Winds of Change<\/p>\n
If the forecast for Thursday\u2019s opening round holds true, look for blustery conditions, especially as the day progresses. Winds are expected to be relatively calm for the early morning starters \u2013 in the 10-mph range \u2013 but will increase to 20 mph and possibly as high as 35 or 40 mph by the afternoon.<\/p>\n
If that happens, the course could become extremely challenging, with conditions often found at venues in the United Kingdom. Don\u2019t be surprised to see the USGA syringe greens during the round to ensure that the putting surfaces don\u2019t become unplayable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as the week goes on, you have the ability for the course to get firmer and faster,\u201d said McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open champion. \u201cWe’ve seen what’s happened here the last two U.S. Opens. It doesn’t need to get that fast to play incredibly difficult and challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’d say the greens [on Monday] probably averaged about 11.5 [feet on the Stimpmeter]. They certainly don’t need to be any faster than that. I think with the wind they’re expecting on Thursday, it seems they’d want to get the greens back to the 10s…10.5 or something like that, just because of how heavy the wind is going to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were only gusts of 25 to 30 yesterday, and balls wouldn’t stand on the 11th green. That’s where you just have to use a little bit of caution. Thursday and Friday are difficult because there are two waves, and you want to try to protect the competitive integrity of the tournament and try to make it somewhat fair for everyone. Obviously, it’s an outdoor sport, and you can’t control everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fun With Groupings<\/p>\n
The USGA has always tried to have some fun when it comes to grouping competitors for the opening two rounds. Of course, there is the traditional threesome of the reigning U.S. Open and British Open champion with the current U.S. Amateur winner. This year, it\u2019s J.J. Spaun, Scheffler and 18-year-old Mason Howell, an incoming University of Georgia freshman who won the Amateur at The Olympic Club last August as the No. 63 seed.<\/p>\n
But the USGA\u2019s Jeff Hall, who is retiring this year as managing director of Open championships, and Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer also came up with a couple of fun groupings, some obvious and some not so obvious.<\/p>\n
How about pairing two Frenchmen (Ugo Coussaud and Adrien Saddier) with Jackson Van Paris? Vive la France!<\/p>\n
Sahith Theegala, amateur Jackson Koivun and Michael Kim are all past Haskins Award winners (college player of the year). Pierceson Coody, Zac Blair and Kevin Roy all have relatives who have played in the U.S. Open; Coody\u2019s grandfather Charles Coody won the 1971 Masters, and Roy\u2019s father, Jim, qualified for two U.S. Opens and will play in the U.S. Senior Open in two weeks.<\/p>\n
Sungjae Im, Lucas Herbert and Kristoffer Reitan all made their U.S. Open debuts in 2018 at Shinnecock. Ben Kohles, Matt McCarty and Johnny Keefer are former\/current No. 1 players on the Korn Ferry Tour. We even have the oldest player in the field (2025 U.S. Senior Open champ Padraig Harrington) paired with the youngest (17-year-old phenom Miles Russell). Cameron Smith is the third member of the grouping.<\/p>\n
Past U.S. Open champions are part of two groups (Dustin Johnson, Wyndham Clark and Gary Woodland; Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm), while past U.S. Amateur winners make up another (Viktor Hovland, Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Fitzpatrick). The latter two are also U.S. Open champions.<\/p>\n
The USGA also found a \u201c-man\u201d group with Max Greyserman, Brian Harman and Jacob Bridgeman.<\/p>\n
Just a little fodder for fans and media to chew on before the weekend and a champion is crowned on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n