⛳ Top U.S. Open storylines from Shinnecock Hills

Top U.S. Open storylines: Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and sleeper contenders15hMark Schlabach and Paolo Uggetti2026 U.

S. Open: Experts' picks and betting tips14hUSGA changes aim for 'fair' Shinnecock course8hMark SchlabachGolf eyes '30 for ball rollback to combat distance11hPaolo UggettiU.S.

Open bettors fade Scottie as odds lengthen11hDoug GreenbergPlayers gauge Shinnecock ahead of U.S. Open1dPaolo UggettiKoepka, fingers improving, plays practice round1dMark SchlabachScheffler: Grand Slam not a 'motivating factor'1dMark SchlabachU.

S. Open tiers: Ranking favorites, contenders and everyone else at Shinnecock Hills3dMark Schlabach'I feel like I can beat anyone': Is Jackson Koivun ready for the PGA Tour?1dPaolo UggettiU.

S. Open odds: Scheffler favored; McIlroy, Rahm, Schauffele and Young next10hDoug GreenbergplayIs Shinnecock Hills a favorable golf course for Scottie Scheffler? (0:50)Mark Schlabach and Paolo UggettiMultiple AuthorsJun 17, 2026, 07:00 AM ETEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsEight years after Brooks Koepka conquered Shinnecock Hills during a week when no player finished under par, the U.

S. Open returns to one of the toughest venues in the sport.With its relentless wind and exposed greens, Shinnecock is once again set up to give the best players in the world fits as it tests every part of their game, especially their mental approach.

Whoever stands atop the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon will have gone through one of the most formidable gauntlets in golf.Here are five storylines ahead of the year's third major championship.What do you expect from Scottie Scheffler this week as he goes for a career Grand Slam?

Schlabach: Sure, Scheffler has won only once on tour this season, and that victory came in his first start of the season in the American Express on Jan. 25. But he has been awfully close to winning on multiple occasions since, finishing second three times and third twice.

He has finished in the top 25 in each of his 12 starts.Scheffler still leads the tour in strokes gained: total (2.162) and tee to green (1.

696) and is third around the green (.535) and fourth off the tee (.657).

Obviously, he's still playing very good golf. Even his putting, which has been his Achilles' heel in the past, has been solid. He ranks 19th in strokes gained: putting (.

466).But here's the difference between this season and the previous four, in which he picked up 19 victories and four major championships: According to stats guru Justin Ray, Scheffler has hit 21.2% on his approach shots from the fairway on par-4s and par-5s inside 15 feet or less this season.

From 2022 to 2025, he hit 32.5% of those shots inside 15 feet.It's a razor's edge between winning and finishing in the top five.

Given Scheffler's success in majors and his magical hands around greens, I'd be shocked if he's not a contender."I'd say I feel like I've been close most of the year," Scheffler said Tuesday. "I feel like I just haven't been as sharp as I needed to be.

I think the margins in this game are so small. For me to be winning a lot of tournaments, you've got to just be really, really sharp. I feel like maybe I've just been a touch dull because I think statistically I'm maybe leading the FedEx Cup.

I think I'm leading the strokes gained statistics, so by no means is it a bad year. Is it up to the play I've had the previous couple of years? Probably not, but it's not far off."

Plus, Scheffler's 30th birthday is Sunday, so maybe he'll win a U.S. Open trophy.

Uggetti: The best version of Scheffler could, and arguably should, plot his way around Shinnecock perfectly. The golf course demands exacting play, and no one can do that better than Scheffler.But Scheffler, in the U.

S. Open recently, and throughout his season this year, has seemingly had issues when conditions become slightly unpredictable. At the Memorial, he had an outburst directed at his caddie, Ted Scott, after they adjusted incorrectly for the wind.

And if there's one thing Scheffler will have to deal with this week at Shinnecock, it is the wind. It will blow hard, especially Thursday. I will be fascinated to see how he responds when things don't exactly go his way.

By the end of 72 holes, that might be the difference between another high-but-not-high-enough finish and the career Grand Slam.Who are some sleepers you could see contending this week?Schlabach: Few prognosticators would have picked J.

J. Spaun at Oakmont Country Club last year, so it's certainly possible that a sleeper pulls off another upset at Shinnecock Hills.Remember that each of the past four U.

S. Open winners were ranked outside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking: Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 18 in 2022), Wyndham Clark (No.

32 in 2023), Bryson DeChambeau (No. 38 in 2024) and Spaun (No. 25 in 2025).

Shinnecock Hills is as close as it gets in the U.S. to a links-style course you'll find in Scotland or Ireland, so the winner is going to need patience, soft hands around the greens and the ability to be creative with th