Scottie Scheffler and the rest of the field entered the us open leaderboard with Shinnecock Hills set to play wide open. Gusts up to 40 mph were expected on Thursday, and the course offered little reason to favor one style over another. That left the week leaning on execution instead of reputation.
Shinnecock Hills And 40 Mph
The setup at Southampton, N.Y., pointed to a test that could move fast in different directions. John Bodenhamer, a USGA official, was referenced in connection with the wind, and the course did not favor one specific type of player.
Three days before the article was published, the writer had walked the course, listened to press conferences and thought through the conditions ahead. That work centered on one fact: there is very little historical data for weather like this at Shinnecock Hills, so Thursday could look unlike the usual U.S. Open script.
Justin Thomas Around The Green
Practice rounds already showed how sharp the margin could be around the greens. Justin Thomas tried a 60-degree pitching wedge, a 6-iron and a putter from 20 yards behind the first green, and the only shot he hit well was the 6-iron bump-and-run.
That kind of choice kept showing up because players could use more than half their bag on shots around the green. Slow greens and soft surrounds added an extra wrinkle when the ball was played low, while shots that landed short of the green had a hard time getting there and shots whose first bounce was on the green itself had a hard time stopping.
Brooks Koepka At The Eighth
Brooks Koepka won the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and his approach to majors starts at the green and works backward. At the dogleg-right eighth hole, hugging the left side offers the ideal angle, a setup that can punish the wrong tee decision.
That same uncertainty reached the tee, where several players were deciding between driver and iron and weighing fairway woods on various par 4s. Some were considering a low-iron shot that punctures the wind instead of a spinny 3- or 5-wood, which fits the larger picture at Shinnecock: the wind, the green surrounds and the tee-shot choices can all change the scoreboard in a hurry.
