Updated

Updated · PGA TOUR · Jun 17

Shinnecock Braces for 40 mph Gusts as U.S. Open Setup Slows Greens to 30-Year Low

Updated

Updated · PGA TOUR · Jun 17

Shinnecock Braces for 40 mph Gusts as U.S. Open Setup Slows Greens to 30-Year Low

Q: With top players faltering and an amateur near the lead, does this 'wide open' major truly reward the world's best golfer?

Yes—but only in a broader sense of “best” than world ranking or recent form. Shinnecock Hills is not set up to crown the hottest star by default. It is set up to expose every weakness: wind gusts near 30 to 40 mph, awkward lies around greens, hidden pebbles in bunkers, and approaches that demand precise angles. The USGA has deliberately slowed the greens to about 10.5 on the Stimpmeter, their softest U.S. Open setup in decades, to keep the course severe but playable. That matters, because a fair test is different from a random one. The early leaderboard, with an amateur such as Ryder Cowan briefly near the top and elite players like Scottie Scheffler over par, does not by itself mean the event stops rewarding excellence. It means the championship is rewarding adaptability, patience and short-game imagination as much as power and pedigree. Rory McIlroy’s opening 69, built on caution and mistake avoidance rather than domination, is a good example of how top players can still separate themselves under these conditions. There is also history behind this. Shinnecock and the U.S. Open often produce winners who are not the pre-tournament favorite, but they are usually players who handle the week’s specific demands better than anyone else. If the setup stays “tough but fair,” as players and officials say it has so far, the winner will still be a worthy champion. It just may not be the world No. 1, and that is not the same as saying the test failed.

3 articles · Updated · PGA TOUR · Jun 17

Gusts above 40 mph are expected Thursday at Shinnecock Hills, with the USGA slowing greens to their lowest speeds in more than 30 years to keep balls from skittering away and avoid suspending play.
John Bodenhamer said the opening round could resemble Pebble Beach in 1992, when the final-round scoring average hit 77.3, the low score was 70 and 73% of the field shot 75 or worse.
Players spent practice rounds testing survival tactics rather than chasing pins, using everything from putters to 6-irons around greens and weighing driver against low-flight irons off tees because fairway woods may spin too much in the wind.
The setup has left the championship feeling unusually open, with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy still sharpening their games and many top players staying late Wednesday for extra preparation.
Shinnecock itself is emerging as the week’s central challenge, with soft surrounds, hidden bunker pebbles and likely six-hour rounds adding to the uncertainty.