U.S. Open 2026: A stroll with Generation Next at Shinnecock

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — One is barely old enough to drive a car.

The other is just old enough to drink alcohol. Neither were born when Retief Goosen won here in 2004. But on Saturday at the 2026 U.

S. Open, amateurs Miles Russell and Jackson Koivun shared a tee time during the third round at Shinnecock Hills.They were standing on side of the tee box on the opening hole (Russell is a left-hander so positions on the left), as I watched them getting ready to take on the wind of Saturday morning and couldn’t believe just how young the pair were.

Russell, the No. 1 ranked junior golfer in the world, is 17, Koivun, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, his elder at 21.

Combined, they are the same age as Jason Day (38).But this is the U.S.

Open and both made the cut for the weekend at three over par. If there were nerves, they don’t show. Koivun dropped his ball down on the first tee, no tee, and hit a crisp 3-wood down the middle of the fairway.

With pro bags, college scorecard holders and high school faces, the pair strolled together on the front nine at Shinnecock, not talking a lot and already conducting themselves like professionals. Koivun is set to make his pro debut later this month, and has a PGA Tour card locked up through 2027.His super power?

Ask anyone that watched him play at Auburn the last three years and they’ll tell you it’s his putter. He showed it off early, holing a 20-footer for birdie on the fourth. However, 210-yard bunker shots are tricky, even for All-Americans.

The 21-year-old topped his second shot on the sixth hole, barely trickling into a hazard and finishing the hole with a double bogey.As both players stood on the tee at the infamous seventh hole, a lady in the crowd commented on Russell (only a junior in high school), gushing as she said, “he’s so cute.” The redan par 3 probably didn’t look as attractive to Russell, his shot landing in the middle of the green but released out some 50 feet from the hole.

The confidence of youth was on show on the