5 things to know for Thursday’s opening round at Winged Foot

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve been waiting for — on Thursday morning, golfers tee off at Winged Foot Golf Club for the first round of the national championship.

It’s been 459 days since we’ve witnessed golfers battle self, opponent and course in pursuit of a U.S. Open title. Four-hundred and fifty-nine days since Gary Woodland capped off an emotional run at Pebble Beach with a victory, when Collin Morikawa was a recent college graduate and Brooks Koepka was on top of the golfing world.

Boy, a lot has changed in 459 days.

But for all that’s different at Winged Foot this week, the soul of the U.S. Open persists unabatingly — at one of its classic venues, with all its fire, brimstone and thick, tangled rough. Some things can’t be diminished, even in September, even in lieu of fans.

Here are five things you need to know to get ready for Thursday’s first round.

5 things to know for U.S. Open round 1 at Winged Foot

1. ‘We’re going to let Winged Foot be Winged Foot’

What greets golfers in the first fairway (and rough) and beyond at Winged Foot is sure to be a prominent storyline, as course conditions are every year. But as the USGA official in charge of course setup for the U.S. Open, senior managing director John Bodenhamer admitted that “carnage” (a favorite term of the golf populous) is not the goal.

“We’re going to let Winged Foot be Winged Foot,” he told reporters Wednesday. “And let the drama come to us on Sunday.”

We don’t know what kind of test Winged Foot will make, especially considering the changes brought about by the club’s 2016 restoration, or whether the winning score will break par.

We do know that the rough is long and it’s thick, in some places as much as a foot deep. We know that the greens are Winged Foot’s calling card, and they’ll be as fast as they are firm, undulating, and merciless. And we know that in the five U.S. Opens at Winged Foot preceding this one, only a single champion has emerged with a 72-hole score under par.

2. A young champion returns

Collin Morikawa enters the week a major champion. That’s new. The 23-year-old American put himself on the first line of just about every list of up-and-coming golfers with his jaw-dropping performance in the PGA Championship in August. Now, he enters U.S. Open week a legitimate person-of-interest for the first time in his young professional career.

And what’s more, Winged Foot should suit his game well. Morikawa’s driving accuracy should prove more valuable than distance (more on that in a moment), and his ball-striking could give him some birdie looks, particularly on Winged Foot’s par-3s and short par-4s.

One area to watch out for is around the greens, where Morikawa was spectacular at TPC Harding Park, but has struggled with at some points in his still-nascent career.

3. …so you’re saying there’s a chance?

Tiger Woods enters this week nobody’s favorite pick to win, a sentiment reflected in his 45-1 odds to win. The reasons why span the gamut: he’s too old, his game is too far, his putter is too inconsistent, and of course, it’s too cold for his back to fully open up.

Yet, as the 15th Club’s Justin Ray asked, is it somehow possible we’re not giving Tiger enough credit?

The best weekend scoring average in majors over the last half-decade. Not half-bad. If we break into the 80s in Mamaroneck, you’d better watch out.

4. Not for Brooks

For all the names likely to be circling the leaderboard on Thursday, one big one will not. Brooks Koepka withdrew from the field due to injury after a slew of decidedly uncharacteristic performances. This year will mark the first Open since 2013 without Koepka in the mix, a marked absence considering he’s posted a pair of wins, four top-5s and six top-20 finishes at the national championship in that time.

5. Who’s the favorite, anyway?

A three-horse race, perhaps? Dustin Johnson is the obvious choice (and the Vegas favorite) heading into the week. He’s added close to $20 million to his bank account in the last month alone and he’s playing some of the best golf of his career. Plus, in a similar U.S. Open test at Oakmont in 2016, DJ claimed his only major to date. But Johnson’s first round at Winged Foot came at the start of this week, and his struggles to find an extra gear down the stretch in majors has been well-documented.

Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are all popular choices as well. Thomas is ascending and has shown he can win on any week, so long as he keeps his driver straight, while Rahm and Schauffele each are hoping to get over the hill and claim their first major. Oh, and don’t discount Rory McIlroy, who’s taking a short break from changing diapers to gun for his second U.S. Open title.