The 2026 US Open begins Thursday at Shinnecock Hills. Field breakdown, Round 1 groupings, conditions forecast, and the storylines to follow all week.
The 2026 US Open begins Thursday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, back-to-back Masters champion Rory McIlroy, 2026 PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai, and defending US Open champion J.J. Spaun are all in the field. Round 1 tees off from both nines starting at 7:30 AM ET.
Scottie Scheffler (World No. 1): A US Open title this week would complete Scheffler's career Grand Slam. The Fried Egg noted heading into the week that his iron play has been "average, by Scottie standards" in recent starts (The Fried Egg, Jun 2026), a meaningful caveat at a course that has historically separated fields through precision from the fairway. Round 4 falls on Sunday, June 21, which is both Father's Day and his 30th birthday. Tees off at 8:14 AM ET from the No. 1 tee alongside J.J. Spaun and amateur Mason Howell.
Rory McIlroy (No. 2): McIlroy won the Masters in both 2025 and 2026 but has won the US Open only once, at Congressional in 2011. He missed the cut here in 2018 but has posted six top-10 finishes in his last seven US Opens (Opta Analyst, Jun 2026). Tees off at 7:52 AM ET from No. 10 alongside Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood.
Tommy Fleetwood (No. 7): Fleetwood's 63 in the 2018 US Open final round at this course tied the lowest round in the event's history. He finished one back of Koepka that day. The putt that would have broken the record lipped out on the last hole. He returns to Shinnecock having posted a T11 at the RBC Canadian Open (June 5-8), his most recent start before this week.
Matthew Fitzpatrick (No. 4): The 2022 US Open champion has won three times in 2026 (ESPN/Sky Sports, Jun 2026) and finished runner-up at the Canadian Open (June 5-8, Golf Channel). Tees off at 1:25 PM ET with Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland.
Justin Rose (No. 6): The 2013 US Open champion, now 45, won the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open by seven shots at 23-under par, a tournament record (Golf Channel, Jan 2026). Tees off at 2:09 PM ET with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm.
Cameron Young (No. 3): Won the 2026 Players Championship (ESPN/Golf Channel, Mar 2026) and is a New York native, age 29. Tees off at 7:30 AM ET alongside Brooks Koepka.
Brooks Koepka (LIV Golf, ranking 109): Won the US Open in 2017 and 2018, the latter here at +1 (281, per Golf Compendium and CBS Sports, Jun 2018). He is the only active player to have won a US Open at Shinnecock Hills. Koepka withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open (June 5-8) with numbness in his left ring and little fingers, a possible ulnar nerve or thoracic outlet syndrome issue per ESPN. Spine scans came back clear (Golf Channel, Jun 2026). He has confirmed he will play this week but skipped Monday's practice round (Golf Channel, Jun 2026). His first competitive swings since the withdrawal will come at 7:30 AM ET Thursday.
Also notable: Xander Schauffele (No. 12) has seven top-10 finishes in nine US Open starts, including a T6 at this course in 2018 (Opta Analyst, Jun 2026). J.J. Spaun won the 2025 US Open at Oakmont with a 64-foot winning putt (ESPN/Golf Channel, Jun 2025) and defends this week. Aaron Rai won the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink in May (ESPN/Golf Channel, May 2026).
Late withdrawal: Marco Penge (England) has withdrawn with a chronic sinus and vertigo condition stemming from a viral infection in November 2025 (Australian Golf Digest / DP World Tour, Jun 2026). He was replaced by Chandler Phillips, the first alternate from the Dallas final qualifier, who makes his US Open debut this week.
Thursday is the most demanding weather day of the week. Forecast calls for winds of 8-22 mph (13-35 km/h) with gusts to 33 mph (53 km/h), a 48% chance of rain, and temperatures between 78 and 84°F (26 to 29°C) (Golf Channel/AccuWeather, Jun 2026). Wind direction is predominantly SSW. William Flynn's 1931 routing at Shinnecock sends nearly every hole in a different compass bearing, meaning a persistent SSW wind creates headwinds, tailwinds, and crosswinds in sequence across a round.
One player note on the playing surface: Michael Kim, who played a practice round on Monday, described the greens as "spongy" and "quite bumpy" with aerification holes still visible (Golf.com, Jun 16, 2026). This is a player observation from earlier in the week, not a USGA assessment; conditions have likely firmed in the days since.
For the full course description and USGA setup detail, see our 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills preview. The short version: the USGA has run fairways more than 40 yards (37 meters) wide, averaging about 45 yards (41 meters) (CBS Sports, Jun 2026), with greens at 11 to 11.5 on the stimpmeter, the softest setup in recent US Open memory.
Key Round 1 groupings (ET, Thursday June 18):
Scheffler's Grand Slam and the calendar. A win on Sunday completes the career Grand Slam for the world's top-ranked player. That round lands on Father's Day and his 30th birthday. The broadcast narrative is already in place if he contends.
Fleetwood's unfinished business. The 63 in 2018 is the defining Shinnecock moment of the modern era. The putt that would have set the record outright lipped right. Fleetwood returns to the only major venue where he has come within a stroke of winning.
Koepka's hand. The course's most successful recent champion arrives with a health question that wasn't there two weeks ago. How his grip holds up under tournament conditions will be the most-watched story of Thursday's opening round.
European dominance. McIlroy and Rai won the year's first two majors. According to Opta Analyst (Jun 2026), this is the first time European players have won the season's first two majors consecutively since 1934. Three of the top six players in the world ranking are European.
Adam Scott's 100th consecutive major. Scott tees up this week at his 100th consecutive major championship start (PGA Tour First Look, Jun 15, 2026), a stretch covering roughly 25 years of unbroken presence at golf's biggest events.
Miles Russell and Charlie Woods. Amateur Miles Russell, 17, is making his US Open debut. Tiger Woods' son Charlie, also 17, will caddie for him this week.
Notable absences. Tiger Woods isn't in the field, continuing his recovery from a March 2026 car accident; his USGA exemptions have expired (Golf Channel, Jun 2026). Phil Mickelson is absent for the first time since 2017 due to a family health situation. Sergio Garcia's streak of 25 consecutive US Open starts has ended after he failed to qualify. Tony Finau also didn't qualify.
Round 1 at Shinnecock Hills tees off from both the No. 1 and No. 10 tees starting at 7:30 AM ET on Thursday, June 18. Scottie Scheffler is in a group starting at 8:14 AM ET and Rory McIlroy at 7:52 AM ET. Afternoon groups, including Matthew Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose, begin after 1:25 PM ET.
Scottie Scheffler (World No. 1) enters as the betting favorite. Rory McIlroy (No. 2), Tommy Fleetwood (No. 7), Matthew Fitzpatrick (No. 4), and Cameron Young (No. 3) are among the leading contenders. See our 2026 US Open preview at Shinnecock Hills for the full breakdown.
Yes. Koepka confirmed he will compete despite withdrawing from the RBC Canadian Open (June 5-8) with numbness in his left ring and little fingers, a possible ulnar nerve or thoracic outlet syndrome issue per ESPN. Spine scans were clear. He skipped Monday's practice round at Shinnecock but is scheduled to tee off at 7:30 AM ET Thursday (Golf Channel, Jun 2026).
Tiger Woods isn't playing, recovering from a March 2026 car accident with USGA exemptions expired. Phil Mickelson is absent for the first time since 2017 due to a family health situation. Sergio Garcia's 25-consecutive US Open streak has ended after he failed to qualify. The 2026 US Open is the first in many years without both Woods and Mickelson in the field.
Brooks Koepka won the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills at +1 (281, rounds of 75-66-72-68), per Golf Compendium and CBS Sports (Jun 2018). Tommy Fleetwood finished one stroke back at +2, closing with a final-round 63 that tied the lowest round in US Open history. The 2025 US Open was won by J.J. Spaun at Oakmont.
Featured image: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. Photo by Jakub Halun via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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