2026 U.S. Open - Early Week Coverage

Jack Nicklaus putted with a glove on, but could he do a live show with a glove on?

The Quiet Dignity (and Consistency) of Adam Scott

For the most part, I don't root for athletes. I root for good for stories. It's something that was drilled into my head a quarter century ago, quite literally in fact.

I was covering a football game at the University of Montana my senior year (a couple years after I'd stopped playing) and one of my best friends forced a fumble at a key moment in the game. I got too excited and jumped to my feet in the press box. The sports information director waded up a piece of paper and drilled me in the back of the head from his seat in the second row. "Kevin, sit the f--- down! We don't cheer in here," he growled. I was embarrassed, but he was right. If I wanted to be a journalist, I had to act like a professional. Some lessons, you have to learn the hard way.

These days I sometimes wonder if I'm still a journalist. I write a lot of opinion pieces, where fairness matters more than neutrality. The old rules have also been mostly eroded. The most influential voices on TV are, in general, unabashed fans. Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith barely pretend to practice objectivity, and even openly feud with athletes at times.

I say all this partially as a confession: I was rooting for Adam Scott last year at Oakmont. I was rooting so hard.

I was doing it at home, from my television, so there was no one to throw objects at the back of my head in the press tent. I wanted to see him cap off his career with a U.S. Open victory, at one of golf's true cathedrals, in part because it felt like he'd been present in my life for so many years.

I was just leaving college when Scott made his major championship debut in the summer of 2000. I felt like there was nothing in front of me but ambition and possibility, and I know he felt the same. When he threw away an Open Championship with four bogies on the last four holes at Lytham and St. Annes, it was a reminder that even a swing that looks like it's been handed down from the gods can abandon you when you need it the most. When he redeemed himself at the Masters, slipping on the green jacket in the warm Georgia rain, I felt like his best years were just beginning.

That it didn't quite work out that way doesn't matter. He'd handled himself with class and dignity and weathered life's disappointments with grace in ways I couldn't help but admire. The same cannot be said for some of his contemporaries.

It was painful to watch him slowly sink down the leaderboard on the back nine at Oakmont. It likely represented Scott's last real chance at a second major. But he will tee it up this week at Shinnecock for the 100th consecutive time in a major, a streak only Jack Nicklaus has surpassed. It is not the flashiest streak, but it might be my favorite streak in sports. For 25 years, Adam Scott has showed up to work, held himself to an extremely high standard, and tried his best. He has done it without scandal or controversy. There is silver in his hair and wrinkles around his eyes, but not much else has changed.

"I'm quite proud that I've managed to keep my focus this long and keep pushing through," Scott said. "Obviously not all years and all weeks out here are easy. and you're playing full of confidence, manage to keep it all together for a long time. I think the younger self knew a lot of things. I mean, there must have been some level of determination setting out and all positive attributes towards playing golf at a high level. But I don't know if my younger self thought I'd still be playing actually at this point."

I don't know that Adam Scott can putt well enough to give himself one more shot at a major. But I am okay admitting that I'm rooting for that outcome. It would be, after all, be a really fun story to write, especially for an old man like me.

Everything I have seen about Shinny so far this week is making me very excited to head out there this weekend. When I was there last, I witnessed what Phil did on the 13th with my own eyes. Not sure I will (ever) see anything as absurd as that. You never know though!

I asked Scottie about the notion that widening the fairways in advance of this U.S. Open will reduce the importance of driving accuracy.

Here's part of that answer:

"I would say driving accuracy is extremely important. There might be a couple holes, but you put a 20-mile-an-hour wind out there, these fairways with how firm they are, are not going to play super wide.

I think when you look at your poor tee shots hitting it into in the rough in this fescue, it's going to be virtually impossible to get the ball on the green. I think that's really good.

I think when you hit a drive into the fairway, you should have a chance to hit a really good shot and get it on the green. When you miss the fairway, for the most part, it should be a challenge to get your ball onto the green. I think with the high grass you have around those fairways, it provides that challenge."

Andy talks a lot about how the best greens look like potato chips. It occurs to me that No. 11 at Shinnecock might be the most recognizable chip of all: the Pringle.

Don't get your hand stuck in the tube

Sharing this piece here about players who failed to complete the career Grand Slam because the final anecdote about Sam Snead staring into the mirror is one of my favorites I’ve ever found in research.

Hot tip: Watching Scottie with Joseph for a bit this morning, would not say he is flushing it right now and thrilled with the circumstances. Hit in a few fairway bunkers in a row off the tee. Reaction to tee shot at 7 was “that had no 🤬chance.”

Not sure any threesome is beating "The Man" group this week. Has to be intentional from the USGA.

So nice of the USGA to put together a tee time just for JLM

Juicy stuff from Rory this morning:

Q. Rory, in terms of the changes coming to the TOUR, we'll hear more from Brian this week and we've heard more about the positives and benefits of those changes, but what concerns do you have about those changes and the effects they might have on players?

RORY McILROY: I don't really know. I guess like at an event -- I guess, just recency, an event like last week, the Canadian Open, potentially going to one of these track 2s. Track 2 is a glorified Korn Ferry event. That's what track 2 is going to be. So I don't think the Canadian Open should be one of those.

Yeah, I just think there's going to be certain events that might lose their stature if a sponsor doesn't pony up $30 million. So that's the tough thing.

But, look, I'm not in those rooms. I don't know. I play my schedule, and I'll continue to play my schedule, which is getting less and less as the years go on. Yeah, it's funny. Like I think, as they've done all this work, you start to realize that the way the TOUR was before LIV came along was actually pretty good. It was a pretty good structure, and everything sort of worked pretty well.

LIV created this false economy where we had to up prize funds and had to cut fields and try to support the top players and all that stuff, which I think needed to happen because that was the only way to retain talent at the time, but now that LIV looks like it's less of a threat, I think, as I said, the old ways of the PGA TOUR weren't actually that bad.

Jason Day’s outfit is mint.

Awesome presser from Adam Scott. A couple highlights:

1) Not concerned about the setup. He suggested the USGA is being cautious about the green speeds, which has been the rumor on the ground.

2) Likened the approach shots to playing at Royal Melbourne. Interesting comp!

“I have a 9 wood and I am not afraid to admit it.”

Adam Scott shattering stereotypes.

I think FOX might have been so bad that I want it back. I'll miss Joe Buck bragging that he got Kopeka's agent's business card, Zinger calling Charles Howell "Chucky 3 Sticks" and even the horrible sound effect they added when the ball was holed.

I'm doing some research for a piece that we're publishing tomorrow about the career Grand Slam, and it's funny to see that some arguments are as old as time. When Zach Johnson said in 2018 that the USGA had "lost the course" he was only channeling the spirit of a previous generation. This is a headline from the 1968 PGA Championship. The players were furious about the 18th hole at Pecan Valley Golf Club, which required a 235-yard carry over a creek.

"It's a stupid hole," said Billy Casper.

"Ridiculous," said Arnold Palmer.

Went to check on the Xander app as one does before a major and I know these reviews are a year old, but they are sending me.

Some good stuff from Matt Fitzpatrick on wanting a firm and fast test this week at Shinnecock and the course conditions "meltdown" back in 2018:

"I don't particularly like playing birdie-fests.

"I don't think it's as enjoyable as having to -- take today on the 11th hole, for example, the wind is pumping in off the left, and I've chipped a 5-iron in there. If there's no wind there, you might be hitting 9-iron or whatever.

"To me, I feel like it's more of a test of controlling your ball if it is windy, if it is firm. If it's firm -- I said it here last time. Obviously there was a big -- what's the right word -- meltdown of, oh, they've lost the golf course, they've lost the golf course.

"I never believed they lost it. I don't think they lost the golf course at all here. I think, for me, it was difficult, and the strength of this golf course is greens and the difficulty of the greens.

"But I do believe, aside from maybe 10 and 11, if you miss the greens in the right spots and do your homework, that you have opportunities to get up-and-down still. I feel like that is a patience thing. That is a skill in course managing, in hitting good shots that are on the green in those tough times.

"I think that for me -- this golf course, I think when it is really tough like that, I enjoy that challenge because you have to do your homework, and you have to hit good shots, and that's what I think any good golf tournament should require."

players are shaking their heads walking off 11 already. Imagine there will be some public complaints. “You have 3 feet to hit it into.” Wind is quite strong today, bending the flag into and off the left, with balls being blown into the front bunker.

I have been on site for about 30 minutes, and 20 of them have been with Geoff Shackelford gesticulating about on rollback after spending the last two weeks at USGA events! It does not sound like we will get much on the subject this week!

Always take Long Island weather forecasts with a grain of salt, but the meteorologists have been consistent for the several days that wind will be a big factor at this U.S. Open.

Right now, the practice rounds look like they'll be pretty placid, but as soon as the tournament starts, things could get tricky. On Thursday, the forecast calls for sustained winds up to 22 mph and gusts surpassing 30 mph. Things will settle down slightly from there, but it appears that we'll get temps in the mid- to high 70s and winds between about 8 and 18 mph throughout the weekend.

Keep the place firm, USGA!

Am I a prisoner of the moment? Sure, probably. But I went into this week thinking Shinnecock is the best U.S. Open venue and after stepping onto the property for the first time about an hour ago, I'm even more convinced now that it is.

Monday's rundown of press conferences

Noon — Jackson Koivun (a)
3 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick
3:30 p.m. — Wyndham Clark
4:15 p.m. — J.J. Spaun

If you don't know much about Koivun, Joseph LaMagna dubbed him the best college golfer of the last 15 years. The Auburn star will turn pro after this week.

It’s U.S. Open week! There’s a lot of great content still to come from our team on the ground at Shinnecock Hills, but we’ve already posted a lot about both the course and this year’s championship. Check out our videos, podcasts, and written content in the 2026 U.S. Open hub.

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