Live blogging from the team at Fried Egg Golf for Thursday of the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
There are very, very few fans remaining. It currently feels like a peaceful twilight stroll, with minimal wind.
The downside is the vibe is missing a little juice with such sparse crowds right now. The positive is that almost nobody saw that terrible Russell Henley bogey on 13
You'd imagine they have some quality grape to open in the Hamptons
It's early, but rumors of incoming carnage and having to pull players off the course because balls were not going to stop on firm greens didn't emerge Thursday.
And as you might guess, most of the players were pretty happy with the USGA's Day 1 set up, which included greens running at 10.5 on the STIMP, the slowest they've been in a U.S. Open since 1995, according to John Bodenhamer, the USGA's chief competitions officer. Was it too cautious? I don't think so. The line is razor thing, and if you were on site, the wind definitely picked up at times, it just wasn't sustained long enough to get greens really firm.
Here is a quick round table of what some of the players thought:
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I would say the greens were maybe a little softer than I expected, but I think with the wind that was forecasted, you've got to -- you always want to err on the side of caution. I think the last thing that they wanted was having balls blowing off greens. So they might have put a little extra juice on them last night to slow them down.
Most of the greens have all been fine. I think there's a couple greens where there's so much pitch that you get the wind going down the slope, it can roll off pretty easily. I would say it was probably maybe a little softer than I thought. Just I had imagined it would be firm and slow, I guess.
RORY McILROY: Look, the greens are pretty slow and quite receptive. I think they need to be at this point. It's a challenging golf course already, and you put 30-mile-an-hour winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well.
Yeah, I think they were prudent with the course setup, and they made sure to -- I think especially with starting with 156 the first two days, you just want to get everyone around without too much issue. They've set the course up for that, at least today.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It's about as bare as you can probably get it. I was surprised on Monday the course was very, very soft and slow, but they clearly judged it perfectly, and I think today -- well, hardly anybody would want to play it any harder than what it was.
Yeah, I think they did an amazing job of making it as fair as you could possibly make a test of golf today with the conditions that they had. Yeah, they did great.
KEEGAN BRADLEY: The greens were softer than I expected, but thank goodness they were. There was a few times where my ball was, like, wiggling, like oscillating a little bit. They did what they had to do to play today. They did a great job. They should be commended for that.
It's often where we've had instances where it's gone the other way, and they did a good job of that today.
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, the conditions were tough. It's just weird how soft the greens are. It's just odd. It's not what I remember.
I mean, I understand why they're soft, I get that. It's not complaining. It's just a difficult day.
If you’re coming to the tournament: do not drive!
The SGS caravan has been in traffic for over an hour to go under four miles and tonight’s live show is squarely in jeopardy.
We’ll see you here if we ever make it home: https://www.youtube.com/live/PynAUfA_gRo?si=HwsI5x9O3eV8-KQK
One of the biggest developments of the day is that, so far, the afternoon wave is playing slightly easier than the morning. This is the opposite of what was expected.
A fog delay reduced the time the early golfers spent in milder conditions (which was very little time at all), and players were greeted with a stiff wind immediately upon resumption.
Afternoon winds could pick up, but it’s 6:00 and gusts have not been overly difficult so far. We’ll see how the final numbers shake out, but the wave split reversal has been a pretty surprising development
An interesting scene on the driving range just a bit ago as a clearly exasperated Scottie Scheffler was having some animated conversations with Randy Smith about why his swing doesn’t quite feel right. Scottie normally hits balls after rounds to cool down but this was something different, not just a grip and alignment check but a session with the Trackman out and Smith looking at his swing from multiple angles and offering thoughts. Scottie shot 2-over today and hit some good iron shots, but also some poor drives and chips
Noticed this morning that Chase Kyes, who qualified last week in Georgia and was unaware the U.S. Open would be this week when he did, has a hat sponsorship from his local Hoover Toyota. They have a Father's Day special going right now if you're in the area.
Went over to learn more about Ryder Cowan on his Instagram page since he's leading now at -3. Tough scene, he got hacked and hasn't deleted this post from it.
Nightmare blunt rotation
Drives on 12 from featured group:
Bryson: 427 yards (with a little road help)
Hovland: 354 yards
Fitzpatrick: 329 yards
Rory McIlroy said he hit pitching wedge from 194 on his second shot on 5 💨
I’ve never enjoyed nicotine. I think I’ve smoked three cigarettes in my life and gotten the spins twice. Just wasn’t built for it. But there is something I love about the smell of cigarette smoke on the golf course.
A little breeze, some warm summer air, and a man standing next to me on the tee box with a dart on his lips? If feels like a Time Machine to a simpler time.
Today I stood next to Roger Maltbie as he lit a cigarette. He took a long drag, nodded at me and asked how I was doing. The smoke drifted by me, I breathed in through my nose, and we turned to see Scottie Scheffler lash a drive into a daunting wind on a the 16th hole at Shinnecock Hills.
It was like standing next to Clapton as he played guitar. Don’t overlook it when life hands you a painting to live in, just for a minute.
The approach to 9 is so fun to watch, especially when the ball is above a right-hander's feet. Wind ripping right to left, green tilted in the same direction. It's all about fighting what the shot wants to do, which is to dive left. You can definitely get close if you hit the sideboard just right, but it's super easy to end up short right or pin-high left. A great test of control.
When everyone hates on your cardigan
Cashmere Keith with your average 41-29 even par round starting on 10
Bryson shifted to hit some balls across the range to practice into a more direct wind. There are a lot of electronics, some snippy comments for the help, and sprawling operation. Will be an interesting afternoon generating outputs in the wind!
I would describe the wind right now as pretty benign. It’s definitely still a factor on shots but nothing like an hour ago. You can see the fescue rippling and the trees swaying but concerns that the afternoon wave was going to get absolutely boned aren’t emerging — yet. I just watched Scheffler stop a ball downwind pin high from 150 yards out on the 14th. If you wanted total chaos in the afternoon you may be disappointed. Stay tuned.
After a run at his own national open, Canada’s hero prepares for That Tournament Down South
Average driving distance on the par-5 fifth hole so far today: 345 yards
Average driving distance on the par-5 16th hole so far today: 263 yards
There's no substitute for wind!
Not sure Rory has ever looked more Irish
Just a Guy to Monitor This Week
Always love seeing folks live in the moment
Never gets old seeing a fan pick up a golf ball, especially at a major championship!
Nice seeing JLM get some camera time this week
Alejandro Tosti morning wave stats through 14 holes
- 1st in SG: Off the Tee
- DFL in SG: Approach
I would currently describe the Scottie vibes as "not great, Bob." He just had this putt for bogey on No. 8 and missed, pushing him to +3 so far. Weirdly it's been his short game that's let him down. He's had chances to get up and down on 4, 6 and 8 and hit three pretty mediocre (at least for him) chips. Will be interesting to see how he handles No. 10 and No. 11 coming up.
Chris Gotterup batted one 396 across the road at 12. Cameron Young hit his 366 to the slight downslope and patch of rough inches before Tuckahoe Road. Did he get jammed or did he jam himself?
Update from the merch tent (I had to go buy a sweatshirt because I am COLD):
the USGA has decided that the unofficial mascot of this tournament is a shark. Shark plushies. Shark AI art t-shirts. Shark hats. We get like… one shark scare a year around here.
Sharks?
I'm the last person anyone should take fashion advice from, but I think Tommy's aesthetic today would be great if he were 1) hatless and 2) wearing a grown-up's watch.
Just ran into JLM out here watching guys try to battle the winds.
Garrett and Brendan just touched on it, but nobody* is hitting No. 7 right now. 180 yards straight back into the wind.
Harry Higgs just walked off the adjacent No. 3 green and watched Keegan Bradley hit into No. 7, which came up short.
“Wow, wow, wow,” he muttered and walked away.
*Cameron Young did
Same sentiment to KVV below on 4 applies to 7, which is also similarly heavy into the wind. Almost impossible to go up through the air and expect to hit the green. Guys trying to flight them but many hitting short and rolling back down or going through. Here is Brooks long and Gotterup short.
Seventh green playing quite small in the early going...
No. 4 is gonna be a bear into this wind. Scottie in knee deep fescue after a wild tee shot. Muscled it out short and right of the green.
Asterisk Talley here following the Smith-Harrington-Russell group in a Riviera USWO sweatshirt.
Must be a big Padraig fan!
Wish the NBC announcers had their facts straight about the golf course. Fairways were not expanded for this U.S. Open. They were narrowed in 2018.
No. 4 is an absolute BEAST right now. Straight back into the wind. All three players in the group I’m following made bogey or worse.
We’re in for an extremely challenging day of golf
We need more trash or these are in danger
Is the West Coast the best coast because it's coffee golf season all summer?
Don't look now, but Rory is hitting good golf shots. Approach from the upper deck on 10, tee shot on 11, and that gap-wedge hack-out from 160ish on 12 just now were all pretty tasty.
Edit (10:47 a.m.): That said, the man has to hit it in the fairway.
The USGA has lost a flag on 11 green’s grandstand due to high winds.
When you ask the design team at Nike Golf for Southampton clambake vibes.
Four hats were simultaneously blown off the heads of fans as the Rory-Tommy-Ludvig group finished up on 10 green. Biggest gusts of the day so far, in my non-expert opinion.
“There’s no joy in watching this,” says a fan next to me after Si Woo gets ejected by the false front on 10 for a second time.
Wrong!
Graeme McDowell just birdied 10. I think he should win the tournament.
Other highlights so far:
Eric Lee hit his third shot from the left fescue SO far over the green and eventually made double
Ben Silverman third shot ended up behind him after rolling down the false front!
Emiliano Grillo went bunker-to-bunker after falling off the side of the green.
A local resident who knows the course quite well was not impressed with the lengthy fog delay:
“This is totally playable right now. You can see the trees.”
Thought play could have resumed at least a half hour before the 9:05 am restart.
To piggyback off of Joseph's post here:
17-year-old Miles Russell is playing with 54-year-old Padraig Harrington today.
Paddy won all three of his majors ('07 Open, '08 Open, '08 PGA) before Miles was born.
17-year-old Miles Russell’s major championship career has officially begun.
If you want #CARNAGE, a visit to the top of the 11th grandstand is the place to be. Approaches in to 10 green just getting shipped back down the hill, tee shots on 11 are swallowed by the wind, doubles are everywhere to be found!
Rickie’s shoes are visible in the fog.
Wind is starting to freshen as we approach the restart…
U.S. Open game within the game right now is squatting on a range spot.
“The weather has these guys in a pretzel” - JLM
The conditions will be very interesting to watch over the next two days. This fog and humidity is a dream start for the USGA, as the greens will hold more moisture than expected. Had it been sunny this morning, the day could have gotten away from them quickly.
Talking with some folks yesterday, the dryness and wind out here is a recipe for disaster for any greens. It seems like the USGA is using a ton of caution, but I'll still be watching closely, as I'm sure the entire golf world will be.
It's a hard situation. They want this place to be punishing, but as we saw with Harry Higgs early (spinning it off 10 green), they have to put down so much water just to avoid it going over the edge. If the sun comes out, that moisture and softness in the greens will disappear quickly.
The next two days should be so fun to watch. I hope it doesn't cross the edge, but in protecting against that, I'm sure some people will be mad.
The cameras are making this fog look worse than it appears on the ground! Let's play!
They already lost the golf course.
Harry Higgs, welcome to the 10th hole at Shinnecock Hills.
As Ben Griffin was discussing on the SGS live show, going to be interesting to see the different strategies players take off the tee all week on 10.