The Five: Players who could win their first major at U.S. Open

PINEHURST, N.C. – Xander Schauffele checked the box last month. Whose turn is it now?

This week’s edition of The Five will look at a quintet of players who could follow in Schauffele’s footsteps by picking up their first major this week. The past five winners of the U.S. Open have been first-time major winners, as well.

The U.S. Open is making its return to Pinehurst No. 2 for the first time in a decade. The classic Donald Ross design offers a unique test, with raw, rustic native areas lining the fairways and steep slopes surrounding every green.

There is only water hazard on the course, a small lake just off the 16th tee that isn’t in play for this week’s competitors, but disaster lurks at every turn. The sandy waste areas can leave players with a clean lie and an opportunity to hit the green, or balls can become ensconced in the thick wiregrass or other native vegetation.

The absence of thick rough doesn’t make things any easier for players who miss the green, either. The short grass around the greens leaves players with a plethora of options, which paradoxically can make things more difficult. And the penalty will be high for a mishit. Poorly-played chips will roll back to players’ feet or rocket across the green. Tiger Woods compared the impending travails to playing ping pong as balls roll back and forth across greens.

It will be a severe test. Can a player conquer it to become a major winner for the first time? Without further ado, here is this week’s edition of The Five.

1. Viktor Hovland

He is the reigning FedExCup champ and the highest-ranked player in the world without a major (No. 5), but his inclusion on such a list wouldn’t have been a given earlier this year. Hovland’s unceasing quest for perfection had him headed in the wrong direction after splitting with the swing coach Joe Mayo, the man who guided him to last year’s success. They reunited before last month’s PGA Championship, though, and the results made a rapid U-turn.

Hovland said he was at “rock bottom” when he left Augusta National in April after missing the cut. It was just his second MC in a major.

“I think that's when you pull yourself out of it or you've got to make some decisions to course correct,” he said. “I'm just happy at some point that I was able to course correct, and now we're on a way better path.”

Hovland finished third at Valhalla – his sixth top-20 in the last seven majors, and fourth top-10 – and T15 at last week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. The short game will be especially important this week, and it is Mayo who transformed that aspect of Hovland’s game. Pinehurst’s short grass also allows players to lean on their putter from off the greens – a strategy Martin Kaymer relied on heavily when he won here 10 years ago – and Hovland said that may be his club of choice when he misses a green.

2. Ludvig Åberg

Åberg was just starting his pro career a year ago. Now he’s just one spot behind Hovland in the world ranking. He also is eighth in the FedExCup after finishing in the top 10 in half of his 12 starts this season. That includes his runner-up finish at the Masters and eighth place at THE PLAYERS Championship.

There are questions about Åberg’s knee after it forced him to withdraw from last month’s Wells Fargo Championship, but Åberg said it does not impact his game and his T5 finish at last week’s Memorial backs up his claim.

“I've been playing and practicing to 100% over the last couple of weeks and I don't feel anything when I'm playing,” he said last week. Åberg has the ballstriking acumen to contend at a U.S. Open, ranking in the top 20 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green, and he also ranks seventh in Scrambling this season. That will be especially important this week.

3. Sahith Theegala

Theegala won his first PGA TOUR event, the Fortinet Championship, in the fall. His career has only continued its upward trajectory since. Theegala is quietly on the cusp of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, arriving at Pinehurst ranked a career-best 11th. He’s also fifth in the FedExCup thanks to a pair of runners-up in Signature Events (The Sentry, RBC Heritage), as well as top-10s at THE PLAYERS (T9) and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (T6).

The key to his success this season? An improved long game. Before this year, Theegala was known as an erratic driver with a strong short game. He ranks in the top 25 in three Strokes Gained stats this season (Off-the-Tee, Approach-the-Green and Putting).

He’s improved more than 100 spots in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee since last season. Unfortunately, that rise has coincided with a similar drop in his short-game metrics. But if Theegala can find the old short-game magic, he should be a threat to win this week.

His performances at Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass and last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (T12) have shown he’s adept at handling tough tests. He took a step forward at the PGA Championship, as well. It was his first time in contention at a major championship. He entered Sunday in third place, just one stroke off the lead, before finishing 12th. That experience could be useful this week on a course that seems to fit his skillset.

4. Tommy Fleetwood

A true flusher in every sense of the word, Fleetwood always seems a good fit for this sort of test. Since the start of 2022, he has five top-10s in majors and has finished outside the top 20 just three times in those 10 majors. He was third in this year’s Masters, as well.

He ranks an uncharacteristic 131st in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, a drop of more than 100 spots since last season, but for the third straight season ranks in the top 15 in Scrambling.

Fleetwood has three top-5s at the U.S. Open, most recently finishing T5 last year at Los Angeles Country Club.

5. Max Homa

After years without a top-10 in a major, his results in the Grand Slam events are trending in the right direction. His T10 at last year’s Open Championship was his first major top-10. Then he followed it with a T3 at the Masters that represented his first real opportunity to win one.

“I feel like I took a big leap,” Homa said after the Masters. North Carolina is a special place for Homa. He won his first PGA TOUR title in the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club, where he also represented the U.S. for the first time as a pro in the 2022 Presidents Cup. Homa’s lone top-10 in five starts since this year’s Masters was a T8 at the Wells Fargo.

Could it be the site of his first major championship?