18 Parting Thoughts from the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills

A six-shot lead slowly shrunk but never quite disappeared. That’s the thing with six-shot leads; they afford the opportunity for a wobble or four so long as you can hold your nerve in a few crucial moments.

Wyndham Clark did exactly that at Shinnecock, battling his own golf swing and a crowd rooting for anyone else to join contemporaries Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele in the two-major club. There is so, so much to discuss. Without further ado, here are my 18 Parting Thoughts from the 2026 United States Open.

The Level of Vitriol Toward Wyndham Clark Was Actually Surprising

Wyndham Clark might not be your cup of tea. Judging by fan behavior on site and online, odds are he’s not. But surely at some point we can let byegones be byegones? He acted like an idiot at Oakmont. He has admitted as much. But there are figures in our sport who have done a lot worse, and fans still give them a pass.

I don’t mind fans rooting against a player so long as it stays within reason. The villain dynamic pops off the screen. But life is not black and white; there’s a line. Jeering when a ball rolls into a bunker, that’s fine. The oooohhhs when a putt misses: all good. Yelling GET IN THE BUNKER a split second after a guy makes impact? That’s for the birds.

I guess I’m more taken back by the vitriol toward Wyndham than the manifestation of that vitriol. It’s sort of spiraled into something way bigger than it should be. I also don’t think it bothers him all that much. When I had him on the show a few weeks ago I asked him what it’s been like being a target recently and he quipped back, “at least you’re a target.” When asked in his post-round presser about the fan reaction this week he went to a similar place.

“I figured in my mind that this would maybe be the last time (we talked about Oakmont) just because it’s one year removed. I’ll probably always get them, but I hope I don’t become the heel of the PGA. I guess if I am, any press is good press, right?”

The USGA Got It Right After All

After the last two U.S. Opens at Shinnecock were plagued by course controversies, the USGA got this one exactly right. They walked a tightrope made extra precarious by inconsistent winds, and they walked it perfectly. Three players finishing the week under par, with a -4 winner—that’s right in the sweet spot for modern U.S. Opens. But it’s not just about the numbers or the statistics. We watch this game with our eyes, and this was a comprehensively better watch than the PGA Championship at Aronimink.

Part of that is due to the setup but a huge part is due to the course you’re working with. A makeup artist will always prefer to work on a supermodel. It’s only been a month and I can’t remember a single high-leverage shot from Aronimink, or a single hole that sticks with you. Shinnecock had a half-dozen. The par-3 7th. The par-4 9th, with one of the scarier approach shots on the planet. The devilish 11th, the wind-dependent par-5 16th, the iconic 18th.

But the star of the show for me was the par-4 10th. Options off the tee. Sam Burns laid back on Sunday and had near 200 yards in. Wyndham Clark blasted driver over the hill and had 66 yards in. That green was receptive enough to hold if you could nip a high spinner that landed in the perfect spot, which Clark did en route to a birdie. But if you got your number wrong it careened off the green entirely. There were so many high-octane shots, dicey pins, razor-edge moments.

Sam Burns' Time Is Coming

Sam Burns at the U.S. Open’s becoming a bit of a thing, isn’t it? Last year he had to hit out of a puddle down the stretch at Oakmont. There were thankfully no puddles at Shinnecock this week, and Burns played some inspired golf on Sunday before his greatest weapon went cold on the final two holes.

He made the type of mid-range putt that had evaded him for most of the day at 16. Then, his veins coursing with adrenaline or dopamine or cortisol or whatever the lifemaxxers talk about, he hit an inch-perfect approach into 17 and had just under 10 feet for birdie. The effort brought Watson at Turnberry to mind, and you never want to go full Watson at Turnberry.

His tee shot on 18 trickled into the right rough and he muscled a 9-iron from 195 to 18 feet just below the hole. Incredibly, Keith Mitchell’s approach finished about a foot short of his, and his birdie effort finishing six inches short gave Burns the perfect teach. It wasn’t to be, and you could immediately tell it’s a putt that he’ll think about his entire career. Winning the Masters is life changing on a different level, but for an American, winning the U.S. Open on Father’s Day is a close second. Which is why Burns was so emotional after his round.

“Yeah, he just said he was really proud. Sorry (tearing up). Just said he was proud, and I think -- I think we both knew how special it could have been for Father's Day, but I know he's proud.”

After starting his major career with 16 finishes of T20 or worse he now has four top 10s in his last nine, including each of the past three U.S. Opens.

Mr. 70-70-70-70

Another zany scoring fact from this week—Keith Mitchell shot four straight 70s. Per stats oracle Justin Ray, he’s the first person to shoot four straight even par rounds in a U.S. Open. That’s very cool in and of itself, but the even number-ness of the 70s gives it an extra bump.

Pour One Out for the Over-Par Winner at a Major.

With the USGA delaying the golf ball rollback a further two years and potentially not at all, and how the standard of play continues to improve, I’m not sure we’ll ever get one again. From 2006 through 2018 there were six over-par winners—4 in U.S. Opens, Zach Johnson at the 2007 Masters and Padraig Harrington at the 2008 Open Championship. We haven’t had one since and with Oakmont and Shinnecock in the rearview mirror, I don’t see one happening for a good while.

Here Comes Miles Russell

The majority of top American players in recent history made their first major starts at the U.S. Opens. Jordan Spieth in 2012. Brooks Koepka that same year. Justin Thomas in 2014. Scottie Scheffler in 2016. Xander Schauffele in 2017. Collin Morikawa in 2019.

I’m not going to put that pressure on Miles Russell. I’m actively not going to say what you think I’m going to say. But I might just be thinking it.

Not to toot my own horn here—I would never!—but I did think Russell would make the cut this week and I said as much on the show. My reasoning: hitting it straight is paramount in a U.S. Open at Shinnecock, and while many juniors seem to hit it nine miles then figure the rest out from there, Russell approaches the game differently. He was straight before he was long, and he’s still not that long. He has plenty of growing up to do and plenty of growing to do—he still looks very much a teenager—but he cruised to the weekend in a highly impressive major championship debut.

“It was a pretty special week,” Russell said after a tidy 70 on Sunday. “Just to be here was really special, and to make the cut was kind of bonus points. I didn't quite have my best stuff the last two days, but still really cool. Just a great experience.”

Because Russell’s been the top junior in the country for so long—he was the first player since Tiger Woods to repeat as the AJGA Player of the Year, and he still has another year of junior golf left—it’s hard to believe he’s still just 17. And with the immediate success we’ve seen from Blades Brown, who will almost certainly be playing full-time on the PGA Tour before his 20th birthday, it’s hard to imagine he’s not at least considering going that route. Florida State most definitely has a healthy NIL package waiting for him.

Happy Father's Day, Indeed

Miles Russell tapping in his dad to carry the bag for him walking up 18, on Father’s Day, was an objectively lovely gesture. It was also one of those moves that makes everyone else look like kind of a dick. Like, damn, none of you other players thought to give your dad a lifelong memory when all you have to do is read your own putt on a hole you’re playing for the fourth time? Sort of like when your buddy FaceTimes his wife while on the boys’ golf trip, or when someone gives the newlyweds a super thoughtful, personalized gift when you bought them a toaster off of the registry.

Some Of Us Should Probably Get Out More

I’m probably the issue here—it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me. I’m absolutely growing a bit cranky in my 30s. But the constant fawning over a press conference when a player says something even a little insightful is nauseating, or a professional golfer practices golf—it’s driving me up a wall.

Last major it was Rory hitting balls after Thursday at Aronimink. Yep, that’s his job. This week it was Harry Higgs talking about confidence after two good rounds to start the tournament. The amount of tweets I saw that were, in essence, this is the best press conference I’ve seen in years.

“Make the choice to be simply just, like, confident and believe in yourself no matter what happens,” Higgs said. “I need to do that in every aspect, every golf tournament. I don't know why it came. Maybe this is just so hard that I could shrug off all the bad things that happened to me a little easier, but man, for the first time in a while I truly thought that, like, yeah, I can do this.

This is Friday. Who knows? I'm sure it's going to be harder tomorrow, and I'm sure it's going to be even harder Sunday.

I haven't had that feeling in a while. I would love to recreate it over the next two days, and if I don't, I'm just going to try my damnedest and see what happens…but I'm coming to the realization that all these guys that do this consistently and win all these deals, I think they just make the choice to do that all the time. I think the results make it maybe a little easier, but only just a little. Those guys wake up and do the work and choose to act and believe that they are the best.

“I don't really see why I can't do that. Yeah, looking forward to trying to do that again.”

Like, really? We’re freaking out about that as like an Oscar-winning speech? On a Friday?

This is obviously nothing against Harry Higgs. He’s a funny, insightful dude. He’s a very good quote. But the scribes’ repeated glorification of mundane happenings at a golf tournament have gone too far.

Our DOGS of the Week...

Are the five amateurs who made the cut. Five, out of 20! Highly impressive. Let’s give each one some love.

Ryder Cowan, who just finished his junior year at Oklahoma, qualified his way into the field. He’s a top 15 amateur in the world and was up by the lead early in the tournament after an opening 68. He hung around with rounds of 72-72-73 and finished birdie-par to share the low amateur honors with Jackson Koivun.

Koviun, who was playing his last event as an amateur, got into the field by winning the McCormack Medal as the world’s top amateur at the end of last year. One of the best college players in recent memory, he won 11 times at Auburn including three SEC Individual titles and helped the Tigers to win two NCAA team championships. He closed with 68 after playing both weekend rounds with…

World No. 1 junior Miles Russell, who’s already a known commodity in world golf. He closed with 70 to finish a highly respectable T39.

Marek Fleming, a 20-year-old rising junior at South Carolina, finished T56 at +10 alongside a guy called Jordan Spieth.

A bit further down the board was Eric Lee, who has already won a team national championship at Oklahoma State and qualified his way in through the California site.

The amateur (really, junior and college) games haven’t been stronger since the era when the best players in the world stayed amateur their entire careers.

#PlaqueGate Continues.

We at Dan on Golf have become the Plaque Guys. It’s a mantle we shoulder with pride. We weren’t huge fans of the plaque recently installed at TPC Toronto for Ryan Fox’s shot on the fourth playoff hole that led to his victory. Very good golf shot, for sure. But it was the fifth time he’d played that hole that day—they kept playing 18 until he beat Sam Burns—and he didn’t make eagle. Plaque-worthy moments must, absolutely must, be reserved for truly iconic moments.

Before that we pointed out the ridiculousness of the Bryson DeChambeau plaque at Chapultepec for a solid shot on the drivable par-4 1st hole, which he did not eagle, in a golf tournament he did not win. A listener reached out with just an incredible update on that plaque.

“I was listening to your US Open Preview Show. Found it super funny as I was having a discussion with my golf pals on the plaque epidemic we are now living in.

As a member of the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City, where they played LIV these past two years and they presented a plaque to Bryson D. for a shot that was in all honesty not plaque material. It was a shot on the first day of competition and I've seen at least two members do the same shot. Anyways - after some internal claims, I can confirm that Bryson's plaque was removed. (Sort of mirrors what's happening to LIV anyways.)”

Another listener reached out to point out another plaque, this one commemorating Tom Watson’s chip in on 17 at Pebble Beach en route to winning the U.S. Open. You might think, here we go, Dan’s gonna hate this one. Wrong! We’re balls and strikes guys. That’s absolutely plaque-worthy. Chipping in from a dicey spot on an iconic hole to win the U.S. Open? Absolutely plaque-worthy! So was Bryson’s bunker shot on 18 at Pinehurst. I encourage you all to keep reaching out about plaques.

I Forgot Xander Schauffele. Twice.

When I released my top 25 players list for the U.S. Open plenty of you rightfully pointed out that I didn’t include Xander Schauffele. Weird, because I’ve made a huge deal of him finishing in the top 18 in 16 of the last 17 major championships. Doubly weird because I made you all a promise that I’d place my largest trade ever on Polymarket for him to finish in the top 20 at the U.S. Open no matter how low the relative payout was. It would’ve cashed. He finished T11.

I’m putting my hand up—I simply forgot to include Xander in the top 25, and I simply forgot to place that trade. The good news is we still have a major championship left this year. I doubly promise to make that trade. And to include him in my top 25.

More Furyk in the Booth Is a Good Thing

I watch the Sunday broadcast mostly on mute as we’re streaming, but I can say I very-much enjoyed Jim Furyk in the booth. It’s not going to blossom into a full-time gig as he’s the Ryder Cup captain for 2027, but when that’s done, I would not be opposed to it. It’s hard to put in words why an announcer is good or not so good. They all have their own styles, their own cadences, their own voices. You sorta have to listen to know. I’ve listened to Furyk enough to know he’s a good one.

Thoughts on Rory Skipping Travelers

Rory McIlroy, who finished T32, will skip his third Signature Event of the year. That, coupled with the dagger he threw at the PGA Tour ahead of its schedule announcement on Tuesday highlighted just how far he’s deviated from his Face of The PGA Tour phase.

Which is understandable, of course. McIlroy put his reputation on the line and spoke time and time again in support of the PGA Tour in the face of an existential threat. Then the Tour made a deal with that existential threat and he wasn’t even in the room. That was equal parts humiliating and illuminating. He learned the hard way that he is a golfer, a damn good one, and that’s where he should pour his energy.

It’s not going to terribly. He’s added two majors in the past two years and he’s adjusting his schedule to fit what he wants to do at this stage of his career, not what Ponte Vedra wants. That’s why he’s playing more in in the fall and more around the world and less in the heat of the PGA Tour schedule. And why he’s willing to say things like this about the tour’s new two-tier structure.

“An event like last week, the Canadian Open, is potentially going to one of these track 2s. Track 2 is a glorified Korn Ferry event. That's what track 2 is going to be. So I don't think the Canadian Open should be one of those.

Yeah, I just think there's going to be certain events that might lose their stature if a sponsor doesn't pony up $30 million. So that's the tough thing.

But, look, I'm not in those rooms. I don't know. I play my schedule, and I'll continue to play my schedule, which is getting less and less as the years go on. Yeah, it's funny. Like I think, as they've done all this work, you start to realize that the way the TOUR was before LIV came along was actually pretty good. It was a pretty good structure, and everything sort of worked pretty well.”

Structurally, sure. But Rory and the rest are making way, way more money. Like, not even close. And it’s bled into the majors—the purse of the U.S. Open was $12 million when Brooks at Shinnecock in 2018. Eight years later it nearly doubled to $22.5 million, and that’s a direct result of the majors needing to outpace the $20 million tour events.

Watching Guys Tinker With Putter Remains Undefeated

Every once in a while a player will adopt a strange putting style, and look so fucking automatic doing it, that I’ll think: Have they hacked this inscrutable art? Have they figured out putting?

I remember feeling that way when I saw Bryson and his robot/pendulum stance hooping everything at Winged Foot. I had the same feeling watching Wyndham Clark hoop eight-footer after eight-footer on Saturday at Winged Foot with that counterbalance putter, left-hand low grip and stroke where he seems to just drag the top of his left hand toward the hole. I sure as hell might give that approach a try. In related news, I’m struggling with my putting.

An Unpopular Opinion Re: Joaquin Neimann's Club-Throw Penalty

Might be unpopular, but I sort of agree with Pete Cowen’s take on the Joaquin Niemann penalty situation.

Surely you know the tale by now. Niemann was having a no good, very bad time on the 6th hole of his first round in the early hours of Friday morning. He hit two balls out of bounds. That much we know as fact. The rest of the tale comes via Gabby Herzig of the Athletic, who spoke to a volunteer who witnessed the tale. Had this happened at the Masters there would be no mystery as there are cameras on every hole, but c’est la vie.

Per Herzig, Niemann unsuccessfully asked for relief from a fire ants situation. He then proceeded to kick the little flags volunteers use to mark where a ball finished, chucked an iron 50 yards and didn’t bother retrieving it until a police officer fetched it for him. He was handed a two-shot penalty for misconduct.

“I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings,” Niemann said. “Then, yeah, got pretty frustrated. I'm not someone that like to be in that behavior. I'm the first one to judge myself when I don't behave on the golf course.

Yeah, that was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is. I think I'm going to learn from it. It definitely kind of helped me a little bit to have a better round today.”

Cowen—who, granted, coaches Niemann and thus isn’t entirely impartial—said the following of the ordeal.

“It’s arbitrary because they picked him out of a load of people who threw clubs yesterday and give him a two-shot penalty…it depends on whether you like him or you don’t like him; it’s two shots if you don’t like him, or it’s not two shots because he’s a decent guy or he hasn’t thrown it as far or whatever. So, you can’t do that. It’s got to be two shots for throwing a club for everybody or not.”

I couldn’t agree more. A video surfaced showing Jon Rahm kicking his club down the fairway multiple times and he did not receive a penalty. Rules have to be black or white or they’re not really rules. If a player throws a club, or kicks a club, or does anything other than play golf with it or drop it on the through swing (you know what I’m talking about), that should be a two-shot penalty. Holding your feelings in is part of the magic of being a golfer. Cursing is one thing. It’s not great, for sure, but throwing a club is a whole different level of petulance. I love that golf differentiates itself from other sports. We expect players to police themselves. That’s part of the ethos. The game would be a better place if throwing a club meant a two-shot penalty. Guys simply wouldn’t throw clubs.

An All-Time Line (and Round) From Jaco

Niemann proceeded to play his other 71 holes in six under par for a T7 finish, his second career top-10 in a major. This is why we keep talking about him; he’s clearly a world-class talent. You don’t win 8 LIV events in four years without being a serious, serious player. And he’s shown in majors that his good is absolutely good enough; he’s the only player in the field with multiple rounds of 67 or lower and his came via a Friday 65 and a Sunday 66. He’s going to avoid shooting himself in the foot one of these years and make a serious challenge at one of these things.

When he was asked, however, if he thought about the fact that if he’d made a par (or a bogey) he’d have won the tournament outright, he gave an all-time one-liner:

“If my grandma had tires she’d be a car.”

Where Art Thou, Jon Rahm? Bryson?

More from the LIV department…a shocking MC Hammer from Jon Rahm after an opening 68 and another dud in the majors from Bryson DeChambeau, who’s now missed the cut in the first three majors of the year and four of the last five. It’s a curious development—before this barren streak he was a constant presence on major Sundays. He’d finished T6 or better in five of six majors before the missed cuts started at Oakmont, including a win and two seconds.

He’s certainly got a lot on his mind. He doesn’t know where he’s going to be playing golf in a few months, let alone a few years. And he’s on the 2022 Rory McIlroy diet where he’s serving as the spokesman of his league through a turbulent time. Whatever the cause of this stretch, it’s an unmitigated disaster. Any time a player of that caliber has a stretch like that the alarm bels have to be ringing, no matter the tour they play on or how many YouTube subscribers they have. He’s the only top 25 player in Data Golf rankings with four missed cuts out of the last 5, and the only others with three of the last five missed are J.J. Spaun, Adam Scott and Si Woo Kim.

One last* thought on The Ams*

Five days after the USGA cowered when confronted on the reinstated pro epidemic, a reinstated professional won The Amateur Championship. When I saw the headline “Mid-Am Stuart Grehan wins the Amateur Championship” I was thrilled—a 33-year-old who took it to the college kids, won the game’s oldest amateur title and earned invites into a bunch of majors.

Nope. He was a professional golfer for seven full years before deciding to become amateur again in 2024 with the goal of playing on the 2026 Walker Cup team. With this win, he’s going to do that. He’s obviously an exceptional player. He’s also a former touring professional masquerading as a mid-amateur. I don’t blame the guy. He’s taking advantage of the rules and now gets to play in the Masters and U.S. Open and Open Championship when he almost assuredly wasn’t going to qualify as a professional. But how can you tell me it’s not a backdoor? That this is in the spirit of the amateur game. YOu get a free run at pro golf, then you just say I’m not a pro anymore, and less than 2 years later you qualify for the Masters as an amateur? Please.

Nothing’s going to change, by the way. The USGA have gone totally spineless on this issue. Credit to Luke Kerr-Dineen for asking the question about this epidemic. Remember: six of the eight quarterfinalists at the U.S. Mid-Am, including the champion, were reinstated amateurs—also known as failed tour pros. With a straight face, Kevin Hammer went with the “I have many friends who are ____” approach.

“I have many friends that are reinstated amateurs that have come through the mid-amateur game,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, do we want to welcome them back into the game? Every single individual's case is so different, so we've got a whole team of people that look at that.

“As you know, some of the qualification criteria that is changed over time, and it will probably continue to be tweaked over time as well. At the end of the day, is the game better with those reinstated professionals back in the amateur game, in a reinstated way? I think the answer is, yes.”

I just couldn’t disagree more.