The U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst (North Carolina) Resort next week for the first time in 10 years, but this reunion promises to be nothing like the USGA’s previous three stagings of the national championship at the famed No. 2 course. For one, Pinehurst has been named by the United States Golf Association as an “anchor site” for future Opens, with four more editions – 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047 – already booked. Also, the World Golf Hall of Fame has returned to its original home in Pinehurst after 25 years in St. Augustine, Florida, and the Class of 2024 will be inducted on June 10 of tournament week.
With that backdrop, Global Golf Post’s Ron Green Jr., John Hopkins, Scott Michaux and John Steinbreder convened for a virtual roundtable to preview the 124th edition of the U.S. Open.
Golf fans were treated a few weeks ago to a PGA Championship that fielded the best players in the game as eventual winner Xander Schauffele of the PGA Tour held off LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau down the stretch to win at Valhalla. How special are these rare weeks when the game’s best players come together?
Green: Not every major comes down to the last moment like the PGA Championship did, but what they mean to the players, to the fans and to the game’s long history elevate them. Each of the four majors has its own personality, and this U.S. Open may have no trouble living up to the goal of being the toughest test in golf.
Hopkins: They used not to be rare. A rhythm of four times annually made the major championships exciting and special, above all other events and justifiably a yardstick by which a player is judged. Now they are lessened by the professional game’s civil war.
Michaux: The majors have always been everything, but that’s more the case than ever considering the current rift. Having LIV’s DeChambeau challenging the PGA and DP World tours’ established and rising stars is what elevated the PGA to something special.
Steinbreder: Given the ongoing battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the majors feel like a sort of cease fire, with everyone setting aside hostilities for a spell to concentrate on the golf. And that respite is most welcome. So is the heightened intensity of the competitions themselves, as players from both camps act as if there is a little more at stake on those rare occasions when they are able to meet head-to-head.
With the June 6 anniversary of the “framework agreement” having passed and no deal apparently in the immediate future entering U.S. Open week, are you more or less optimistic about the state of the men’s professional game, and why?
Green: It’s reaching the point of “show me, don’t tell me” in terms of progress. People involved from the PGA Tour side insist there is positive movement, but at this point it’s harder to feel optimistic that a resolution is any closer than it has been. Meanwhile, the fatigue factor grows.
Hopkins: The longer the silence concerning a deal goes on, the greater the chance of there being no settlement. I don’t think Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will go away. The Saudis are moving into more and more sports. But they might settle their eyes on some other tour.
Michaux: A resolution feels further away now than it did a year ago. The PGA Tour is playing with fire dragging this out. Golf fans are turning away, and stubbornly negotiating might lead the PIF to use its wealth elsewhere and further undermine the PGA Tour’s future.
Steinbreder: Less optimistic. The Saudis have the money to do whatever they want, the players on the PGA Tour Policy Board certainly seem to think they have all the answers, and there is no indication that either side is moving to the middle. One can only hope that the Strategic Sports Group is able to initiate a compromise that makes the focus of the game the golf and not the money (even though private-equity guys are always about the money).
Pinehurst No. 2 promises to play much faster and firmer than a soft Valhalla did for the PGA Championship, and par is certain to be more respected than the winning 21-under score posted by Schauffele at the PGA. How will a premium on par make the U.S. Open stand out, and will fewer red numbers make for a better or worse test?
Green: Pinehurst will play dramatically different than Valhalla did, and even if it gets soft, the nature of the greens and surrounding areas will make No. 2 a supreme test. Get ready to watch golf balls rolling off putting surfaces and down slopes. Going low will be an entirely different concept at this U.S. Open.
Hopkins: I like it when one of the four major championships is held to a different standard than the others. It’s a talking point. The majority of golf watchers are not interested in scores in relation to par, however. They just want an exciting event and a good winner. Spectators will remember Valhalla last month for two reasons: Scottie Scheffler’s time in jail and the thrilling finish of a man standing on the 72nd tee needing a birdie to win, and getting it.
Michaux: Pinehurst “protects” par with a brilliant strategic design that challenges players’ creativity and shot-making without artificially narrowing fairways or growing gnarly rough that stifles recoveries and artful golf. It’s exactly what a great test of golf should be, regardless of what the winning score ends up being.
Steinbreder: I like the different styles of play we are getting in this year’s majors and look forward to seeing how the best players in golf fare on No. 2. So long as the USGA lets Pinehurst be Pinehurst and does not overthink the course setup. To be sure, we will see far fewer red numbers. But that’s OK. It’s a different sort of course, and a different sort of championship.
What style of play will Pinehurst No. 2, with its sandy waste areas and famed turtleback greens, reward at the U.S. Open?
Green: Players with world-class short games, imagination around the greens and patience will be rewarded at No. 2. Precision iron play is also critical because as big as some greens may be, there isn’t much wiggle room for shots that stray to stay on the greens.
Hopkins: Playing links courses in Britain teaches you to keep the ball as near the ground as possible around the greens. Using a putter from off a green is often seen and goes unremarked on. So it will be at Pinehurst. A lot of putters will be used from the fringes of greens.
Michaux: Guys had better putt well and bring their “A” ball-striking and short games with them or it’s going to be a short week that will feel very long.
Steinbreder: Being creative, and imaginative, will be key. Especially around the greens. And as I write those words, I cannot help but wonder how the late Seve Ballesteros would have fared in a U.S. Open at Pinehurst. It seems as if No. 2 would have been his kind of course.
With Pinehurst being one of the USGA’s Open “anchor sites” – joining Pebble Beach and Oakmont, similar to the R&A’s Open Championship rota – golf fans will be seeing even more of Donald Ross’ celebrated No. 2 course in the future. Aside from the outstanding golf at Pinehurst Resort, which recently opened its 10th course, what’s your favorite thing about visiting the “home of American golf”?
Green: The place has a feeling about it not unlike the feeling one gets at St. Andrews. Golf isn’t just a game there; it’s truly a way of life. There’s a reason they answer the phone at the resort by saying, “It’s a beautiful day at Pinehurst.” It usually is.
Hopkins: The village, though some might label it “twee.” It looks like the sort of place where the shops could be named shoppes. That said, Old Sports & Gallery in the old Harvard Building and Given’s Book Shop are favorites and I must try that chipping challenge at the Pinecrest Inn.
Michaux: The charming village’s shops, restaurants, bars, hotels and green are always a pleasure to simply browse on strolls. It’s a little worn out, but the Pinecrest Inn (with its lobby fireplace to chip in and its pork chops to savor) remains a regular hang.
Steinbreder: Playing the Cradle in my bare feet and then savoring a proper cocktail while sitting in an Adirondack chair by the halfway house overlooking the 10-acre, par-3 track that Gil Hanse designed and watching people of all ages and abilities having fun with clubs in their hands. And dining at the Pinehurst Brewing Co., with its kick-ass, smoked-on-site barbeque and superb craft beers.
Who is your pick to win the 124th U.S. Open, and why?
Green: I will take the obvious pick in Scottie Scheffler for two reasons: How good he has been every week and how good his short game is. That’s critical to winning at Pinehurst. If not Scheffler, how about Keegan Bradley?
Hopkins: Neither Martin Kaymer, the winner in 2014, nor Michael Campbell in 2005 – both of whom learned their golf on what used to be known as the European Tour – was considered a short-game expert by peers. Yet the short game is so important at Pinehurst No. 2. Odd. Schauffele has magic in his hands, and so does Bryson DeChambeau. Tommy Fleetwood? Yes, please.
Michaux: It wouldn’t surprise me to see Xander Schauffele go back-to-back now that he’s broken through. His strokes gained portfolio isn’t far behind Scottie Scheffler’s in most categories, but Schauffele is a better putter and his scrambling is excellent. Dark-horse pick: Denny McCarthy.
Steinbreder: Shane Lowry. The Irishman’s game is coming into form, as his T6 at Valhalla indicates, as well as his winning the Zurich Classic in late April with Rory McIlroy. And I like how fiercely Lowry competes in major championships, thinking back to his tying for third in the 2022 Masters and his triumph in the 2019 Open Championship. He knows how to win a major and has the skills to contend on a course that asks golfers to hit a lot of Old World shots.