The 126th U.S. Open is being held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York – America's oldest incorporated golf club, founded in 1891, and one of the most historically significant venues in golf. This marks the club's sixth U.S. Open, with another already scheduled for 2036.
The course is a par-70 measuring 7,440 yards, designed by William Flynn in 1931 and later restored by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. It's widely regarded as the closest thing American golf has to a traditional links course, featuring firm turf, rolling terrain, native fescue rough, and constantly shifting coastal winds.
The USGA has widened fairways slightly compared to 2018 (averaging about 48 yards wide), but don't be fooled; the rough is five inches deep just off the short grass, and the green complexes are among the most demanding in championship golf. Green speeds will start around 11.5–12 on the Stimpmeter and are expected to get firmer as the week progresses.
The biggest storyline entering the week is world number one Scottie Scheffler pursuing the career Grand Slam. Having already won the Masters, PGA Championship, and Open Championship, a victory here would make him just the seventh player in history to complete the set.
The field behind him is strong: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka (the 2018 Shinnecock champion), defending champion J.J. Spaun, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, and Matt Fitzpatrick among the headliners.
Scoring is expected to be brutally difficult. In 2018, the winning score was one over par and only one player finished under par for the week.
The course rewards complete players who can control their ball flight, manage wind, think strategically off the tee, and handle delicate short game situations around the greens. Expect patience, survival, and smart course management to matter just as much as raw talent.
US Open Outright Pick
US Open Pick: Scottie Scheffler (+445)
There's a narrative going into this week that Scheffler has had a "down year" by his standards, and that's created something rare: value on the best player in the world.
His odds are longer than we've seen in a while, but that's actually what makes this pick so compelling. When the market starts sleeping on Scottie Scheffler, that's usually when you want to be on him.
Here's the thing about Shinnecock Hills: it's not a course that rewards one-dimensional players. It demands everything. Ball striking, wind management, strategic positioning off the tee, elite iron play into demanding greens, and a short game that can handle the most creative and difficult recovery situations in golf.
That is essentially a checklist written for Scottie Scheffler. He doesn't just check those boxes, he's arguably the best in the world in each of those categories.
The fairways at Shinnecock are generous but deceptive. You have to be in the right part of the fairway, not just the fairway. Scheffler's ability to shape shots, control trajectory, and hit specific sections of fairways is as good as anyone in the world. On a course where position off the tee directly dictates how difficult your approach will be, that precision is enormously valuable.
And then there's the green complexes, which Scheffler himself called the greatest challenge on the property. His short game and putting under pressure has been elite. The tight lies, creative recovery shots, and pressure putts that Shinnecock consistently serves up are exactly where he separates himself from the field.
The Grand Slam motivation is real too. This isn't just another tournament for Scheffler — it's the one that would cement his legacy among the all-time greats. That hunger matters on a course that will inevitably test his patience and decision making at every turn.
As for the rest of the field, Rory McIlroy is the only other player you could make a similarly strong case for, but the feeling here is that Rory's destiny this year was in Augusta and will be at The Open Championship.
Rahm, DeChambeau, and Koepka all have the game to contend, but none of them bring the complete, top-to-bottom package that Scheffler does on a course this demanding.
The simplest argument for Scheffler this week is also the most convincing one: Shinnecock Hills is going to be brutally hard, and the hardest courses in the world tend to be won by the best players in the world. Scheffler is that player. Fade him at your own risk.
