{"id":1042580,"date":"2026-06-22T10:04:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1042580\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T10:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:04:30","slug":"usga-defends-us-open-venue-despite-unsold-tickets-and-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-missed-out-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1042580\/","title":{"rendered":"USGA defends US Open venue despite unsold tickets and ‘tens of millions of dollars’ missed out on"},"content":{"rendered":"

The USGA left ‘tens of millions of dollars’ on the table by deciding to host the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills.<\/p>\n

A new champion will be crowned on the Long Island links<\/a> come Sunday evening, and as it is at every major, thousands will be crowding the course to witness the winning putt.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The USGA left money on the table by hosting the US Open at Shinnecock HillsCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

But at Shinnecock, the attendance will be significantly lower than elsewhere.<\/p>\n

In a piece for The Athletic, Brendan Quinn argued that the USGA has picked ‘history over cash’ for this year’s US Open<\/a>, in a welcome change for sports.<\/p>\n

“Leaving money on the table? Not optimizing every cent out of every square foot? Isn\u2019t the modern sporting landscape supposed to be about money grabs and venture capital knee-bending and entertainment districts built alongside new stadium venues?” Quinn asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“This is a world where the Chicago Bears are threatening to move to Hammond<\/a>, Ind. This is a world where FIFA is asking for thousands of dollars for even the most banal of World Cup matchups.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON US OPEN<\/p>\n

“This is a golf world where the PGA of America charges $750 for Ryder Cup tickets<\/a>, and the PGA Tour has taken in $1.5 billion in private equity funding. But then there\u2019s the USGA.”<\/p>\n

‘Millions of dollars’ left on the table for US Open<\/p>\n

Quinn added that hosting the US Open at Shinnecock required a decision to sell 25 percent fewer tickets than last year’s tournament at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure and logistical costs have been raised, and fans have been asked to travel ‘hours upon hours’ to reach the Southampton club.<\/p>\n

The Athletic reports that while the USGA made 30,000 tickets available for tournament days, only 21,000 made it through the gates Thursday, followed by 27,000 on Friday.<\/p>\n

Come Saturday, USGA CEO Mike Whan was asked how much money was left on the table by playing its biggest event at Shinnecock.<\/p>\n

“Tens of millions of dollars,” he replied.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The USGA chose ‘history over cash’ by hosting the US Open in Long IslandCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Quinn went on to suggest that US Open attendances have been impacted by major sporting events that are unfolding nearby.<\/p>\n

Why has US Open drawn a lower attendance in 2026?<\/p>\n

He claims ’empty grandstands greeted the likes of Scottie Scheffler<\/a> and Rory McIlroy<\/a>‘ when they teed off for their opening rounds on Thursday.<\/p>\n

That day happened to be shared with the New York Knicks’ NBA Championship parade, which unfolded around 90 miles away, and drew massive crowds to the streets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The USMNT also played their second World Cup game, a 2-0 win against Australia<\/a>, in the same TV window as the US Open on Friday.<\/p>\n

For Whan, though, the decision to return to Shinnecock for the major was based on sporting merit, and not a cash grab.<\/p>\n

“There was no way there was ever going to be more than 155,000 (total) here this week,” he told The Athletic.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Grandstands have not been full for the tournament this yearCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t know what we had at Oakmont, but I\u2019ll bet you it was closer to 215,000. Pinehurst (in 2024) was like 250,000. But that\u2019s the tradeoff.<\/p>\n

“Because you have a Pinehurst and an Oakmont, I feel like you can do a Merion, a Riviera, or this.<\/p>\n

“If we lived on a diet of Pebble (Beach) and Pinehurst and Oakland Hills, would we be much better off financially? One hundred percent.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

“But I\u2019m not sure the championship would be better.”<\/p>\n

Stay up to date on all things golf across our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The USGA left ‘tens of millions of dollars’ on the table by deciding to host the 2026 US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1042581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4106],"tags":[283498,287106,2826,4366,184108,74412,4299,287107,287108,108259,4298,4287,4288,286603,286503,79,16,15,5067,16022,74473,129312,73342,287103,287105,236362,287104,51628],"class_list":["post-1042580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-2026-us-open","tag-defending-us-open-champion","tag-golf","tag-golf-news","tag-golf-today","tag-jj-spaun","tag-liv-golf","tag-mike-whan","tag-mike-whan-usga","tag-pga-golf","tag-pga-tour","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-scottie-scheffler","tag-shinnecock-hills","tag-shinnecock-hills-golf-club","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-us-open","tag-us-open-golf","tag-us-open-leaderboard","tag-us-open-live","tag-us-open-news","tag-us-open-venue","tag-us-open-winner","tag-usga","tag-where-is-the-us-open-being-played","tag-wyndham-clark"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116793199851156547","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1042580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1042581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1042580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1042580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1042580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}