The Hole Story - Golf Podcast

The 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Preview - BestBall Roundtable

• BestBall • Season 4

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Join us as we dive into the 2026 U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills, sharing random stats, course insights, and predictions. This will be a great week of major golf!

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*Music by AlexGrohl via Pixabay

SPEAKER_02

This is as good as it gets in America. We can't host a tournament at a better venue than Chinnekok.

SPEAKER_01

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another Best Ball Roundtable. Guys, we are we are talking about the U.S. Open. How are you doing today? Fantastic. It's the U.S. Open the night before it begins, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I've got here Mr. Jonathan Hill, fellow uh fellow best baller, and then our good friend David Kirsch coming from Nashville, Tennessee. Jonathan, that looks like a very juicy drink you got there. What are you sipping on?

SPEAKER_00

This is my new gin that I got. Uh white white whale, blue whale, something like that. Little gin and tonic. Okay. With a juicy lime in it. There you go.

SPEAKER_01

The juicy line. There you go. Jonathan's drink of choice. If we ever did anything with uh with our friends at gosh, I'm blanking on the name right now. That that's good. Our our friend famous drink blue blazer. Yeah. Right. Yeah, blue blazer. If we ever did anything with them, I'd have a hard time convincing Jonathan not to do something besides a gen and tonic. So they they do offer some excellent stuff. But Tom Collins. Anyway, that's not what that's not what we're here to uh to talk about. We we want to do a little preview of the U.S. Open, and we are doing this live. So this is the first time we have done a round table, done it live. Normally, Josh Decker is here with us as well, but he is busy on the road. He went from what, the RBC Canadian last week with his company. Now he's down in Orlando. So he is traveling the world. He might jump in here with us uh at a little bit, but we're gonna talk all things U.S. Open, talk about Shinnecock a little bit. And I guess as we get started, I do want to give some uh some facts on Shinnecock and the U.S. Open. It is the 126th U.S. Open. It is, I think the how many times? Fourth, fifth time, sixth time, hosting it for the sixth time at Shinnecock. And one one stat that stood out that to me was over the last four US opens, and we're gonna talk about how hard the course can be, especially if the wind's howling. Over the last four U.S. opens, how many, how many rounds under par do you guys think there have been? Three.

SPEAKER_02

Uh there was a bunch last time. I mean, Scott, uh Tommy shot 62 or three. At Shinnecock, I'm sorry. No, at Shinnecock. Didn't Tommy shoot 63 in 2018?

SPEAKER_00

I think you're looking for the final score.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, I'm sorry. Under par for the week. I would say two to three. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It is it is three. It is two. I had the existing same stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Stole it.

unknown

Dang it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Ray Floyd was one under in 1986, and then in 2004, Ratif Goosem was four under, followed by Mr. Second place in the U.S. Open's Phil Mickelson was two under that year. So I also saw here that the average score in the 2018 U.S. Open was 74.65. So roughly four to five over par for the week. Just it's going to be hard, guys. So let me ask this as we uh as we get started. What what are your thoughts on Shinnnecock as we as we jump into this thing and how this is going to play out? Shinnecock is my favorite American golf course. Favorite American golf golf course.

SPEAKER_02

For tournament golf. This is this is as good as it gets in America. We can't host a tournament at a better venue than Shinnnecock. There it doesn't exist. It doesn't challenge players the same way. You know, Pebble looks prettier. I get it. You know, Pinehurst has its Oakmont. You can't get the greens fast enough, yada yada yada. Shinnikok is it. This is the greatest challenge of golf and the best tournament golf course that we have in the United States.

SPEAKER_01

Is that because Johnson, you you asked if you were going to get a rant. I think that that's kind of a mini rant.

SPEAKER_00

That was a mini rant. Every time I think about these majors now, I always think about when Kirsch, and this has probably been two years ago now, talking about the questions that need to be asked for every single event. And the US Open is the one that always reminds me it has to be hard, right? Like it should be hard in some capacity, whether that's deep, deep second cuts or fast screens. And in this one, you've got I mean, you got fast screens, you got crazy wins. I mean, I don't know if I'm sure most of you have been watching the the golf channel coverage. I mean, they're just standing around, they're not even on the course, they're just standing around and the winds are whipping. Like pant legs are moving. And then on top of that, blind shots, some of the design that they've done to trick people into one thing or another. And so it clearly practice helps, but it I feels like there's gonna be something that hopefully the tournament does to keep everybody honest. Uh it doesn't seem to be one that someone's just gonna run away at like eight, nine, ten under, as we just discussed. No one goes low here. And I think part of that turns into like Chris just mentioned, it's the best place to host a tournament. And every course wants to live up to that expectation, right? They they would almost be uh they'd probably stop watering it for days if they could if someone on Thursday shoots like a 10 under. They'll be like, well, we're not gonna let that happen.

SPEAKER_01

So I I do you really think these is there any chance that anybody shoots four or five under one day?

SPEAKER_02

Yes. I think I think there'll be there'll be a day or two where somebody goes low, but it's not it, you know, like I said, Tommy Fleavich out 62, 63 in the last time it was it was hosted there somewhere in that ballpark, low mid to low 60s, and it was to get what to plus four overall or like plus three, you know, like it wasn't it didn't get him the win, it didn't do those type of things. I think that that minus four, minus five is gonna be out there for somebody, but they may be coming in at you know plus five that day, but you know, coming into it. The USGA is on the record this week of saying we want to build to a crescendo. You know, this is gonna be very much a Thursday and a Friday and a Saturday and a Sunday from a difficulty standpoint from how they want to set the course up. And it's uh I think a lot of players have already commented on the fact that it's green and those type of things and just how green it really is. And I think it's really important for the USJ to live up to that. But I think that this is a course that doesn't have to be tricked up. It's the wind is gonna blow, you're exposed. It's just it's it's just a real test of golf. And I think that it's I think somebody's gonna go low, somebody will have a good putting day where they just seem to make everything. But outside of that, you know, they'll come back. They'll nobody's gonna have two good rounds in a row, like two great rounds in a row, I guess.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and most of that, correct me if I'm wrong, they they flip the tea times, right? Like if you get started in the morning on one night, then on Friday you're starting in the afternoon, and then obviously over the weekend, however well you've done one versus the other kind of determines your placement for start time. So I think first tea time is at what, 6:50 a.m. You go out at 6.50, you're with a fast playing group that decides this is what we're gonna do. You could finish the first nine out of that first round with no one on your way in an hour and 45 minutes, and maybe get ahead of some wind and then just sort of work your way through the back half.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I don't think it's not like a uh a public course where somebody's out on that first tea time and they're like, let's just let's just fly through it. These guys are gonna be focused and concentrating on on everything. So I don't I don't think we're gonna see like a you know a group race ahead and and uh and outpace everybody.

SPEAKER_02

And one of the things I think came out of Roy's press conference, or maybe somebody from the USGA, but one of the things that they've learned, they're you know, coming back to the same venue within eight years is is probably helpful. And you know, arguably outside of Zach Johnson, who was never in the tournament, uh, you know, complaining about them losing the golf course and Phil Mickelson's brain breaking uh what I think was for good at that point. Um outside of that, they're coming back to a venue that they, you know, they kind of nailed it. You know, Sunday, if you go back and watch that US Open, that was a heck of a Sunday. It was super fun to watch Brooks do what he did. Um, there was some scores to go out there, but I I thought they did a pretty good job, but they came back eight years later and now they know things about the golf course. I think the USGA said that on a, you know, they on a normal setup, there is this gap, you know, between the waves where they can do different things. And I think that we've talked about a little bit of that, but they think that there's also the I they know now that this course dries out in three hours. They know that they don't have a seven to ten hour window before the course dries out, that it's gonna be drastically different and changed within three hours. So they have to set it up for it to dry out and then go from there. So, you know, if you're on that late early wave and you think, okay, I'm gonna, I might be able to dodge the wind Thursday afternoon. If the wind gets out of control, then Friday morning they're gonna play, you know, 27 on Friday because they're gonna have to delay play with 150 guys in the field and you know, a long New York day, if you delay it for a couple of hours, you're gonna be playing on Friday. So the wave part will always be interesting. I just I just think there's nowhere to hide here. There's no tea time that's advantageous, there's just nowhere to hide.

SPEAKER_00

What are the parameters for wind? You think it's important to be able to do it? It's all about the green speeds. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

It's the green speeds, it's not the wind. It's the fact that on 7, 10, 9, 11, 15, like those greens are exposed. The ball won't stay on if it gets moving in the wrong direction and the wind is is 25 plus. It they have to keep the green speeds at a certain point that they're not gonna just let the wind blow. That's why when you go overseas, you don't see it very often, even in the heavy winds, but they're playing at an eight on the stent meter as opposed to you know Oakmont rolling at a 14 and a half. Well, Oakmont takes pride in that. I think that the you know John Bodenheimer and the folks at the the USGA have come out all week saying, like, hey, we really think 11 and a half is the sweet spot here. Um, and that means on Thursday, if they see that wind, it could be 11. It could be 10 and a half. It'd be about 10 something, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What I read. Yeah. No, you'll you'll see it. And what was the tournament years back where like balls were about to fall off the tee when they were they were hitting? And you know, just it all it becomes dangerous almost at that point where you know guys swinging it all out, and you know, if then the ball moves. But yes, from a scoring and fairness capability or standpoint, if the balls are rolling on the green, you can't, you know, mark your ball, put your put the ball down, take your mark up, and get ready to putt without it rolling away, then yeah, they got to do something about it. So then that let me ask this question, then can a can a golf course can they make it too unfair? I know wind you can't control it. You can try to try to contain it a little bit or contain the effects of it with the green speed, like we were saying, but can with the rough with the fescue, can a course be built out or tricked out to be too unfair?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I don't I mean they're pros. It's the same condition. And then no one's gonna leave like the first cut three feet deep, right? It's not gonna be so ridiculous that you can't hit a golf ball, but if you make a mistake, then that's on you, right? So they're they're pros. This is not this is not a Saturday round with your buddies where you're like, why in the world did they just screw over everybody a public golf course? You know.

SPEAKER_02

So if you go if you go up to number seven and you hit a putt two inches and it rolls off the green, then yeah, we that's that can be a little gimmicky, but there's gonna be something that has to do with the wind at that point. That but when you're talking about a setup and everyone's going out and putting their tee within the same, you know, 10-foot court or everybody's playing the same flag stick on every day, you know, whatever that looks like. No, it can't be unfair. There's just levels of difficulty that some people are mentally and physically able to cope with better than others. And I think one of the things that the US Open still should hang its hat on is that it is the toughest test in golf and that it does do those things because these guys play too many pitching putts throughout the year. They don't they don't have to hit like Rory hit a hundred and I think he had 157 into uh one of the par threes, and he hit a knockdown six iron that had a little bit of a cut to it, and he did so because that's what the question was on that particular shot. They don't get that at the uh you know, no drive-by's, but the Rocket Mortgage isn't asking that question. You know, it's saying, hey Roy, how high can you hit your six iron and how far can you hit it? Let's go.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So thinking about this then, so if it if it's not gonna be too hard, it is gonna play tough, then the question I want to ask Kirsch is what skill is needed most? What will stand out? Is it I mean, I think they've talked about the the width of the fairways. So driving is gonna be at a premium, and especially if the wind's blowing, like it will take some skill to navigate that. But what skill in the golf game from driving approach, short game, putting, do you think will need to be, you'll need to rank in the top uh strokes gain for one of those categories to have a chance to win?

SPEAKER_02

I think the first skill is going to be the mindset, unfortunately. Okay. I think I think you look at Corey Paven, uh winner at Shinnnecock, uh, you look at Ratif Goose and you look at Brooks Kepka. Those are three guys who don't show a lot of emotion on the golf course. Those are three guys who, you know, I think Brooks's famous line is that he stole from Jack and Tiger was around the line of, hey, I've already got half the field beat. At Shinnikok, I've probably have 80% of the field beat just because they're gonna go in and complain. They're gonna whine, they're gonna throw a fit, and it's gonna be hard for all of us. So I might as well just go in with a better attitude. Uh, so I think the mind, which I think is gonna get into another question that we're gonna have coming up, but I think the mind is gonna be the first thing to overcome. I think this the skill set on the golf course is gonna be scrambly because you're going to miss greens, you're gonna miss greens from the fairway. I believe there was a stat from 90. When what what year was Corey Paven's? I'm gonna mess up the year on it, but Corey Paven was the Corey Paven year. Yeah, there was a stat on Saturday where it was, I think, on the 14th or 15th hole that the greens were hit 80% of the time. Or the fairway was hit 80% of the time that day, but the green was only hit 20% of the time. So even if the fairways are wider than they've ever been at Shinnecock, which is the case. There, we're back to 1931 Chinnecock this year. We are going to be in a position where people are going to have the ability to hit more fairways. They're going to miss greens from good lies, let alone the bad lives in the rough. And I think that's going to tie into that mental part, but you're going to have to scramble. Remember, Tiger lost 2018 on the first hole. He hit a wedge, got the wind wrong, air mailed the green, took a big bounce, went down. It rolled 50 feet away down the short area. He makes triple bogey on number one, just like that. So I think the ability to scramble where Brooks on Sunday hits it long on uh 11, the par three, which I think is nicknamed the shortest par five in golf, chips it intentionally across the green into the bunker. He knows I cannot hit this shot onto the green no matter what, hits it into the bunker, hits the bunker shot to 15 feet and makes the par or the bogey. Made a bogey butt. That's the that's the kind of play that you're gonna have to be able to do. Can I think my way around the course and can I scramble when even if I've hit the best shot I could hit in this situation, I end up in a tough spot. I've got to find ways to get up and down and turn doubles into bogies. That's what that's what a U.S. Open's about and bogeys into pars.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, just the old John Sherman philosophy, right? Whenever we hit into the woods, or we gotta start start aiming for bogey at that point. Don't try to do something crazy. Yeah, get yourself back in position to uh to uh to uh to succeed. All right, so we talked about what skills it would take to uh to succeed, Kerr said mindset, and then he was talking about the scrambling ability. I I think the uh the approach, I think that is gonna play a big factor, right? If you can if you can hit more greens than not and then be able to convert two putts, right? Even if it's simple two-puts with the wind howling, with you know, whatever conditions are out there, and get away with pars, that I think that's gonna be a huge key. And then putting, obviously putting, right? So JJ Spawn last year taught us that if you can putt, you might walk away with this thing. Uh you might hold out from 70 something feet or whatever he did uh to get it. So Jonathan, and your and your thoughts, what uh what skill set will be needed on the golf course to uh to have a winner?

SPEAKER_00

Almost exactly what Kirch said. I wrote down minimize the damage because you you're not going low. You're I mean, birdies are gonna be one of those things that you hope you can make up for, like Kirch said, either a double or just a regular bogey. Um if you can hover around par for all three all three or four days if you're if you're lucky enough to play the weekend, then you're probably gonna be in contention. Um and we like I said, historically we've seen it. Someone goes low, but either that's gonna come back, or it's just to get them back into a place that maybe they're in the top 20 or the top ten, not making the run on a Sunday where someone shoots seven under in order to take the lead from the third group or something silly like that. So yeah, I mean uh it's gotta be difficult because I know I get we get frustrated as regular golfers whenever you know, if you're a good golfer and you normally shoot around seventy something, and then at you're you're seven or eight strokes off from what you normally do. That's a frustrating day. These guys, it's gotta be outrageous because they're so used to manipulating every single thing about a golf game. And there's just sometimes that you can't, that the course really does win. So you just have to weather that storm and see if you're mentally tough enough to stick it out for the entire four four rounds. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, managing expectations like in a lot of things in life, if you were able to do that, then you should have a pretty good week. If you can say, hey, let's just let's get to par and be happy with it, then that would be a that'd be a good week. So Scotty is the next in line, which is crazy that you know Rory did it a couple years ago at the Masters. Every year we hit the PGA. We're talking about could Speeth finish this thing off? And now Scotty has another chance to finish out the Grand Slam. So I know, you know, by his standards, he has not been playing that well. He hasn't been putting that well lately. So if that's a skill set needed, he might not uh might not do as hot. But do you guys think Scotty could close out the career grand slam this week? I don't have him as the winner.

SPEAKER_02

No, Scotty will not win this week.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_02

This is this is not a test that Scotty, you know, I I'm gonna steal it uh from Neil, but uh I think somebody described it as the uh academic decathlon, and and you know, you gotta this is the test where you know you get it's it's gonna ask you every question at Shinnecock. And some of those questions are can you live with the fact that you had 150 yards in on this hole and you were in the middle of the fairway and you hit a really, really good shot and it landed six inches left of where it needed to land, and now you're 85 feet away down a basin and you've got to chip it back up the hill to this thing. These are things Scotty has not shown, not that he can't. He hasn't shown the willingness to deal with the bad break. I mean, we saw what happened at the memorial when you know they just got the wind wrong. You know, he couldn't fathom it. He talked about the grass at Pinehurst and that it was unfair. If if Scotty's gonna do it, it's gonna be next year at Pebble, it's gonna be the year after that at Wingfoot. Those are gonna be his two best chances because then you're back at Pinehurst, you know. Yeah, and then maybe Marion. I don't know if Rudyieris sets up for him, but I think Pebble and Wingfoot in the next two. Those are Scotty's chances, not this week.

SPEAKER_01

I I I do think I think I think his what you're referring to, like at Memorial stuff, I think those are more blips on a radar. I do think Scotty has the ability. With, you know, with Ted Scott on the bag, I think they have the ability to navigate and deal with the like you said, you miss a shot by six inches and and just deal with their results, even if it's really bad. I I think he does have the ability to overcome what he might face. And I I I do think there's a I mean, like you said, uh talking about mindset, right? He's probably already beat 80% of the field, so can he weather the elements, survive the the bad breaks, and you know, capitalize when he has some good ones and beat out the last 20%? I think he's another one and when is he shown that he can do that?

SPEAKER_02

At what at what point? He won at Palm Springs in the Dome. He's won at the two masters that he won, had great conditions all week. He won at, you know, Quail Hollow. Does that even count for the PGA? Last year he got the good draw at the open championship. You know, he got the really good draw. Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, very little wind, and he was hitting these, you know, ropes all over the place. When it gets tough, Scotty, Scotty does not. Not handle it when it does not bounce the way that he expects it to bounce. That's why he loves Augusta. I hit it here. I know that it's gonna roll down to here. That's that's the golf that I can play. He can do it. He has all of the game. I've just never seen Scotty win in a challenging situation.

SPEAKER_01

Well, maybe it's the week. Who uh hope this might be one of your answers. Who uh who might you guys have a surprise miss cut from? Like who's a highly ranked player that lots of people might think would compete that you think will miss the cut?

SPEAKER_02

Just for clarification, do we still count Bryson and Ron as high-ranked players? We know you don't. Just asking. I think the people want to know what the what we're talking about, you know, that's all.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So are you picking either one of them to make the cut? Uh one of them will, one of them won't.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. That that part on it.

SPEAKER_00

Do you know which one?

SPEAKER_02

Man, Bryson's playing Tailormade stuff now. Like he he looks like he's starting to take equipment seriously and he's he's getting out of the 3D printing stuff. And we have a Tailormade driver in the bag this week. It's a special Bryson Tailormade driver, but still we're not, you know, printing things and playing with, you know, the the whatever the infomercial golf channel driver was that he had there for a little while. You know, he's he's done some things. I just I think he's too big of a head case to deal with Shinnecock. And can I mean he's gonna be chipping with a seven-iron length 60 degree all around Shinnecock? Like it's just it's not gonna work, guys. We we we know that. I just don't count him as like a top-ranked player anymore. So I just want to make sure we got that little dig in there. Uh, I think Aaron Rye misses the cut. Aaron Rye, PGA champ. I think he's gonna see himself out quickly. He's number 14 in the world. He is going to uh see himself out.

SPEAKER_01

Jonathan, who you who you got missing the cut that more people would think would be there.

SPEAKER_00

I had Jordan Speith, but I don't know if that's something that people are expecting or not expecting. Like from a odds maker perspective, it's not outrageous to think that he's gonna be somewhat in the mix, but I've got him missing the cut.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Kersh, you got any you got any non-live guys that that you think you're just gonna not live up to?

SPEAKER_02

I want to say Scotty really bad. Really bad. Missing the cut. Really, really bad. I want to say Scotty. I mean, I mean it I'm I'm trying to go down the OWGR and look. There's there's a a couple that are definitely gonna do it. They're gonna be fine. You know, Roms a 50-50 at best. I don't think we can count JJ Spawn as a top player. I don't think Colin Morakow has had any form at all in the last four months, so it doesn't surprise me if he makes the cut or misses the cut. Uh Xander's a top 10 machine. Ludvig. Ludvig's yeah, Ludvig is I don't see him competing at this week, so I don't think he's been a good enough ball striker. So if if Ludwig's, you know, gets especially if he gets in the wrong wave, uh, he's he's gonna not make it either.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. My my pick, and this is uh not not factoring in the live thing, but it would be Rom, right? We talk about players that you know don't seem to handle elements or things not going as perfectly expected. He is he is one of those. If he makes a cut, however, he will have a rally of a third round and a somewhat charge on the on round four, like to to sneak into a top 15 or something like that. But I uh Wikipedia yellow. Yeah, I love it. Um so yeah, I think he could be doing who could do it. So next question on the uh on the chart here, and this was kind of a bonus question. This is one that we threw out on our social media channels earlier. Uh I said, what would you shoot? Right? What would you shoot if you were playing there? And Kirch, I know you're a really good golfer. Jonathan, I think, said a 131. So Shinnecock's gonna play if they tip it out 7,440 yards, a parse 70. Jonathan said 131, and Jonathan's like a 16 handicapped guy. Kirsch, what would you what would you shoot out there?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, what are you gonna shoot? Because I feel like I'm the guy that always goes first, and I say my number, and then I get ridiculed for it. So I need to I need to hear your number first, and then I'll I'll come back. I I I think I would I would shoot like a 98. Okay. I'm a very bad right now, like 3.9 handicap golfer, I would say. Like, you know, I might find lightning in the bottle still. I was gonna say 95. I think 95 feels like that would be my target. And you know, we're talking from the tips, we're talking from tournament tees, tournament setup, not the media day stuff. Uh would love to try it from the media day. So would Robbie, if anybody's out there listening. But uh, you know, I think from the real big boy tees first go around, I it could be bad. You know, I the it's not even a length thing for me. It's like how many times can you actually get up and down? Like that number's very low.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, even with wide fairways, I'm gonna need somebody out there standing on the right side to see if they can help find a golf ball for me. Uh if it happens to go on the fescue. And then yeah, how many up and downs can we get? It all depends on the short game. As we uh as we start to move towards the close here, let's get some predictions, right? Let's let's see if we can get uh some guesses on uh things that we we might think it would happen. And we're we're kind of using that master's fantasy model where we're gonna pick a past uh past U.S. open champ, uh a U.S. player we think will do well, an international player, a first-time major winner, and then we'll just have a wild card pick. So uh I'm going Matt Fitzpatrick as my past champion. I think he's in good form. He's someone I think that has played well in that part of the world. And yeah, I think I think he's got the mentality to to pull it off. Kirch, how about you? Who's a past U.S. Open champ? I think it's Rory.

SPEAKER_02

I think only having one bothers him a little bit. I think he feels like at some point he's gonna easily pick off another British Open. I think you know he's already got multiple PGAs, he's already got multiple masters quickly. I th I think it's the fact that he only has one US Open and it was a soft one. And and I think he'd like to come back, win one at Shinnock, and be able to say, like, okay, I I've got a Long Island membership now, you know, that kind of thing. And and take up residency and in the Hamptons and do all of the things that come along with that, and with all of his out also off the golf course ambitions that he seems to have. So it's Rory would be my past champion. And he just I feel like this is all that matters to him this year is Augusta and Chinnicok.

SPEAKER_01

There we go. Well, that would be three uh three European players in a row wearing or are winning the major so far, which is kind of crazy, then going to the open. Uh who's your U.S. player who you think will play well? I pick I pick Scotty. Like I'm gonna go ahead and say Scotty because I know you you would not pick him. But who's your US guy?

SPEAKER_02

I've got Cam Young. Um I think we're I think we're forgetting a little bit about Cameron Young. Um, I think that he's he is still having one of the best years, if not the best year, arguably, from an American standpoint. And I think Cam Young, you know, we're gonna hear about the fact that he's from New York and he had to slummet around that that course, and you know, how did he ever survive being a member at Sleepy Hollow and all of those things that come along?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yep. Very nice. How about international? Who are you going with there? Who's your who's gonna play well?

SPEAKER_02

Matt Fitzpatrick. I need to say before anybody else does. I am all in on Matt Fitzpatrick.

SPEAKER_01

He I remember sent him as a past champ.

SPEAKER_02

He he's talking about Scott, he's talking about uh everybody being wimps there last time and losing the course and all this stuff. He's like, no, we didn't lose the course. The course is fine, everything's great. Yada yada yada. Matt Fitzpatrick all day.

SPEAKER_01

I am going with Mr. Tommy Fleetwood as my international player. All right, Kirs, who you got?

SPEAKER_02

First time major winner. I'm going I'm going home. I'm going to the New York, New Jersey area again. The top player without a major, maybe right now, some would say. Chris Goderup playing the way that he has played. He bombs the ball. He's going to be able to take less than driver on some of the holes to make sure he's in the fair way. He can hit the ball high and low. Chris Goderup.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. I like it. I I really wanted to go with Victor Havlin there. I had thought about it just for my, I would love to see him bounce back and go ahead and have a resurgence before a rider cup year. That way he's not firing hot on all cylinders during a rider cup year, but he's probably saving it for that. So all right, wild card. Who's your uh who's your wild card pick? Somebody that you have not picked yet. Patrick Reed.

SPEAKER_02

I think when you I was sitting there before this call, I was sitting, I think in some traffic and I was sitting, you know, what is it talking about the mentality part going right into short game. I think that you know, I think he's got the best hands and I think he's gonna utilize it. I believe he was in one of the final three or four groups on uh all of last Shinnikok 2018. So uh that's that's where I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go P-Reed.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. My pick is, and maybe just recency bias that I I've seen him playing well and then watch some videos, and I love his swing is Gary Woodland. I would how awesome would that be to see Gary Woodland win a second US Open and then go back to Pebble where they're having it next year, bringing the trophy with them. So anyway. Yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be an exciting tournament. Shinnecock, I did not mention this earlier. They are one of five founding member clubs of the USGA, if you did not know that, back in 1984, 1894, sorry, a couple years earlier than that. Uh, it's gonna be an exciting test. There's gonna be a lot of uh a lot of wind, a lot of rough, but it's gonna be a good test of golf all around. And yeah, we will see uh we'll see what happens. Any final comments because we uh sign off?

SPEAKER_02

Yes. I think this is an important week for the USGA. I think that uh when it comes to the rollback, I think people, in order for them to successfully pull this off for the betterment of the game, they've got to set the course up in the right way to get a good stern test without creating too much of the whining. A little bit of whining is gonna be like a prerequisite, but too much whining is going to say that they miss the mark too much. But the game within the game is how many amateurs make the cut. Uh, this is arguably the most loaded amateur field in the US Open, and as long as I can remember from top of the line standpoint, when you've got a Miles Russell already there, Jackson Coyvin still remaining an amateur for this event. I just think that I I think it's set up, and I I think that this is the Ryder Cup team coming off of this US open amateur list in 2034. You know, I think it's that good, or you know, whatever year that is. So I I think that there is I think five of these guys are gonna play in the Ryder Cup at some point on the same team. I think it's that good of a group. Frankly, we need it to be, but I I I'm so excited to watch this group of amateurs play.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. It is uh it is gonna be a great week, great group of uh of young, talented players that will come and hopefully, like you said, be uh future Ryder Cup all-stars for for many years to come as as hopefully the U.S. team can uh can shift it around. So yeah, 126 uh U.S. Open. If you got comments out there of who you think might win, where we got it wrong, please let us know. We would always appreciate the the uh comments. You can leave it under the YouTube chat there or message us on any of our social channels at golfbestball. But for Jonathan, who keeps going in and out, and Josh Decker, who could not make it tonight, and our friend David Kirsch, uh, this is Robbie. And you guys have been listening to our U.S. Open preview on the Best Ball Roundtable. Y'all have a good one.

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Jonathan Hill

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Robby Woodard

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