by Maybe this is pure conjecture, but it feels like the USGA does the best job of the four men’s major championships when it comes to creating intrigue with their groups. This year is no different, as we have everything from supergroups to cheeky, intriguing combos. Here are a few tee times you should lock into this week during the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2
Full List of U.S. Open Tee Times, Thursday / Friday (all times ET)
7:18 a.m. / 1:03 p.m. – Lucas Glover/Sam Burns/Cameron Smith – Smith is a popular pick to perform at Pinehurst as he plays well on firm golf courses, has tremendous touch on and around the greens, and can get away with squirrely drives. At the very least he’ll be entertaining. It’s also just about quitting time with Sam Burns in majors. The guy is an unquestioned top-20 player in the world, yet he’s never finished better than T-20 in a major and has four MCs in his last five starts. Not. Good.
7:29 a.m. / 1:14 p.m. – Will Zalatoris/Matt Fitzpatrick/Tiger Woods – You’re not going to get any Tiger hype from me, but Pinehurst certainly seems like a place where he can make a cut. As for the other two, I’m keen to see if their ball-striking lifts them to the top of the leaderboard like it did at Brookline. The courses are pretty different, but the greens will be equally as firm. If Tiger is playing well, this group will be a ball-striking fiesta for 36 holes.
7:40 a.m. / 1:25 p.m. – Justin Thomas/Collin Morikawa/Brooks Koepka – For my money, this is the group to watch over the first 36 holes. All three have the ability to be tee-to-green monsters when they’re on, and could easily factor into the equation come the weekend. Collin is undoubtedly playing the best out of the three right now, but I like all of them to finish top 25 and would bet on someone from this group being in the mix on Sunday.
8:02 a.m. / 1:47 p.m. – Min Woo Lee/Sahith Theegala/Nicolai Højgaard – One of the USGA’s cheeky pairings, this is a group of three young talents who play pretty different games, all of which will be fascinating to watch at Pinehurst. Min Woo is long and has plenty of experience on firm Australian turf. Sahith kinda sprays it off the tee but has the short game to work his way around. And Nicolai is going to lash his way through the wiregrass at all costs. I put the most trust in MWL, this week but all will be fun to watch.
8:13 a.m. / 1:58 p.m. – Daniel Berger/Ryan Fox/David Puig – After getting through sectional qualifying, Berger is set to make his first major appearance post injury. But Puig is the most compelling name in this group, as the former Arizona State standout took the LIV money but has now earned his way into three majors across his first two years as a pro.
1:14 p.m. / 7:29 a.m. – Rory McIlroy/Xander Schauffele/Scottie Scheffler – For the second time in the last three majors, the top three players in the world are in the same pairing.
1:25 p.m. / 7:40 a.m. – Bryson DeChambeau/Viktor Hovland/Max Homa – Three extremely compelling storylines here. Bryson is looking to get into contention in his third straight major, Viktor has been playing great golf of late but has notoriously had issues around the greens, and Max is still looking for his first good result in a U.S. Open.
1:36 p.m. / 7:51 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama/Jackson Suber/Jordan Speith – If there was ever a place to channel 2015-era Jordan Spieth ball-striking and short game wizardry, Pinehurst No. 2 is it.
1:47 p.m. / 8:02 a.m. – Gordon Sargent/Jake Knapp/Cameron Young – If you want to see whether distance is an advantage at Pinehurst, look no further than the bomb squad of Sargent/Knapp/Young. I cannot wait to see the extent to which these three attempt to overpower No. 2.
