By: Brian Albertson

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news service

Father’s Day Weekend is approaching and that means it’s U.S. Open Week!

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Long Island, N.Y., will host the 2026 U.S Open, beginning on Thursday, June 18.

It marks the sixth time the links course will host the major, with Brooks Koepka (2018) prevailing the last time the U.S. Open was held at Shinnecock.

Koepka is one of a dozen past champions in the U.S. Open 2026 field, joining the likes of Wyndham Clark, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

In five previous U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills dating back to 1896, only three golfers have finished with scores under par.

Raymond Floyd finished 1 under when he became the oldest U.S. Open champion in 1986. Corey Pavin shot even par when he won his first major in 1995, and Retief Goosen (4 under) and Phil Mickelson (2 under) were the only golfers under par in 2004.

In the last U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Brooks Koepka became the first back-to-back winner since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 with a winning score of 1 over.

As you can see, Shinnecock Hills does not favor a particular style player. The course has had long, and short hitters come out on top.  As with any U.S. Open, there will be a premium on accuracy both off the tee and approach shots.

The key factor at Shinnecock typically comes down to making putts. In 2004, Retief Goosen had eleven, one putt greens in his final round on his way to victory.

Some usual suspects make up the betting favorites this week. World number one Scottie Scheffler tops the list followed by recent Grand Slam and Masters Champion Rory Mcllroy.

Below are the current top ten betting favorites.

Odds via FanDuel (subject to change)

Scottie Scheffler +550
Rory McIlroy +900
Jon Rahm +1400
Xander Schauffele +1600
Cameron Young +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2000
Bryson DeChambeau +2000
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Matt Fitzpatrick +2200
Brooks Koepka +3000

We are fortunate to have a wealth of amazing golfers living in our area and many are in the field this week.

Some local players from the Sea Island and St. Simons, Georgia, area competing in the 2026 U.S. Open include Harris English, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Davis Thompson and Brian Harman. They represent part of the local “Sea Island Mafia” golf community.

Other Georgians in the field this week are Chris Kirk, Mason Charles, Russell Henley, Jake Peacock, and Sepp Straka.

Mason Charles is the current U.S. Amateur Champion from Thomasville, GA. He just finished high school and will be a Georgia Bulldog beginning this fall.

It is nice to have so many players from our area competing at the highest level in our U.S. Open. I hope everyone enjoys the tournament and Happy Father’s Day Sunday to all the Dads!