The First Look: U.S. Open

The U.S. Open is going Hollywood.

The season's third major championship is heading to The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course), the first time LA has hosted the U.S. Open in 75 years. The club underwent a five-year restoration project to bring the design back to its roots and is now ready to welcome a major-championship field.

“I think it’s going to be one of the best U.S. Opens there’s been for a while,” past winner Rory McIlroy said earlier in June.

“I think West Coast U.S. Opens always deliver, for some reason.”

Torrey Pines hosted the last U.S. Open in California, and Jon Rahm captured his first major after making birdie on the final two holes Sunday. In the process he became the first player since Tom Watson in 1982 to win the U.S. Open with birdies on his final two holes. The leaderboard Sunday saw 10 players within a shot of the lead at one point.

“West Coast U.S. Opens,” McIlroy said, “I really like.”

While McIlroy is looking for his first major triumph since 2014, plenty of the game’s best are looking for their own “Hollywood ending” come Sunday night in Los Angeles.

FIELD NOTES: Matt Fitzpatrick will head from coast-to-coast to try to successfully defend his U.S. Open title at LACC. The last player to go back-to-back at the U.S. Open was Brooks Koepka (2017-18), breaking a near 30-year drought of repeat champions (Curtis Strange, 1988-89)… World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is looking for his second major triumph. Scheffler won THE PLAYERS earlier this year and has two TOUR titles so far this season. Scheffler is in the midst of an all-time ball-striking season, sitting first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Off-the-Tee, and Approach the Green… World No. 2 Jon Rahm, is looking to win his second major of the season, after taking the Masters in April. Rahm has four victories already in 2023 and a runner-up at the Mexico Open at Vidanta… Rory McIlroy hasn’t won a major in almost a decade but he’s seemingly done everything else on the PGA TOUR since then. The reigning FedExCup champion missed the cut at the Masters but finished tied for seventh at the PGA Championship… The final six spots in the field will be determined Monday after the RBC Canadian Open via the Official World Golf Ranking. If there are still open spots, the USGA will determine entry via alternate lists across Final Qualifying sites… Four of the world's top 10-ranked players are all looking for their first major win in Patrick Cantlay (No. 4), Viktor Hovland (No. 5), and a pair of California kids in Xander Schauffele (No. 6) and Max Homa (No. 7)… Another Californian with some ties to the host venue is Collin Morikawa, who has finished in the top 10 in seven of his last 12 majors and was part of the winning U.S. squad (with Scheffler) at the 2017 Walker Cup at LACC.

NOTABLE QUALIFIERS: Four members of Stanford’s 2022-23 team got in via Final Qualifying at four different sites on June 4: Barclay Brown, Michael Thorbjornsen, Karl Vilips and Alexander Yang… Omar Morales, a sophomore at UCLA, will tee it up at LACC after earning medalist honors at the LA qualifier… Olin Browne Jr. will follow in his father’s footsteps. Browne Jr. will play his first major championship – and first PGA TOUR event – after earning the medalist spot in Columbus. Browne Sr. was the 36-hole co-leader at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2005… Gordon Sargent, the 2022 NCAA champion, will tee it up at his second major championship of the year after earning a special invite to play the Masters. He was medalist at Georgia's Final Qualifying site… TOUR Special Temporary Member Ryan Gerard was medalist in Toronto, thanks to making an ace in his first round of the day en route to shooting the course record at Lambton Golf and Country Club… Ryo Ishikawa was one of the qualifiers from Japan… There were 13 PGA TOUR winners in the Dallas qualifier, and it was TOUR rookie Carson Young who topped them all.

STORYLINES:

1) Could Jon Rahm be Lucky No. 7?

Six players have previously won the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season, and given Jon Rahm’s body of work so far in 2023, it’s a fair estimation he’s a favorite to become the seventh. Rahm, a four-time winner this year, won his previous U.S. Open in California at Torrey Pines and his game is as complete as any as he looks to contend at LACC. The last player to win both the green jacket and the U.S. Open in the same year was Jordan Spieth in 2015. Tiger Woods did it in 2002, but that was 30 years after Jack Nicklaus did it in 1972.

2) What will this first-time venue bring?

Prior to Los Angeles Country Club, the most recent first-time U.S. Open venue was Erin Hills in 2017. LACC also opens with a par 5 (the first time since Erin Hills that’s happened at a U.S. Open) but there are plenty of unknowns about how the host club will play. Some have speculated a plethora of low scores, which would deviate from the traditional U.S. Open ethos, considering soft conditions into the week. Then again, U.S. Open tracks have been known to get firmer and faster as the week progresses. After a five-year restoration project, while there are questions – only a small number of the players have actually played the course – there is also lots of excitement. The club is just 15 minutes from Hollywood, so while the best of the PGA TOUR will shine bright, the course itself may be the brightest star of the week.

3) California love

No player with California ties has won the U.S. Open since Tiger Woods in 2008 (Woods was born in Cypress) but there’s a hearty handful looking to raise the U.S. Open trophy in their home state this time around. Max Homa is perhaps the most likely candidate to have some home-state success, given the precedent set by his previous TOUR efforts in the Golden State. Four of Homa’s six TOUR titles have come in California, including both of his wins this season (Fortinet Championship and Farmers Insurance Open). He also finished runner-up to Jon Rahm at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club – about 15 miles from LACC.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 FedExCup points.

COURSE: The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course), 7,421 yards, par 70. George C. Thomas Jr. designed the current North Course at LACC, which opened in 1928. Gil Hanse – along with Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackelford – restored the original Thomas design in 2010. The club has hosted three USGA championships in the past, including the 2017 Walker Cup. The course is set to be much wider than most U.S. Open venues (with fairways up to 60 yards across) and the collection of par-3s are unique – set to play from as little as 80 yards to over 300 yards. This marks the first U.S. Open with Bermuda grass since 2005 at Pinehurst No. 2.

72-HOLE RECORD: 268, Rory McIlroy (2011 at Congressional CC).

18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Johnny Miller (4th round, 1973 at Oakmont), Tom Weiskopf (1st round, 1980 at Baltusrol), Jack Nicklaus (1st round, 1980 at Baltusrol), Vijay Singh (2nd round, 2003 at Olympia Fields), Justin Thomas (3rd round, 2017 at Erin Hills), Tommy Fleetwood (4th round, 2018 at Shinnecock Hills).

LAST TIME: Matt Fitzpatrick captured his second big title at The Country Club, winning the U.S. Open nine years after he won the U.S. Amateur at the same course. Fitzpatrick captured his maiden major championship by one shot after hitting one of the shots of the year – his approach on No. 18 from the fairway bunker – to help him put a bow on a closing 2-under 68. Will Zalatoris had a chance to tie Fitzpatrick, but his birdie try from 15 feet slid by on the left. It was Zalatoris’ second straight runner-up finish at a major. Zalatoris finished tied with 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler at 5 under, one back of Fitzpatrick – who won on the PGA TOUR for the first time after seven wins on the DP World Tour. Hideki Matsuyama finished fourth alone at 3 under, while Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa finished tied for fifth.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Television: Thursday-Friday, 9:40 a.m.-1 p.m. ET (Peacock), 1 p.m.-8 p.m. (USA), 8 p.m.-11 p.m. (NBC). Saturday, 1 p.m.-11 p.m. ET. Sunday, 12 p.m.-1 p.m. (Peacock), 1 p.m.-11 p.m. (NBC).

Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-11 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-11 p.m. (SiriusXM 92/U.S. Open radio)

Streaming: Various via USOpen.com. Featured Holes and Featured Groups to be announced.

For more live streaming information,click here for the official USGA Viewing Schedule.

NOTE: The USGA, who owns and operates the U.S. Open, controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights to this event. For more information on how to watch this week, please visit the U.S. Open’s website. PGA TOUR LIVE coverage will resume on Thursday, June 22 at the Travelers Championship.