The US Open is supposed to be one of the toughest weekends for the PGA Tour, as the course is always tough to play.
When the 126th US Open was set for Shinnecock Hills, many thought the winner would shoot around even par. Yet, heading into the weekend, Wyndham Clark leads the tournament, and he’s currently 7-under par.
So, with the course playing easy, the USGA has made a major change to the course, as the green speeds will be much faster on Saturday for Round 3, according to Todd Lewis of the Golf Channel.
“The players just received a text from the USGA in regards to the setup,” Lewis said. “Instead of the 10.5 on the Stimpmeter that they saw on Thursday and Friday, they are upping the speed to 11 on the Stimp. No plans to syringe the greens right now for Saturday. As for this golf course, the USGA is telling players to expect firmer and faster conditions Saturday and Sunday.”
It’s a major change to the golf course as the USGA is looking to make the US Open harder and get the scores down. 11 on the Stimpmeter is considered fast and is on the borderline of extremely fast, so the USGA is hoping that the golfers will lose strokes on the greens.
Golfers Believe They Can’t Be Aggressive at US Open
Although Clark is leading the US Open at 7-under, Rory McIlroy felt like he couldn’t be aggressive at Shinnecock.
After coming into the weekend at even par, McIlroy felt like Shinnecock was set up to not allow golfers to be aggressive.
“You can’t go chasing pins around here,” McIlroy said. “You can’t try to be too aggressive, because once you do that … today for me was a prime example. I was a little too aggressive to the pin on 11, a little too aggressive to the pin on 12. All of a sudden, just two bogeys in a row out of nowhere.
“I think you still have to play smart, try to keep the ball under the hole, hit it into the middle of the greens and take your chances when they present themselves.”
However, with how tough the USGA will make Shinnecock over the weekend, McIlroy knows anything is possible in terms of getting back into contention.
“I think Brooks was pretty far back going into the weekend in 2018,” McIlroy said Friday after he posted a 1-over 71 to fall to even par after 36 holes. “So, yeah, if there’s a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you’re seven back going into the weekend like I am, it’s definitely this one.”
Notable Round 3 Tee Times
The 2026 US Open is well underway, and Round 3 will begin at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Heading into Saturday, here are some notable tee times:
- 10:55 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Joaquin Niemann
- 11:06 a.m.: Russell Henley, Dustin Johnson
- 12:50 p.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Åberg
- 1:01 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Johnny Keefer
- 2:01 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman
- 2:12 p.m.: Maverick McNealy, Rory McIlroy
- 2:23 p.m.: Keith Mitchell, Akshay Bhatia
- 2:34 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Ryo Hisatsune
- 2:50 p.m.: Ryder Cowan, William Mouw
- 3:01 p.m.: Sahith Theegala, Sam Burns
- 3:12 p.m.: Harry Higgs, Justin Thomas
- 3:23 p.m.: Collin Morikawa, Tom Kim
- 3:34 p.m.: Sam Stevens, Xander Schauffele
- 3:45 p.m.: Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark
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