It is time to put the golf infighting aside and get down to business as the 122nd U.S. Open gets underway Thursday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
The last few weeks seems to have been all about the battle between the PGA Tour and the LIV tour, that is backed by a Saudi investment firm.
A group of players resigned from the PGA Tour to play in the inaugural LIV event, and they were promptly suspended by the PGA Tour.
The USGA took the safest route, allowing players who had qualified for the 2022 Open to play in the event. Wednesday during the annual USGA press conference Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA, was pressed about moving forward and could it be tougher for these breakaway players to get into the U.S. Open.
Whan said he could “foresee that,” but then added he didn’t know what that day could look like, but just that he could foresee it happening.
All the words are done now – let’s get to the tournament.
The Country Club will play to 7,254 yards and a par 70. There will be 156 players start the tournament, with the field cut to the low 60 scores and ties after two rounds.
The USGA said Wednesday there will be traditional U.S. Open rough, meaning anything out of the fairway will bring a difficult shot. In conjunction with the smallish greens at The Country Club and it will be a struggle to break par.
Here are some of the top pairings for Thursday’s first round. All times are EDT.
7:18 a.m. First tee: Collin Morikawa, James Piot, Jon Rahm; 7:29 a.m., First tee: Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Max Homa; 7:40 a.m., First tee: Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger; 7:40 a.m., 10th tee: Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Zander Schauffele; 1:14 p.m., First tee: Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau; 1:25 p.m., 10th tee: Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Scottie Scheffler; 1:36 p.m., First tee: Matt Fitzpatrick, Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson; 1:47 p.m., First tee: Phil Mickelson, Shane Lowry, Louis Oosthuizen; 1:47 p.m., 10th tee: Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau.
So, how does it all shake out?
At this point, I could make a case for at least 15 players that have a good shot to win the tournament, and I could probably go higher.
I will cut that down to five golfers for now.
After his win last week McIlroy would be an obvious choice, but I am going to put three above him. I think the winner will come from Koepka, Spieth, or Thomas. Finally, I am putting the unflappable Scheffler on the list as well.
Koepka is a U.S. Open machine and I need to have Spieth and Thomas on the list in any tournament they tee it up! McIlroy also seems to have one blow up round, but he is in a groove right now. Scheffler was brilliant in winning the Masters – can he do it again in the Open?
Have a great weekend!
By Dennis Miller