Scottie Scheffler opens the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, with the US Open tee times Saturday story built around his chase for the career Grand Slam. He is the world No. 1, but he has not won in his past 11 starts.
The venue has a sharp edge of its own. Shinnecock Hills has hosted five previous U.S. Opens dating back to 1896, and only three golfers finished under par in those events.
Shinnecock Hills and Scheffler
Scheffler is trying to become the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam by winning at Shinnecock Hills. That gives the opening rounds more weight than a standard major tee sheet, because the field is being asked to solve a course that has rarely yielded low numbers.
His recent results make that chase harder to read. He has three runner-up finishes in his past 11 starts, along with seven top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, and four top-10 finishes in his past five U.S. Open starts.
McIlroy, Schauffele, Rahm
Rory McIlroy arrives with three straight top-20 finishes after winning the Masters, and his lone U.S. Open win came 15 years ago at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Xander Schauffele brings seven top-10 finishes in nine U.S. Open starts and has not finished worse than a tie for 14th in the championship.
Jon Rahm has won twice in the LIV Golf League this season and tied for second in the PGA Championship. Cameron Young adds a different layer: the New York native has two wins and six top-10 finishes in 2026, and he will be playing in front of a home crowd again this week.
Matt Fitzpatrick on setup
Matt Fitzpatrick offered the clearest read on how Shinnecock Hills will ask questions. “It’s a second-shot golf course,” he said. “The fairways are a little bit wider this time.”
He added: “Obviously, [the] U.S. Open tests all aspects of your game, I feel like. But Shinnecock, in particular, with how severe the greens are, you’ve got to do a good job of managing that.”
The list of past scores at Shinnecock shows the range the course can still produce. Raymond Floyd won in 1986 at 1 under, Corey Pavin won in 1995 at even par, Retief Goosen won in 2004 at 4 under, Phil Mickelson finished that same 2004 U.S. Open at 2 under, and Brooks Koepka won the last U.S. Open there at 1 over.
That mix leaves Saturday’s pairings and the rest of the week tied to one basic question: whether Shinnecock Hills gives the field enough room to attack, or forces another long grind to Sunday.
