Weather, Rebels and a Local Starter: What to Watch in U.S. Open Round 1

The season's third major begins Thursday at The Country Club. Keep an eye on the skies, the 11th hole and the reception for some by the Boston faithful.

Gary Van Sickle | Jun 15, 2022

Gary Van Sickle of Morning Read/SI.com will offer a preview before each round of the 122nd U.S. Open. Here's what he's watching:

The Weather Channel

It looks like a front will move through Thursday featuring gusty winds (up to 25 mph) with rain, tapering off during the afternoon. It could drop an inch of rain. The conditions improve a bit in the afternoon so players with early Thursday/late Friday tee times may get a raw deal. Hey, it happens …

The Short Line

Check out the 11th hole. It’s a par 3 of 131 yards to a green surrounded by bunkers. This hole is normally part of The Country Club’s Primrose Course but has been updated and added to the composite course for the U.S. Open. This hole hasn’t been used since 1913, when amateur Francis Ouimet won the Open. It was the 10th hole then. Will there be an ace at 11 on Thursday? It depends upon the pin placement but … it could be worth a wager (although gambling is not allowed at Bushwood, sir) …

The Rebels and the Empire

Is there any chance that loyal PGA Tour players will get into an exchange with a playing partner with a player who has jumped ship to the rival LIV Tour funded by Saudi Arabia? And will the players who defected be well-received by fans? Based on practice rounds, it looks as if Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, two of the top names who departed, are just as popular as ever. But this is Boston and these fans are enthusiastic and passionate and devoted, and they also know how to boo. I don’t see that happening this week, though, unless a Ryder Cup breaks out …

Key Pairings

Nice touch by the USGA sending amateur Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Massachusetts, off first Thursday. … Your defending champ, Jon Rahm, tees off at 7:18 a.m. with Collin Morikawa and U.S. Amateur champ James Piot (a LIV defector). … Phil Mickelson plays at 1:47 p.m. with Shane Lowry and fellow LIV enrollee Louis Oosthuizen. … Dustin Johnson, a LIV agent, goes at 1:36 with former Open champ Webb Simpson and England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, who won the U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in 2013 (and may carry the weight of several dozen pesos I wagered on him to win). … Also, don’t miss the favorite-playing-partner trio (implied sarcasm) at 1:27 of Kevin Na, Sergio Garcia and Tyrrell Hatton. Very subtle, USGA.

More U.S. Open Coverage From Morning Read:

> USGA Says It Could Shut Out Players in Future Events
> Jay Monahan Delivers In Televised LIV Golf Rebuttal; NBC’s Best-in-Class Crew Returns
> Seven Years Later, the USGA’s Anchored-Stroke Ban Lives, But Is Golf Better for It?
> USGA Museum at the U.S. Open Features Artifacts From Golf’s Pioneers
> Listen: Viktor Hovland Is Adjusting His Mindset for the Majors

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Published Jun 15, 2022

GARY VAN SICKLE

Van Sickle has covered golf since 1980, following the tours to 125 men’s major championships, 14 Ryder Cups and one sweet roundtrip flight on the late Concorde. He is likely the only active golf writer who covered Tiger Woods during his first pro victory, in Las Vegas in 1996, and his 81st, in Augusta. Van Sickle’s work appeared, in order, in The Milwaukee Journal, Golf World magazine, Sports Illustrated (20 years) and Golf.com. He is a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America. His knees are shot, but he used to be a half-decent player. He competed in two national championships (U.S. Senior Amateur, most recently in 2014); made it to U.S. Open sectional qualifying once and narrowly missed the Open by a scant 17 shots (mostly due to poor officiating); won 10 club championships; and made seven holes-in-one (though none lately). Van Sickle’s golf equipment stories usually are based on personal field-testing, not press-release rewrites. His nickname is Van Cynical. Yeah, he earned it.