Cloudy with a slight chance of chaos at Shinnecock. Plus: U.S. Open Round 1 leaderboard notes
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Golf Briefing ⛳ | This is The Athletic’s newsletter for the 2026 U.S. Open. Sign up here to receive the Golf Briefing directly in your inbox.
Good evening! I’m Hugh Kellenberger, The Athletic’s senior managing editor for golf, coming to you from Shinnecock Hills, where the first round of the U.S. Open blew some competitors out to Montauk and has a surprising number under par.
Staff writer Brody Miller will be by in a minute, just as soon as he’s done trying to get the bounce off the road cutting through the 12th fairway. But first, the leaderboard:
1. Wyndham Clark -6 (16)
T-2. Jon Rahm (13), Matt Fitzpatrick (16) and five others -2
Weathering: Here comes the sun … and the real intrigue?
The U.S. Open field survived Thursday, which was always going to be the biggest challenge of the week.
The long-range forecast — important because that’s what information the USGA had when it began setting up the golf course for the start of play earlier this week — was for precipitation in the morning, with gusts up to 40 mph all afternoon. Everything became about what the USGA could not do, lest it risk losing the golf course again and having 156 guys in polo shirts demanding someone’s head Ned Stark-style.
- Green speeds were kept at levels not seen since 1995. Pin placements were what we expected at a major, but nothing like what we saw at last month’s PGA Championship. This was still Shinnecock Hills, but it was very purposefully not going to be like 2004 or ‘18.
- Yet … the thing about forecasts is they’re sometimes (often) wide of the mark, and while there was enough fog to warrant a two-hour delay in play this morning, the rain never came and the wind eventually tapered off to much more manageable levels. The sun even came out for the afternoon wave, as players rushed to complete their first rounds before darkness.
At lunchtime, I thought the first-round leader would be 2 under par, at best. Instead, I watched Wyndham Clark tear this place apart in the final moments before sundown. He’s at 6 under par with two holes left to go in the first round — darkness forced officials to suspend play at 8:25 p.m. He had a four-shot lead on seven others, with 17 total players under par.
So now what? In my opinion, with no rain in the forecast and temperatures expected to warm up into the high 70s and low 80s, it’s time to make this a proper U.S. Open. Let’s get provocative and find out who the best player is this week.
Too often, we confuse good and great. The Valspar Championship should reward good shots. The U.S. Open should demand great shots. If you’re not up for that, maybe you’re just not him.
There’s $22.5 million at stake, and $4.5 million to the winner. He needs to earn it.
The Turn: Shinnecock, meet 2026 Rory
Three things stuck out to me (Brody) from Round 1 at Shinnecock, so let’s get right to it:
1. The greatest modern driver of the golf ball hasn’t been able to hit his driver lately. But Rory McIlroy led the tournament through 16 before two bogeys to finish 1 under. It’s so different from the driver-reliant Rory of old who missed the cut at Shinnecock in 2018.
In wild winds this morning, McIlroy often used less than a driver and relied on his skill and craftiness to control this test. His iron play led the way, spinning an approach back to three feet on 3, and using the wind on 5 to take a pitching wedge 196 yards to set up an eagle. And he led the field in putting, adjusting to tricky greens. As he walked off 12, he joked, “Greens are a 9, run like they’re 14.”
2. J.J. Spaun’s ball sat up along the edge of the seventh green — seemingly safe — for a full minute. Maybe more. A perfectly good shot on the hardest approach of the round. Wait. No. Never mind. By the time Spaun’s group finished their tee shots and walked toward the green, the wind had taken it down the slope into the bunker. Thus was life on No. 7 on Thursday.
The 187-yard par-3 Redan has a back-to-front slope on a right-to-left diagonal, rolling toward two deep bunkers on the left. Just 26 percent of the field stayed on the green, and just six of the first 80 players birdied while it played half a shot over par. If you miss right, it’s a guaranteed bogey. If you play it safe, you’re probably going to roll off. Fun!
3. Keith Mitchell — the best-dressed man on tour, the foodie, the PAC chair — put together perhaps the most Shinnecock scorecard possible. Because yeah, you can score at Shinnecock. There’s nothing inherently “evil” about the holes themselves. And you can get dunked on when you misplay the wind. Mitchell opened with an ugly 41 on the back, starting with a double before four more bogeys in six holes. But on the front? Attack! He shot 29 as he hunted pins with four birdies and an eagle. It’s the first 29 at Shinnecock since 1995. Iconic.
Back over to Hugh.
The Links
😵💫 Great line from our Gabby Herzig today: “Chaos is not a you problem.” At Shinnecock Hills, accepting that is the first step in bringing home the big trophy.
💯 Speaking of Gabby, she chatted with Adam Scott earlier this week about making an astonishing 100 consecutive major championships. His answer (and reaction) for the worst venue he’s seen had me chuckling throughout dinner last night:
🗽 The crowd was not in full force at Shinnecock today, and also cleared out pretty early. From what I understand, some kind of parade in the city may be at fault.
Watch Guide: Round 2 TV info and a group to watch
- TV: 6:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN tomorrow; 1:30 p.m. on NBC
- Streaming: Peacock
Group to follow: Clark, Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland at 7:41 a.m. A trio of former U.S. Open champions that all started the year in relative bad form, but here we are. Woodland, the Houston Open winner pushing every day to beat his PTSD, is one of the best stories of this PGA Tour season. As for Clark and Johnson, they got hot late today and are now suddenly in the mix for a second U.S. Open title.
See you back here tomorrow after Round 2.
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