Oakmont's Time for U.S. Open Greatness

This past weekend, the Sunday sports slate kicked off with a clash of two early-20s titans at Roland Garros as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner stood toe-to-toe for nearly five and a half hours in a historic French Open final. Down five sets to three and facing match point in the fourth set, Alcaraz stormed back in a dramatic tiebreaker finish that ultimately earned him his fifth Grand Slam singles title.

Sinner (23) and Alcaraz (22) have combined to win the last six Grand Slam titles, three apiece. Their presence in Grand Slam finals is expected, a phenomenon the larger sports world came to know very well when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic ran men’s tennis for the better part of 20 years. While slightly less dominant, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Świątek have set a similar standard on the women’s side in recent years. In short, the top tennis players have established an expectation of greatness and consistently live up to it.

Tennis fans aren’t the only ones benefiting from the consistent play of these stars. The general sports audience may not be familiar with the full picture of the week-to-week dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz, but they know their greatness. Repetition breeds familiarity. When those names are at the end of the bracket, we know to expect fireworks.

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As we transition to the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, golf fans are hoping to continue our own run of consistent play from top players. Scottie Scheffler enters as the only player since Tiger Woods who has performed at a rate anywhere near as consistent as the top tennis stars, knocking off three wins in his last 14 major starts and finishing in the top 10 in 13 of his last 17. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and Bryson DeChambeau have separated themselves from the rest of professional golf as a Tier 1B behind Scheffler. We’ve expected some combination of those four to be there on Sunday at a major, and they haven’t let us down.

This week at Oakmont is the perfect storm for golf to have another moment. It’s the brutal test that sports fans expect from our national championship and the best players in golf have proven their ability to be present no matter the circumstances. This Sunday may not be a generational battle between the top two names in the game, but there is every reason to believe it could be. 

It’s time for Oakmont to deliver greatness.

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