We blinked, and we’re past the midway point of 2026. That’s not to say that the U.S. Open has snuck up on us — an impossibility given the major championship’s return to Shinnecock Hills — but it feels like just last week we were watching Rory McIlroy slip on another green jacket, yet here we are at the third major of the year.
Another major championship means another collection of storylines to pay attention to before things get underway on Long Island on Thursday morning.
Scottie Scheffler’s birthday wish
It’s impossible to put into words how special Sunday, June 21, may turn out to be for the No. 1 player in the world.
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Not only does Father’s Day fall on that date this year, but it also happens to be Scheffler’s 30th birthday, and what a gift it would be for him to win his first U.S. Open to complete the career grand slam.
Scheffler would become the seventh player to complete the career grand slam with a victory at Shinnecock, and just the fourth player to complete the feat in their first attempt.
While still the betting favorite to get the job done, Scheffler actually enters the week flying a bit under the radar, at least more under the radar than anyone would have imagined at the start of 2026.
Scheffler hasn’t picked up a win since January, and while he’s finished T-4 or better in six of his 11 starts that followed, he’s looked more human than he has at any point over the last three-plus years. He still leads the field in strokes gained: total and strokes gained: tee to green.
The golf course playing the main character role
When the U.S. Open was contested at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, the golf course stood firmly in the spotlight for four consecutive days.
Brooks Koepka won at 1-over par, Phil Mickelson purposefully hit a moving golf ball on the green, and Zach Johnson famously said “they’ve lost the golf course” while voicing his frustrations at just how difficult conditions were.
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Those are exactly the types of things the vast majority of golf fans want to see unfold during U.S. Opens: the best players on the planet being tested on a universally beloved, extremely difficult golf course we don’t see each year.
The USGA will have to set the golf course up appropriately to get the chaos we yearn for, and the weather will need to do its part in the fight as well, but the recipe for making par every player’s best friend is relatively straightforward.
Rory McIlroy: Just a major Guy
Since he completed the career grand slam with his 2025 Masters win, Rory McIlroy has made it clear that he’s turning all of his focus on the major championships. It’s an understandable approach for a 37-year-old who has already accomplished all there is in the sport.
Given that he successfully defended at Augusta National back in April, his approach and very limited schedule have paid off thus far. His T-7 at the PGA Championship last month was plenty competitive as well.
With Shinnecock being a huge ballpark where distance off the tee will be a significant advantage, this week should provide McIlroy with the opportunity to use his driver as a weapon. If the putter shows up with him this week, McIlroy contending is almost a guarantee.
Adam Scott becomes Mr. 100
Jack Nicklaus is the only man to ever play in 100 consecutive majors. He actually teed it up in an astonishing 146 straight major championships, a feat that may never be broken, but he will have some company joining him on Thursday.
When he puts a ball in the air in the opening round, Adam Scott will hit the triple-digit mark in consecutive major championships. The Aussie’s streak in majors began at the 2001 Open, and includes his lone major victory at the 2013 Masters.
Nicklaus’ run in majors spanned from the 1962 Masters to the 1998 U.S. Open. Thirty-six years of not missing a single major start; just a ridiculous feat.
A never-before-seen European run
With Englishman Aaron Rai hosting the Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship a month after McIlroy won the Masters, it marked the first time of the modern era that the year’s first two major championships were won by Europeans.
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You have to go back to 2009 to find the last time the first two majors of the year were each won by non-Americans. Angel Cabrera of Argentina won the Masters in ’09, and South Korea’s Y.E. Yang followed that up by taking down Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship.
McIlroy leads the charge of Europeans looking to make it three in a row, but Spain’s Jon Rahm, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood, and Ludvig Aberg of Sweden should be part of the equation that unfolds at Shinnecock.
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