The post Rory McIlroy’s lost U.S. Open week at Shinnecock ended with him wondering what could’ve been appeared first on Golf.

The post Rory McIlroy’s lost U.S. Open week at Shinnecock ended with him wondering what could’ve been appeared first on Golf.

At 3:40 p.m. local time on Saturday, Rory McIlroy sent a shockwave through Shinnecock Hills. After missing the sixth green to the right, McIlroy pulled putter and rolled in a 66-foot bomb for birdie. Ten minutes later, he put another circle on his scorecard, his third in a row, and was firmly in the mix at this U.S. Open, sending the Long Island crowd into a frenzy.

McIlroy, who has said one of his remaining career goals is to win a U.S. Open on a U.S. Open course, bounced along Saturday with the trophy — and eventual winner Wyndham Clark — in his sights. It was all in front of him, the next box to tick on a legendary career resume.

Twenty hours later, Rory McIlroy was just trying to get out of Long Island as fast as possible.

“You try to come out here today positive and you try to muster up the energy to put a good one in there But a couple of bogeys on the front nine, I was just trying to race my way to the 18th green,” McIlroy said with a laugh on Sunday after finishing at six over for the tournament.

That’s how fast things can change at a U.S. Open at Shinnecock, especially when it starts playing like a U.S. Open.

McIlroy made the turn on Saturday at two under and just four shots back of Clark, who had opened with a bogey behind him. McIlroy had hung in the fight all week until that point. He had taken punches from the William Flynn design, wiped the blood from his brow and punched back. He had thrown away shots but also made several long-range birdies and given himself a chance with 27 holes to play.

The unraveling happened in a hurry.

McIlroy bombed his drive 365 yards down the par-4 10th fairway to the base of the green. But, just as he did in the second round, he airmailed a wedge over the back of the green and made bogey. Three-putt bogeys at 12 and 14 followed to drop him back to even par. Then, on the par-4 15th, McIlroy missed a two-foot par putt. Another bogey at 18 brought him home in 40 and put him nine shots back of Clark entering the final round. By the time McIlroy made it to the 18th green on Saturday, that patented bounce had long left his step. The energy he conjured on the front nine had either evaporated or been transferred to Scottie Scheffler, who was making a charge of his own. McIlroy rubbed his face and exhaled. A long, arduous battle with windy Shinnecock had left him exhausted and facing a U.S. Open Sunday with little on the line other than the faint hope of doing the impossible.

It had been there for the taking and disappeared before he even realized it had slipped away.

“I think it won the battle over me at this point,” McIlroy said on Sunday.

“I think looking back on the entire week, I’ll obviously rue the back nine yesterday. I got myself to two-under par for the tournament after nine yesterday, and then the wheels came off and played a really bad back nine. I sort of shot myself out of the tournament then. Obviously, I was really disappointed coming away from the course last night.”

The six-time major champion arrived Sunday hoping to mount an early charge when the wind was down — to do as Tommy Fleetwood did in 2018, post a number from the back of the pack and see if it’s good enough.

But the Rory roars he was hoping to conjure never materialized. He made a ho-hum par at the first and then missed a seven-foot putt for par at the second. Another bogey after a shaky approach at No. 3 put him 11 shots back of Clark and meant it was time for McIlroy to hang up his U.S. Open boxing gloves and make a speedy exit. He turned in four-over 39 and then, in the sort of cruel twist that golf loves to deliver, McIlroy found something that would have helped his U.S. Open cause — just a day late.

For the first time all week, McIlroy hit the proper approach into the 10th green and made birdie. He followed it with another birdie at 11. A day earlier, that would’ve put McIlroy at four under and right on Clark’s heels. A day later, it amounted to nothing more than a smattering of applause from the Long Island faithful.

“I could have done with that start to the back nine yesterday for sure,” McIlroy said.

Eight years ago, McIlroy left Shinnecock Hills on Friday after getting blown out to sea. It was then that he vowed to become a player more comfortable on hard, U.S. Open-style tracks rather than softer PGA Tour setups. In the years since, McIlroy has become one of the best U.S. Open players of the last decade. From 2019-2025, he had six straight top 10s and two runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open. When he poured in a 66-footer for birdie on Saturday, it felt like Rory McIlroy’s next U.S. Open moment might finally be arriving. His plan and patience had put him in a position to hunt down Clark and put the coveted Shinnecock pelt on his wall.

Then, Shinnecock delivered a haymaker, and McIlroy let go of the rope as the sun set along Peconic Bay on Saturday. By the time he had steadied himself, his U.S. Open dreams were in tatters, and all that was left was an 18-hole walk to nowhere at Shinnecock and questions about what might have been had he only been able to stay in the fight a little longer.

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The post Wyndham Clark holds on at Shinnecock, wins 2nd U.S. Open title appeared first on Golf.

The post Wyndham Clark holds on at Shinnecock, wins 2nd U.S. Open title appeared first on Golf.

Three years after his breakthrough U.S. Open victory at Los Angeles Country Club, Wyndham Clark is a U.S. Open champion once again. With a final-round 73, Clark finished the week at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club at four under, good enough for a one-shot victory over Sam Burns and a second-career major championship win.

“The first one was just kind of a breakthrough of knowing I can do it,” Clark said. “This one was a lot of redemption.”

It wasn’t always pretty for Clark on Sunday. After entering the day with a six-shot lead over his nearest competitors, he fought his swing for much of the front nine, hitting just three greens in the opening stanza. He battled a crowd that cheered for his mistakes and willed on his competitors. And he made just enough mistakes to let those in chase believe they had a chance.

In the end, though, no one came up big in the clutch moments as often as Clark.

Perhaps no moment typified the 32-year-old’s weekend heroics better than his unlikely birdie at the par-5 16th. After driving his ball in the fescue, Clark chopped back out into the fairway and then hit his approach to 25 feet. His putt rolled directly into the center of the cup, his fifth holed putt over 20 feet for the week.

“To make birdie there was honestly a bonus,” Clark said. “It wasn’t an easy day out on the golf course.”

Clark followed up the clutch birdie with an untimely three-putt bogey on the 17th, necessitating par on the final hole to clinch the title. Much like he did at LACC, Clark hit his patented pull cut off the tee and then hit a so-so approach to the front of the green. And, just like he did on the west coast, Clark cozied his 32-foot lag putt within inches of the hole, securing his par and the championship.

“It was very similar having to two-putt to win,” Clark said. “It was surreal, to be honest.”

But while the clutch moments on the back nine are the ones that will be remembered, it was his scrambling on the front nine on Sunday that allowed them to come to fruition.

Despite missing six greens on the front nine, Clark saved par time and time again. Mirroring his third-round heroics, he scrambled to save par on Nos. 4, 6 and 9 with creativity that would make Seve Ballesteros blush. Then, once he turned to the back nine, he found his ball-striking rhythm once and for all, playing the inward half in even par to post the winning number at four under.

“I played some ugly golf the past two days,” he said. “But my putter and my short game kept me in it. To make all the putts that I did with my Ping putter that I lover so much, has been amazing.”

After the final putt dropped, Clark was greeted by a host of friends and family on the 18th green. Among them was his father, Randall, who took the red-eye from Colorado to surprise his son on Father’s Day.

With the win, Clark joins Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka as Americans with multiple U.S. Open titles in the 21st century. His four-round score of 276 also matches Retief Goosen’s 2004 total at Shinnecock Hills for the lowest in U.S. Open history at the storied club.

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — These are most unusual times in New York sports, and if you wanted to know why, you needed a most unusual kind of ticket Thursday morning.

One to the Long Island Railroad.

The trains started before dawn, headed in each direction (that is, east and west) to two distinctly different slabs of sports heaven. On the eastbound trains, the fans were pastel-shirt-and-khaki-clad, wearing their Thursday best for the opening round at the 126th U.S. Open. The vibes were placid and subdued, and not only because of the early-morning fog. These fans were headed to one of the most revered golf courses on earth, Shinnecock Hills, for one of the most revered golf tournaments on the calendar, the U.S. Open. The expectation was a particularly idyllic kick in the face — a bloodbath at a botanical garden.

On the westbound trains, the fans were in decidedly different spirits. They wore blue-and-orange almost exclusively, and their energy (from the east end of Long Island, at least) was one of frenetic anxiety. For good reason, too: These fans were headed to the parade that was, as of the 8 a.m. hour, already rapidly running out of space for them. The parade was a most unusual affair: a ticker tape celebration for a city that has not had one of these in 15 long years, to celebrate a team that has not had one of these … ever.

After a very long winter, the sun is shining again on the big apple. The New York Knicks are world champions. The U.S. Open is back in its rightful home. And oh yeah — have you guys heard about this World Cup business?

It is difficult to recall a time when the sports happiness of the city was as high as it is right now in New York, even for those of us who have lived in the metro area for a long time (I claim 28 years and about five months). The Giants won those Super Bowls in ’08 and ’11, but they were alone atop the New York sports mountain in the dead of winter. The Yankees welcomed World Series parades in ’00 and ’09, but those teams were expected to win … and again, they were the only show in town.

This Knicks run? It arrived the same week as summer in New York after a particularly bitter winter, for a team that seemed to embody every great quality about New Yorkers, and, yep, delivered those victories for the city’s favorite team. When the championship was sealed Saturday night, it felt not just like the good times were back again, it felt like they might never leave.

But it was Robert Frost who first delivered the three words about life that no Knicks fan wanted to hear on Saturday night: It goes on.

And as it turns out, that might not be a bad thing. These Knicks spent the week as the toast of the town, beginning a stretch of many, many years as the toast of the town. Rumor has it they might try to make it to Shinnecock for the U.S. Open this weekend, but of course, that’s assuming they’re not too busy attending the biggest sporting event in the world happening just across the river in the Meadowlands, where “New York/New Jersey stadium” is preparing to host a World Cup final in just under a month’s time.

It’s all a bit dizzying, this delirious energy in New York, especially after so many Knicks seasons spent as lovable losers. And while this energy was distinctly new to me, I wondered if other New Yorkers were feeling it, too.

This is what brought me to Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, the legendary New York sports talk host, on Wednesday afternoon at Shinnecock. Principally, I wanted to know if Russo — a living, breathing anthology of sports history and opinions — could remember a time quite as vindicating as this one in the history of the city. He was similarly stumped.

“Good job, good job,” he said. “It’s right up there. You put all that together, it’d be difficult to top in the history of New York sports.”

Mad Dog, formerly of the sports-talk defining WFAN show Mike and The Mad Dog, said he could recall only one time when a team seemed to have captured the spirit of the city as wholly as these Knicks.

“Giants-Patriots for the first time, when the Giants beat New England on the Tyree catch,” he said. “That was a big one too, that was unlikely, but this is big too, this is as big as it gets.”

According to Russo, while each of the events taking place this week in New York has its own argument for top billing, there is a definitive order of importance.

“I think I’d want to be here at Shinnecock,” Russo said. “The World Cup game over at MetLife, if it’s not the United States, I’m not as wrapped up on that. I was at Game 4 — nothing’s going to top Game 4. Nothing. But that’s not this week, the parade is this week, and I’d take [Shinnecock] over the parade.”

Unlike the throngs of fans climbing onto westbound Long Island Railroad trains this morning, Russo seemed less interested in the spectacle of the parade. Actually, less interested might be underselling it.

“You would not get me to the parade under any circumstances,” he said. “Quote me.”

Thankfully, he did not have to go far to find another option. In Southampton, the fun was only getting started.

You can reach the author with your (reasonable) New York sports opinions at james.colgan@golf.com.

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The post Long Island’s most elusive golf course hides up the road from Shinnecock appeared first on Golf.

The post Long Island’s most elusive golf course hides up the road from Shinnecock appeared first on Golf.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Rees Jones prowled around Three Ponds Farm like he built the place, which is fitting, because he did.

Jones, 84, wasted little movement as he navigated around the parcel of farmland off Scuttle Hill Road in Water Mill, N.Y. on a perfect morning last October. He was behind the wheel of a high-speed cart with a twinkle in his eye, driving from tee to green to tee again as he jumped just far enough ahead to grab the perfect vantage point of every swing from the three golfers criss-crossing the property behind him. The golfers were mostly hacks. Their shots were neither reliable nor particularly impressive. And yet Jones looked totally enthralled, like a chef watching a diner enjoy his favorite dish.

“Well…” he said, his expectation for the answer betrayed by the grin creeping across his face. “What do you think?”

Jones did not look ahead or behind with any care. He was not worried that he might be in the way of other golfers at Three Ponds Farm, in large part because that’s about as plausible as seeing the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus. What happens here belongs to the golfers, the caddie, the architect, the maintenance staff, and Ivan Kaufman, whose house sits in the middle of the property. Nobody else.

Even by the gaudy standards of the east end of Long Island, Three Ponds Farm — also known as The K-Club — is an unusually private golf course. Unlike the rest of the great golf clubs of the east end, Three Ponds Farm is not private in the sense that it keeps a membership; it is private in the sense that it is removed from the presence of others. Play happens exclusively at Kaufman’s invitation. There is no starter or clubhouse attendant to look after your tee time or your shoes. If you’re thirsty, you fix yourself a cocktail at the makeshift “halfway house” (a sun room next to a gorgeous garden). Many days, the full extent of human interaction occurs between players and their caddie.

Three Ponds Farm did not always belong to Kaufman. He acquired the property for $35 million in 2019 in its current form, turning himself from a Long Island real estate scion into a golf course owner. In a way, Jones was part of the purchase — he summers at a property in Bridgehampton and is also the designer behind Three Ponds’ sister-course, Atlantic, a “normal” private club that sits just across the street (and supplies the K-Club with its caddies). Jones was hired by the property’s initial owner, Edward Gordon, who purchased the land (sans golf course or luxurious mansion) for $1 million.

The initial design featured only a handful of holes built around five greens, which was the most golf that seemed plausible to fit within the 58-acre property. But Kaufman bought the property with the hope of expanding to a full 18. He has added tee boxes and pin positions, and has added multiple flagsticks to each of the greens.

Today, the course zigzags around the property like the evidence board for a high crime, looping back and forth and back again until every green is examined from every angle … and each of the property’s many tee boxes is utilized. The course’s maintenance team, led by former Bethpage Black superintendent Ryan Loudenslager, works tirelessly to keep the course’s many nooks and crannies in impeccable condition.

At least part of Three Ponds’ appeal to the golf world is its location. The property exists in perhaps the most golf-dense 20-mile circle anywhere in the world — a place lush with wealthy vacationers and golden sand beaches and golf clubs so private and old-world their charters tell the history of the sport in America. This week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock is a celebration of that history, and a reminder that the golf course has inspired a generation of east end copycats.

But much more of the appeal is the experience. Only at Three Ponds can you know what it is like to literally lose yourself in a round of golf. Only at Three Ponds can you understand how it feels to enjoy golf as an expression of solitude. And only at Three Ponds can you finish 18 holes of golf under the doting eye of the golf course architect, and emerge to hear the following question:

“So, how many more times would you like to go around?”

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Was that a … water bottle? A water bottle tossed 30 feet in the air from the middle of the 10th fairway? One of those silver, aluminum water bottles the USGA gives out at the U.S. Open? 

Yes, a water bottle was flying through the air, and multiple times at that, because Xander Schauffele’s caddie was scouting Shinnecock Hills’ par-4 10th hole. Why was he using a flying water bottle, you ask? You can read along about that and four other early observations from the U.S. Open below. 

Caddie Cooperation 

Really, Austin Kaiser was just trying to communicate with his fellow looper, Joe Greiner, who stood back on the 10th tee, about 240 yards away. The 10th hole is unlike any other at Shinnecock, where big swooping mounds give way to a massive drop-off of fairway that slopes into a pit of turf. Adam Scott said it’s a unique one, having a wedge in and maybe feeling scared about it. 

The goal? Get your tee ball down into that pit of short grass, making for a tiny, smooth wedge. The problem? Part of that fairway kicks right and into the rough. Schauffele’s hybrid ended up there Monday morning. On the left side, the rough cuts in along a bank and pushes balls toward a brutal bunker. They watched Chris Gotterup smash 5-wood in that direction, coming up short of the speed slot. So that’s why the water bottle was flung into the air. Kaiser stood on the downslope of 10, well out of eyesight from the tee box, but he was on the phone with Greiner, who stood on the tee with a range finder. Kaiser tossed the water bottle upward multiple times, up over the hill where Greiner could see it and clock the true, proper line for the center of the hidden part of the fairway, right where they wanted to land their tee balls. Whatever it takes to get the job done — that’s what caddies were out doing Monday afternoon at the U.S. Open. 

Xander’s coy thoughts Tuesday morning? “That’s just Austin acting like he’s doing work.” 

Will Monday matter?

We’re only a day and a half into U.S. Open week, and you’ve probably already consumed some wind content . Perhaps even some created by GOLF.com (embedded below). But that’s good — it was windy on Monday, only making an already brutally difficult course that much more impossible. 

But was that wind … deceiving? The early discussion among caddies and a few players was that the northwesterly wind that ripped through the course Monday afternoon is an abnormal summer wind. And while it would be nice to see the befuddling course in its entirety — especially for the players who arrived late from Canada — it may not make the most sense to play the course in a wind you won’t see during the tournament. Viktor Hovland elected to just walk the front nine with a putter and two wedges, practicing chip shots around every green. Jordan Spieth played the 1st, 2nd and 3rd before cutting over to finish just a 6-hole afternoon loop on 7, 8 and 9. 

Tuesday’s wind was roughly 90 degrees different on the compass, and Wednesday’s wind almost 180 degrees different from Monday. In other words, the guessing game is on when it comes to analyzing sightlines off the tee. (Hence Kaiser’s work with Greiner.) And Thursday’s first round is expected to see gusts north of 30 mph. It’s early, but the breeze is on everyone’s mind.  

“Like Pinehurst”

The U.S. Open will go a lot of places in the next 20 years, but it is in the middle of perhaps the most perfect 4-year rota of proper Open sites: Pinehurst (’24), Oakmont (’25), Shinnecock and Pebble Beach (’27). Could it possibly get any better than that? 

What I adore so much about that stretch is just how different each of those American classics can be. They’re all difficult in the heat of summer, but Pinehurst has its turtle-back greens and its fairways falling off into unpredictable waste areas. Oakmont has its sticky, calf-high rough and its lightning-fast greens. Pebble has the ocean, the morning mist, the constant breeze and those tiny greens. And Shinnecock? It has a bit of all that. 

Plenty of its greens are crowned and incorporate much smaller pinable and landable zones, a la Pinehurst. I caught Billy Horschel making that comparison during his practice round with William Mouw on Monday afternoon. The fairways are much wider than Oakmont’s but plenty of trouble lurks if you miss there, and in particular if you miss in obviously wrong spots (like on the bad side of bunkers, where the fescue has been allowed to grow rampant. See: Left side of 1). The greens, like Oakmont, will be ramped up As Fast as Reasonably Possible by Thursday. And then there’s the breeze from the ocean. In short, Shinnecock has it all. 

“All 15 clubs”

USGA executives have been sharing a new phrase the last few years. The USGA’s chief championships officer, John Bodenhamer, seems to like it the most. USGA tests should make you use all 15 clubs — the 14 in your bag and the one between your ears. You’ll hear Bodenhamer and/or CEO Mike Whan say those exact words sometime this week. But you can see it most clearly in how players handle their wedges.

One Tour equipment rep explained to GOLF.com how many players in the field are electing for low-bounce lob wedges to properly clip balls off Shinnecock’s tight, firm turf, and in most weeks as a pro golfer, that 60-degree wedge can be used just about everywhere else, too. But at Shinnecock, some players are electing to use 56-degree wedges from the bunkers more often. And the reason? The sand is different. 

Because of the amount of wind Long Island receives, the sand is coarser than pros might see in, say, Pittsburgh during last year’s Open. Shinnecock needs a bit more rocks and shells in bunkers than you’d find at Riviera, where the Women’s Open was earlier this month. Otherwise, the constant breeze would lift it out of the traps, and they’d be refilling bunkers every few months. All of which means getting a predictable result for some takes a bit more oomph and a bit less loft. It’s the little things. 

How aggressive do you want to be? 

They say a U.S. Open is an exercise in patience. In biting back aggressiveness and hanging around. The problem of that aggressiveness, of course, is on full display at Shinnecock. Look no further than Alejandro Tosti’s Monday visit to the 7th green. 

The 7th green is infamous. It had to be watered mid-round in past Opens, just to slow it down — and maybe keep it alive. But from the back side of that green, where Alejandro Tosti’s ultra-aggressive approach settled Monday afternoon, we witnessed why you don’t go flag-hunting. 

From about 30 feet away, Tosti hit the same chip 10 times, trying to find the sweet spot of landing zone. It wasn’t obvious. If his ball landed on the green, it was rolling 20 feet by. If his spinny pitch landed a yard short of the dance floor, it was staying short of the green entirely. If he landed it perfectly one foot short of the green, it had enough pace to curl near the hole. Of those 10 tries, three got close and the rest would have been begging for a par-save. That’s why the middle of the green can be a happy place at Shinnecock. 

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Welcome to U.S. Open week, where we’re heading to Shinnecock Hills on Long Island for the sixth time in the history of golf’s national championship. What’s your biggest U.S. Open storyline you can’t wait to see unfold?

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): I love Shinnecock, and I love that the U.S. Open goes there even though it makes no earthly sense, logistically speaking. I can’t wait to learn from the best golfers alive why it is so different from the rest of the golf courses they play every year. Normally, I’m not a course guy, but here I am.

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): Can Scottie Scheffler complete the career grand slam? It would be quite the achievement if he can get it done before turning 30. I can’t wait to see him tackle Shinnecock.

Jack Hirsh, associate equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): I’m with Zephyr on this one. Scottie Scheffler’s first crack at the career grand slam trumps all. But we were given a U.S. Open eve surprise Sunday morning with the WD of Brooks Koepka in Canada. We wish Brooks a speedy recovery, and we’re awaiting news on what it means for his U.S. Open availability. But he was a big storyline before the injury news arose, coming into Shinnecock with trending form and holding the belt as the 2018 U.S. Open winner at Shinnecock.

The top-ranked players in the world, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, haven’t finished outside the top 20 in a tournament since March (both at the Players). How does Shinnecock Hills set up for them? And who are you picking to have the better week?

Colgan: I’d think it sets up very well for both of them, particularly considering Scheffler and McIlroy are two of the best iron players alive. Shinnecock has been altered since its last U.S. Open — it is wider and more forgiving off the tee now — but it is no less difficult to shoot a good score. It seems these changes will make Shinnecock even more of a second-shot golf course than it was already, which is to say it will benefit those like Scheffler and McIlroy above the more pedestrian ball-strikers. If I were picking one of them, I’d lean toward Scheffler, just because he’s more accurate with the driver, and even a rare missed fairway this week could make the difference.

Melton: I’ll lean slightly toward Scottie on this one. As the best iron player in the world, the test Shinnecock presents should set up perfectly for his skillset. He seems to like the USGA setups for this championship, too, having finished inside the top 10 in all but one U.S. Open since he’s been out on Tour.

Hirsh: I think Scheffler is going to have the better week just because, as silly as it sounds, he’s due. He’s a machine in U.S. Opens even though he hasn’t recorded a win. What better place to do it than one of the most historic venues of the sport. He’s also been a top-5 machine this season but has just one win in his first start of the year.

For those unfamiliar with Shinneock Hills, why is it known as such a quality U.S. Open test? What does it demand from players and what are you watching for as soon as the tournament gets underway?

Colgan: As someone who played there in nonstop 35 mph winds a few weeks ago, I can answer this question from memory. What makes Shinnecock great is that there is nowhere to miss. The greens and fairways might be large, but the actual spaces that allow you to safely advance your ball are minuscule. When the course is playing firm and fast (which it will be), spin control and land movement will be at a premium. In other words, it’s freaking impossible in the best of conditions … and only a player with an otherworldly sense of accuracy and confidence will be able to survive a U.S. Open.

Melton: Having never stepped on property, I can’t give a very nuanced breakdown on why Shinnecock is great, but from the stories I’ve heard I can say this: It’s damn hard. Perfect for a U.S. Open.

Hirsh: James you played? How rude of you not to invite Zephyr and I.

The last time the tournament was played here, in 2018, Brooks Koepka beat Tommy Fleetwood by one to win his second straight U.S. Open. The leaderboard that year was stacked, too — guys like DJ, Reed, Finau, Hatton, Xander and Rose all finished in the top 10. Any learnings we can take from that tournament as we head into this week?

Colgan: Yeah, the lesson is that there probably won’t be a fluke winner here. Only the biggest of big dawgs will be in contention.

Melton: Famous last words, Jimmy. I hope you are correct! And for what we can expect? I’ll say it again: It’s gonna play hard.

Hirsh: My learning is that, amazing, all but two of those guys are legit contenders. Fleetwood is now a PGA Tour winner, Reed is in good form, albeit he’s played only the PGA since the Masters. Rose is having one of the best seasons of his career. Hatton and Schauffele need no explanation. The only question marks would be DJ and Koepka with his injury.

LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t made a major cut this season. Does that change this week? Where does Bryson finish, and who are you picking for low LIV player?

Colgan: I don’t love how DeChambeau’s bomb-and-gauge strategy sets up for Shinnecock, especially after McIlroy and Scheffler indicated the wider-than-usual fairways have set up to make it extra penal on those who miss the fairway. I think Bryson is a shoe-in to make the cut, but I’m more skeptical on his odds at a third U.S. Open victory here given the setup.

Melton: I think he makes the cut, but I don’t think he’ll be a serious contender on the weekend. You’ve got to be firing on all cylinders to compete at a U.S. Open, and this year he just hasn’t been in that sort of form. 

Hirsh: I don’t think he makes the cut. I think he’s in his own head. I expect Jon Rahm to play well and finish as the low LIV player.

Bud Cauley won the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, although big-name players like Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Wyndham Clark all had solid weeks. How much U.S. Open stock are you putting in players trending in the proper direction right now, and who is the hottest player entering the week?

Colgan: Putting some stock in it! It’s funny how recent form can help avoid a Big Mistake at a major championship. And the U.S. Open feels like a place you’d like to avoid a Big Mistake.

Melton: Form is always nice, and no one has more of it right now than Wyndham Clark with a win, a top-three and another solid showing in Canada over the last several weeks. I’d keep an eye on him as we head to Shinnecock. 

Hirsh: Definitely putting stock in it. Speaking of Clark, he won the month before his breakthrough at the 2023 U.S. Open. Clark is hot again this year, but god it feels like Tommy Fleetwood could contend and get it done this week. Knocking on the door the last two weeks after a putter change — and clinging to one of the great major championship rounds we’ve seen anywhere in the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock. That would be an awesome win.

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The post Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler share Shinnecock’s ‘surprising’ U.S. Open change appeared first on Golf.

The post Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler share Shinnecock’s ‘surprising’ U.S. Open change appeared first on Golf.

Last month, while attending a media day ahead of this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, I learned a truly mind-bending stat.

Across the four modern U.S. Opens at Shinnecock, 624 players have competed in the field. Of that group, the number of players who have recorded a score under par?

Three.

“There are just golf demons around this place,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s golf course czar. “They come up out of these putting greens in a devilish, wonderful, charming way.”

More than any other golf tournament, it might be said that a U.S. Open is a test of endurance. The player who survives four days of brutal conditions with their head screwed on straightest is usually the one who wins. This is particularly true at Shinnecock, where the course has become famous in large part for its difficulty. After all, it was the last time Shinny hosted a U.S. Open, in 2018, that Phil Mickelson provided what might be the best modern example of an on-course meltdown when he (infamously) raked his ball to keep it from rolling off the front of the green. The winner of that tournament, Brooks Koepka, carded a 72-hole score of 1-over.

This is the subtext that brought stars like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to Shinnecock over the last several days for pre-tournament practice rounds. Both players had heard the legends of the 2018 Open — McIlroy even took part, missing the cut — and both wanted to get a good look at the golf course before tournament week arrived.

The stakes are high for both players entering Shinnecock: McIlroy is looking to solidify the third act of his career with a late run of major success, while Scheffler remains a U.S. Open away from the career Grand Slam. And after both took in the sights and sounds from the golf course that will host the national championship in two short weeks, the scouting report for both included a surprise.

“Shinnecock looks good. The fairways are very generous,” McIlroy told reporters at the Memorial Championship on Wednesday morning. “They’re more generous than they were in 2018. But the first cut of rough is 5 inches long. So it’s like the first cut is maybe three paces wide and then it gets into the fescue. So if you miss the fairway even by a yard, you’re going to — but you shouldn’t. The fairways are very, very generous. So if you miss the fairway, I feel like you deserve a bad lie.”

McIlroy wasn’t the only golfer to be surprised by the width at Shinnecock in 2026. His sentiments were shared by Scheffler, who visited the property for the first time on Monday.

“I hadn’t been there prior. That was my first time on property,” he said. “I was a little surprised at the width of the fairways, but the green complexes there are extremely difficult, and I think that’s where the greatest challenge comes from.”

As it turns out, that surprise was well-earned. According to Bodenhamer, the fairways at Shinnecock will play an average of 48 yards wide in 2026 — a massive expansion off the first modern U.S. Open held at the venue in 1986, and an unusually wide number for a U.S. Open held … anywhere.

“It’s widest we’ve been in 50, if not 75, years,” Bodenhamer said.

Bodenhamer’s words reflect a broader shift in sentiment that the USGA has pursued under current CEO Mike Whan — endeavoring to produce the fairest test of golf rather than chasing even par as the winning score. But, as both McIlroy and Scheffler said, the width of the fairways will do very little to change the winning score should Bodenhamer and his team turn up the temperature on the course’s real test, the greens.

“The rough, also, was a really good penalty, I think, for the width. Once you start missing fairways out there, you have no chance,” Scheffler said. “But the fairways are generous enough to where it provides you some opportunity and that way it’s just that the green complexes are extraordinarily difficult, and so they can put the pins wherever they want and make the scores as high as they could possibly want ’em to be.”

Both McIlroy and Scheffler seemed particularly taken with the difficulty of Shinnecock’s greens, which are fairly large by square footage but infinitesimally small by strategic upside. From the wrong side of the fairway, the landing area to keep your ball on the green is often only a few feet wide, maybe the size of a hula hoop. From the right side of the fairway, things aren’t much better.

“The greens are rolling around 11, 11.2, something like that, and I really don’t think they need to get much faster,” McIlroy said. “I think if they can keep them at that green speed, they can get them firm, and they can use the hole locations that they want to use without having some of the struggles that they have had the last couple of U.S. Opens.”

In other words, the width off the tee will be a pleasant surprise for some of the best golfers in the field at this year’s U.S. Open … but it might be the last one.

“If it’s set up the right way, I think it’s one of the best championship tests in the country,” McIlroy said. “I mean, it’s an amazing golf course.”

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The post This amazing collection of vintage clubhouse postcards will transport you back in time appeared first on Golf.

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The modern American clubhouse is typically a catering hall. In these postcards, some marked up with handwritten messages, the scale is human. Also, there is no threat of rain and the colors are muted. There are no garish colors, no assault to the eye. Many of the postcards are from watercolors and hand-colored photographs. Golf’s a great game, always has been and always will be. But charm in golf has taken a beating and has ever since the Crosby Clambake turned into the AT&T. In these 230 or so clubhouse postcards, charm is thriving.

As you scroll through some of them (view the slideshow at the top of this page), you’ll see some clubhouses you likely know (Augusta National) and some that have not survived wars, hurricanes and years. But many have. The postcard from the Shelter Island Country Club, on Shelter Island, N.Y., appears to be about 100 years old, by typeface and the number of stars on the American flag. But I was there last summer — remember last summer? — and it has barely changed.

Sheehan’s interests in the game are broad. He studied history at Yale, from which he graduated in 1997, and since then has played key roles in getting two courses off the ground, Castle Stuart in Scotland and Ohoopee Match Club in Cobbtown, Ga. He wrote a book about the history of the U.S. Amateur. He coached a player, James Nicholas, 23, who graduated from Yale last year and now has status on the Korn Ferry tour. Plus, the postcard collection, a quarantine hobby.

Many of the clubhouses have wrap-around porches. That’s how Sheehan’s collection began — he was looking for examples of single-story golf clubhouses with wrap-around porches. (His sensibilities are unique.) I asked him why so many of these clubhouses are special. They ooze charm, character, quality, timelessness. They look welcoming. “A lot of it has to do with the people who built them,” he said. “They were craftsmen and artisans.” That explains a lot. The window panes, the door knobs, the columns. The shape of the shingles, the color of the shutters. Things we can see and things we can imagine.

You surely need god builders and workers, but you need a good architect, too. The architects behind these clubhouses weren’t, typically, showing off. (The architect at the Newport Country Club, in Newport, R.I., was showing off.) If the angle of a roof was pitched just so, that was enough. In these postcards there are scores of clubhouses that are pleasing to the eye, with roofs that could handle summer rain and winter snow and, underneath them, golfers coming in from their games.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments and suggestions at Michael_Bamberger@golf.com.

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The post The 8 most expensive streets in golf, from Golf Place to 17-Mile Drive appeared first on Golf.

The post The 8 most expensive streets in golf, from Golf Place to 17-Mile Drive appeared first on Golf.

If you’re a golfer who’s looking to move, might we suggest one of the following? Using Zillow’s price calculator, we found the average price of homes on eight of the most expensive streets in golf.

Golf Place, Edinburgh, Scotland — $2.08 million avg.

Recently named the most expensive block in Scotland, Golf Place’s pricey title is well-earned — it rests no more than 200 yards from the entrance to St. Andrews. For 1.78 million euros, the equivalent of 2.08 million U.S. dollars, your home can be at the doorstep of the home of golf.

Cambridge Road, Ardmore, PA — $2.25 million avg.

On the outskirts of Philadelphia lies Ardmore, PA, home to Merion’s pair of stunning courses, and Cambridge Road. Getting a house on Cambridge Road will run you in the neighborhood of $2 million, but the view can’t be beat. You’re a hop, skip and a jump(ed fence) from Gil Hanse’s newly redesigned, crown jewel East Course (no. 15 on GOLF‘s top 100 courses ranking).

Shinnecock and its neighbor, National Golf Links of America, sit near some of the most prized land on Long Island.

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Castle Road, Fishers Island, NY — $3.8 million avg.

Fishers Island is universally known as one of the most socially elite destinations in the United States, but compared to some of the other prices on this list, it’s a bargain. $3.8 million will get you on Castle Road, which meanders its way through the impeccable island-intersecting 1926 Seth Raynor design. Sure, you have to get there by boat, but when Fishers Island comes calling, it’s hard to say no.

Fernwood Road, Brookline, MA — $9.27 million avg.

You’re not living on “a” country club for $10 million, you’re living on THE Country Club (no. 38 on GOLF‘s top 100) for that money. It’s a steep price tag to live in a place where golf is only playable four-to-six months out of the year, but the golf you’d be a short walk from for those four-to-six months might just be worth it (just ask Tom Brady).

South Hill Street, Southampton, NY — $10.94 million avg.

For just a shade under $11 million, you can live the Great Gatsby lifestyle, and play some of the world’s best golf along the way. For almost a century, the Hamptons have been the summer home for the world’s rich and famous, offering gorgeous beaches and breathtaking golf. South Hill Street sits in between the triumvirate of famous courses (Shinnecock, National Golf Links of America, Sebonack) in Southampton, New York. What makes South Hill St. cheaper than the more expensive blocks on our list — it’s inland, meaning you’ll have to settle for a short walk or drive to the ocean (tough, I know).

Riviera Country Club's esteem and location make it a highly desirable location for real estate.

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Corsica Drive, Pacific Palisades, CA — $13.68 million avg.

Location, location, location. That’s what makes Corsica Drive in Pacific Palisades, CA such a valuable place to live. For one, Pacific Palisades is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the United States. For another, Corsica Drive is a 60-degree wedge from Riviera Country Club (no. 28 on GOLF‘s top 100). The sky high cost of living in Southern California certainly helps the cause, but looking out your window to see the home of the 2028 Olympics is a pretty good incentive for the price tag.

Seminole Beach Road, Jupiter, FL — $27.06 million avg.

Jupiter, FL is the winter playground for many of the game’s top players, sporting dozens of courses and plenty of high-priced, beachfront real estate. But right next to Seminole Golf Club (no. 34 on GOLF’s top 100) is Seminole Beach Road, the penultimate finisher of our most expensive list. The houses on this block roll in at an astonishing average price of just north of $27 million. If it’s any consolation, your tens of millions buy you a home a stone’s throw from both the ocean and some of the world’s best golf.

Along 17 Mile Drive you can find some of the world's most beautiful houses and some of its most sublime golf.

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17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA — $27.56 million avg.

If you’ve got $30 million burning a hole in your pocket, it’s time to book a flight to California for a cruise along 17 Mile Drive. The famous road juts along the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, just footsteps from Pebble Beach’s bevy of spectacular golf. Simply put, 17 Mile Drive is in rarified air. In terms of beauty and proximity to incredible golf, you can’t find many places better. And good news! There’s open property waiting for you.

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The post 5 ways to get onto some of the best and most exclusive clubs in the world appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 ways to get onto some of the best and most exclusive clubs in the world appeared first on Golf.

Poor, pitiful you.

You are not a captain of industry, a head of state, a PGA Tour professional, a past president of the United States Golf Association, or the offspring of blue blood elites.

And yet you’re a golfer. An addict, really, driven mad by dreams of playing the world’s most exclusive courses.

What can you do?

Short of committing criminal trespass, or cozying up to a club member, you’re largely out of options. But not entirely. Here are 5 end-arounds onto some of the game’s most rarefied grounds.

News

Course rater: Here’s why Augusta National slipped in GOLF’s latest Top 100 Course ranking

1. Work the Event

Here’s one proven path onto Augusta National: create a technology company and build it into a multi-billion dollar business, then get word out through your well-connected friends that you’d like to join the club and wait a few years for the invite. It worked for Bill Gates. It could work for you.

More realistic, though, is to learn how to write, photograph or broadcast. From there, all you have to do is join the press corps, get credentialed to cover the Masters and enter the media lottery. 28 members in that pool are chosen to play the course on the Monday after the event, though if you’re selected, you have to wait another seven years to enter the lottery again.

Another option is to earn a coveted spot as a tournament volunteer. They’ll work you hard that week. But they’ll also set aside a spot for you to play one day in May.

Travel

Playing eight of GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in eight days is every bit as exhilarating (and exhausting) as it sounds

2. Give to a Charity

In February 2018, word popped up on Facebook of a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” A live auction would be held to raise money for children’s health care at the Sydney Invitational Golf Tournament, with a foursome at Ellerston on the blocks.

Built as a personal playground for the late media mogul Kerry Packer, Ellerston ranks among the most elusive tee times in the world. But this was not, in fact, a “once in a lifetime” offer. Access to Ellerston had been sold in the name of charity before, just as it is every year at many of the game’s most exclusive redoubts. So keep an eye out for auctions and other fundraising events (paying your way into a pro-am is also something to consider). You’ll probably pay dearly, but at least you’re contributing to a good cause: your own.

3. Join a Golf Society

The Eden Club. The Outpost Club. The Eligo Club. The Eighty Club. These aren’t golf clubs in the old-fashioned sense, replete with their own clubhouses and courses. They are golf societies, filled with dues-paying members who are in it for the fellowship, the friendly competition and—let’s be honest—access to some of the most sought-after courses in the world.

Travel

Meet GOLF’s Top 100 Course Raters: 97 well-traveled (and well-connected) golf aficionados

4. Become a Course Rater

Opinions on golf courses are like noses. Everybody’s got one. Might as well make sharing yours a part-time job.

Not all course ranking panels are created equal, nor do they all get you exclusive access (some have hundreds of raters who pay for their credentials; others, like GOLF’s top 100 raters, are free but as exclusive as courses they rate).

But if you’ve got an eye for architecture and the means to travel, it’s worth looking into becoming a rater. You won’t be able to ring up, say, Shinnecock and expect they’ll roll out the red carpet. But many clubs will. Consider it a good excuse to flit about the globe seeing great layouts, while telling people that it’s—you know—work.

5. Become a Brookline Fireman or a Cop

Former Reebok CEO Paul Fireman built a mansion alongside The Country Club in Brookline, but he never got an invite to join the club. Perhaps he should have become a fireman instead. Once a year, the historic club—a three-time site of the U.S. Open—hosts a one-day tournament for local firefighters and cops. So there you have it. You could join the force. A lot of folks would jumps through flames to play this course.

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