US Opens in September are played with tennis rackets not golf clubs but both sets of sporting equipment will be on show this month. The shake-up in the calendar means the 120th edition of golf’s US Open has been switched from its traditional June date although keen history buffs will know this is not unprecedented. The 1913 tournament was also held in September for the first and, until now, only time? Why? That June, five-time Open champ Harry Vardon was busy elsewhere on a tour of the US (presumably golfing rather than doing stand-up) with fellow star swinger Ted Ray. Instead of telling Vardon to get a grip (b’dum tschhh), the USGA decided to postpone the tournament until September so they’d get the big-name duo in the field. It proved justified when Vardon and Ray both reached a play-off but the perfect outcome was kyboshed as the Jersey duo were beaten by American amateur Francis Ouimet. The trio had all shot closing 79s at Brookline to finish at +12 after 72 holes. And you thought this week’s course, Winged Foot, was hard. Well, actually, it is. And seriously so. This is the sixth time the New York track has staged the event and previous winning scores read: +6, +2, +7, -4 and +5. Contrast that with two of the last three US Opens which were won with -16 by Brooks Koepka in 2017 and -13 by Gary Woodland last year. Koepka is absent (knee injury) this time – as is Scottie Scheffler, who had a piece of the lead on day four of last month’s PGA Championship won by Collin Morikawa. Scheffler has tested positive for COVID-19, the reason why we’re here at Winged Foot in September with no spectators allowed.
First-round tee-times …
(times all local, add five hours for UK)
Hole No. 1
06:50 Brandon Wu, Curtis Luck, Ryan Fox
07:01 Joel Dahmen, Rasmus Hojgaard, J.T. Poston
07:12 Chez Reavie, Sung Kang, Kevin Streelman
07:23 Jazz Janewattananond, Kevin Na, Matt Wallace
07:34 Brendon Todd, Harris English, Davis Thompson
07:45 Paul Waring, Victor Perez, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
07:56 Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth
08:07 Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods
08:18 Matt Kuchar, Lucas Glover, Graeme McDowell
08:29 Charles Howell III, Ryo Ishikawa, Max Homa
08:40 Kurt Kitayama, Robert MacIntyre, Sandy Scott
08:51 Eddie Pepperell, Troy Merritt, Sami Valimaki
12:10 Shaun Norris, Rory Sabbatini, Chan Kim
12:21 Adam Long, Eduard Rousaud, Mike Lorenzo-Vera
12:32 Lukas Michel, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones
12:43 Ryan Palmer, Si Woo Kim, Rafa Cabrera Bello
12:54 Joaquin Niemann, Sungjae Im, Cameron Champ
13:05 Gary Woodland, Andy Ogletree, Shane Lowry
13:16 Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau
13:27 Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Jon Rahm
13:38 Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland
13:49 Romain Langasque, Davis Riley, Will Zalatoris
14:00 Matthias Schwab, Cole Hammer, Alex Noren
14:11 Connor Syme, Paul Barjon, Marty Jertson
Hole No. 10
06:50 Danny Balin, Greyson Sigg, J.C. Ritchie
07:01 Ricky Castillo, Brian Harman, Andy Sullivan
07:12 Tom Lewis, Preston Summerhays, Jason Kokrak
07:23 Martin Kaymer, Jimmy Walker, John Augenstein
07:34 Tyler Duncan, Thomas Detry, Erik van Rooyen
07:45 Tyrrell Hatton, Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett
07:56 Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day
08:07 Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Justin Rose
08:18 Ian Poulter, Patrick Cantlay, Steve Stricker
08:29 Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners
08:40 Sebastian Munoz, Chun An Yu, Justin Harding
08:51 Scott Hend, Dan McCarthy, Ryan Vermeer
12:10 Richy Werenski, Taylor Pendrith, Renato Paratore
12:21 Jim Herman, John Pak, Thomas Pieters
12:32 Michael Thompson, Andrew Putnam, Chesson Hadley
12:43 Bernd Wiesberger, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith
12:54 Lee Westwood, James Sugrue, Bubba Watson
13:05 Matt Fitzpatrick, Daniel Berger, Branden Grace
13:16 Tommy Fleetwood, Kevin Kisner, Abraham Ancer
13:27 Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley
13:38 Billy Horschel, Xander Schauffele, Brandt Snedeker
13:49 Shugo Imahira, Ben An, Takumi Kanaya
14:00 Danny Lee, Mark Hubbard, Lanto Griffin
14:11 Stephen Jaeger, Lee Hodges, Adrian Otaegui
