It was just about three hours west of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club where one of the most epic championship moments in recent history unfolded.
Over in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden last week, New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby sealed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history with a game-winning, last-second tip. The Knicks, of course, would go on to close out the title in Game 5.
Less than 24 hours later, guard Josh Hart was already thinking about another sport: “Now we play golf! Just got to figure out where to get a golf membership in NY,” he posted on X.
Well, Hart may not be able to play, but lucky for him the U.S. Open is set to begin Thursday at Shinnecock in nearby Southampton.
Here are five storylines to watch.
Scheffler eyes career Grand Slam
Sunday’s final round also happens to be World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s 30th birthday. And Father’s Day. Plus, he’ll be taking his first crack at completing the career Grand Slam — a feat only six players, including most recently Rory McIlroy, have accomplished.
If the four-time major champion and dad Scheffler, who already has two Masters, a PGA Championship and an Open Championship, can get it across the finish line at his national championship, the story will write itself.
Yet Scheffler looks more fallible than he has in years. He hasn’t won since his season opener in January, quieting the Tiger Woods comparisons that ran rampant after he won The Open last year. He has also been visibly upset on the course at times, notably blowing up after hitting a tee shot into the water on a par 3 at The Memorial Tournament earlier in June. It’s not the ideal headspace with which to enter the U.S. Open, which demands patience above all else and typically produces a winning score around par.
Then again, no one has been better at hitting fairways and greens than Scheffler over the last three years, not to mention his all-world scrambling abilities. And his so-called down year has him way back in, um, second in the season-long FedEx Cup standings, along with first in the Official World Golf Rankings and first in the Data Golf rankings. Count Scheffler out at your own peril.
Shinnecock, as in the course itself, has already emerged as a key plot point.
It isn’t the stereotypical bomb-and-gauge U.S. Open layout that, say, fellow New York venue Winged Foot offers up. Instead, it’s something much more interesting — a broader test of every club in the bag.
The fairways are wide, and the rough isn’t quite as penal, but the penalties for missing are still steep with well-placed bunkers littered throughout the 18 holes. Meanwhile, the greens are the course’s top defence, with two-putts at a premium and course knowledge essential for understanding where to miss when you inevitably find yourself scrambling for par.
Then, there’s the weather. As a links-style course situated near, though not on, the Atlantic Ocean, wind is a guarantee. Gusts are expected up to 33 m.p.h. on Thursday and continuing throughout the weekend, while the direction is expected to change from the practice rounds.
In 2018, the last time the U.S. Open came to Shinnecock, the USGA lost the course with greens that became so firm they were essentially unplayable. Preventing a similar situation will be top of mind, especially with little rain expected to soften things up.
It’s a fine line balancing challenging and unfair — and it’s on organizers to toe it properly.
Koepka injury clouds Shinnecock defence
That 2018 tournament was won by Brooks Koepka at 1-over for the second of his back-to-back U.S. Open titles. It remains the only time in the last decade the U.S. Open winner finished above par.
Now, Koepka is back at Shinnecock for the first time after a wild journey through the golf world that included a stop at LIV Golf and a pioneering return to the PGA Tour. The five-time major champion has been a fascinating watch since coming back, forced to play lesser events in order to earn his spot at the big-money tournaments.
It’s gone pretty well. To start the season, his ball striking looked like vintage Koepka, in full control. He just couldn’t make putts. Lately, though, the putting had begun to come around, and he seemed to be trending toward a potential Shinnecock repeat as a first-round co-leader at the RBC Canadian Open.
Then, a third-round 72 happened amid hand pain. He withdrew from Sunday’s final round at TPC Toronto, but he said Tuesday he still plans to tee it up.
The injury leaves a wide array of outcomes on the table for the 36-year-old, who said he may be dealing with an ulnar nerve flare-up or thoracic outlet syndrome. But if he’s feeling well enough, he should be right in the mix.
Is another surprise winner in store?
JJ Spaun last year. Wyndham Clark in 2023. Gary Woodland in 2019.
It seems at the U.S. Open, more than any other major, that surprise players can rise to glory. Meanwhile, on the PGA Tour, the last four winners have been Bud Cauley, J.T. Poston, Russell Henley and Clark — all good players, but not exactly household names or pre-tournament favourites.
Perhaps, then, the Spaun and Clark case could offer some hints at some longshots. Both were playing well heading into their victories, with the latter losing a playoff at The Players to Rory McIlroy and the former winning at Quail Hollow just a month before his major breakthrough.
Applied to this season, Kristoffer Reitan also won at Quail and has continued to play well since. Alex Fitzpatrick, the brother of U.S. Open champion Matt, only gained PGA Tour membership in April but is already 19th in the season-long FedEx Cup standings. Jacob Bridgeman earned his first PGA Tour title at Riviera in February and sits eighth on that list.
The U.S. Open has rarely felt more, well, open.
McIlroy is on record that his career goals at this point are limited to big wins at iconic venues — and a U.S. Open at Shinnecock would certainly count.
For the Northern Irishman and two-time reigning Masters champion, a seventh major title would lift him above Phil Mickelson (among others) and into the top-10 all time. It would also leave him an Open Championship shy of accomplishing the career Slam twice over, which only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have ever done.
McIlroy’s Ryder Cup teammate, Tommy Fleetwood, fired a stunning final-round 63 at Shinnecock in 2018 and is looking to parlay that momentum into a long-awaited major title. Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg will play with McIlroy and Fleetwood on Thursday and Friday in pursuit of his breakthrough major.
Xander Schauffele could collect his third major and put him a green jacket away from the Grand Slam. A win for Jon Rahm would send him to The Open looking for the same.
And, of course, the quartet of Nick Taylor, Corey Conners, Sudarshan Yellamaraju and Ben Silverman are looking to become the first Canadian men to win a major since Mike Weir’s 2003 Masters triumph.