamous collapse at The Masters in 1996.

Clark won the U.S. Open in 2023 but has struggled some since then before getting back on track of late. He's a decent and humble man but being White he made an unforgiveable gaffe at the U.S. Open at Oakmont last year when he broke a club after a bad shot and later damaged a couple of lockers in the locker room. Stupid move and it got him temporarily banned from Oakmont, and he's been hounded by the media about it ever since.

Someone must have slipped some truth serum in Brandel Chamblee's Shirley Temple last night as he shockingly launched a strong defense of Clark and how overblown the reaction has been. He noted how he's still asked about it at every event he plays in, while mentioning how poorly Tiger Woods conducted himself on golf courses and was never called out for it. Rabbi Rich Lerner, the egghead whose schtick for the past 30 years has been talking about and glorifying Woods non-stop, immediately interrupted Chamblee, saying "yes he was," but Chamblee stuck to his guns, mentioning how Bob Ford, the long-time pro at Oakmont, had reinstated Clark, saying he had made amends and conducted himself admirably ever since the incident.

I haven't been able to watch any of the tournament other than the last hour of the third round but will try to watch tomorrow to see if Scottie makes a serious move after putting together a nice round today to move into the tie for second.

 

[NolanCromwell]

Scheffler closed the gap a bit today and is well within striking distance. He did miss a makeable eagle and par putt on consecutive holes while finishing up his round. This will make his task a bit more difficult should Clark continue to play solid with unbelievable scrambling. It will be an entertaining final round.