US Open championship preview and quiz
Tommy Does Golf - The Podcast
EPISODE 13
SEASON 01
10 June 2026
tommy: Welcome to Tommy Does Golf, the podcast where three old timers give you our opinions on everything golf. I'm Tommy Long, joined by fellow PGA professionals, James Morgan and Paul Charman. With over 100 years and counting in the golf industry between us, we are well into our back nines. We'll do our best to stay on topic, but just like our tee shots these days, this podcast could go anywhere.
We're hoping you enjoy the banter, and maybe, just maybe, we'll share a few pearls of wisdom along the way. Let's get into it.
Welcome to our US Open preview. The 126th US Open begins on June the 18th at the legendary Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York. In this episode, we'll unpack the host venue and give you our tips on who we think lifts the trophy and the reasons why. But before all of that, back by popular demand, a quiz.
US Open history, Shinnecock specifics, and a few curve balls thrown in. If quizzes aren't your thing, skip ahead, but this is where we start. So without further ado, fellas, are you ready?
Bring it on. Shinnecock Hills is one of five founding clubs of the USGA. What year was the club founded? James 1891 He's got it. He's got it. Bang on. He's got it. Bang on. Okay. Well, that was a good start, boys. Maybe a sign of things to come. In 1995, Corey Pavin hit a legendary shot on the 72nd hole to seal his win.
Which club did he hit from 228 yards? James, you don't have to tell me what you're gonna do I don't know.
James: It's either a three or a five wood.
tommy: Paulie?
Paul: I'm gonna go between the two. Split the difference? I'm gonna split the difference. A forward. Go forward.
tommy: Oh. It was a forward. Man. Perfect. All right. Gets in. Next question. . Brooks Koepka won the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills. What was his winning score? Anyone? James?
James: 281, one over.
Tommy: Fantastic. It was. Good knowledge, boys. And he won by one shot from Tommy. . Was that the year Tommy shot 64 in the final round? Something like that. 64. He shot the round of the tournament. Pretty good. All right. How many times has Shinnecock hosted the US Open? Paul?
Paul: I'm pretty sure it's five the next one coming up will be six. This one, this year. Is that correct?
Tommy: Yes. Correct. 1896, 1986, '95, 2004, 2018, and this year, 2026. And do you know when it's gonna be there next? 2036. It's already booked in.
All right. Mm. Okay, I think I might have shot myself in the foot by giving a bit of the game away, but here we go. Who shot a 64 in the final round of the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, the lowest round in US Open competition at that course? Right, anybody, come on
James: We've just said it Now, hang
Paul: Hang on a second. Was that the year Brooks Koepka won by any chance?
Tommy: I'll tell you what, you've remembered both those. Really? Wow. That's... Who was it?
Paul:Was it Tommy Fleetwood?
Tommy: It was Tommy Fleetwood. Yes. Wow. Well done.
Paul: Get in there. Cheers, Tommy. Okay.
Tommy: Let's go for a little bit of in-depth knowledge about the US Open as a whole. Okay? Four golfers have won the US Open four times. Name two of them anybody?
James: Well, I'm gonna have to go Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Tommy: Jack Nicklaus is on there.
James: Oh, Tiger's not.
tommy: So there's three other names. Come on. Who do we think? James, you've-
james : I'm gonna guess Ben Hogan ..
Tommy: Ben Hogan was All right, so we've got Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. I'll give you the other two. Bobby Jones. Bobby Jones. Willie Anderson. Okay. All right then, here's a question for you. Who is the only golfer to win the US Open five times?
Paul: Five times? I don't,
James : I don't know.
Tommy: You don't know? Okay. Well, that was my trick question.
Nobody's won it five times. Oh, okay. Sorry about that, but I had to throw one in, didn't I? Okay, who won the 1913 US Open as a 20-year-old amateur, shocking the golf world?
Paul : Was he South African?
Tommy: He was not. I'm gonna go straight to James.
James: Francis Ouimet?
Tommy: It was. Well done.
James: That's that, great book and movie. Brilliant. It's a brilliant book. Absolutely. Yeah. Brilliant movie.
Tommy: Okay. Here's one for you, boys. And it's true. I expect you to get this, 'cause I know you watch a bit of golf, right?
So who is the most recent golfer to win back-to-back US Open titles?
james: It's Brooks Koepka
Tommy: It is Brooks Koepka Brooks 2017, 2018. Unreal. Pretty good, that. Okay. What is the lowest 72-hole score in US Open history, and who shot it? Anyone? No.
James: My go-to is always Tiger for all these records. Yeah. Neil always goes Tiger, but Neil's , in the Seychelles at the moment. That's why he's not here. So- Via Luton. Yeah, via Luton. It wasn't Tiger Woods. No, it was Rory McIlroy- Oh ... at Congressional in 2011- Eight shots
finished 16 under par. Yes. But , Brooks Koepka, also finished on 16 under- 16 under ... at Erin Hills in 2017. Okay. Who shot the first 62 in US Open history, and at which course?
Paul: This is a shot in the dark, but Jonny Miller? No, it's not Jonny Miller.
tommy:, 2023. At Los Angeles Country Club Ricky Fowler And Xander Schauffele
James: They both did it?
Tommy : They Both did it. Both did it in the first round of the 2023 US Open, Los Angeles Country Club.
. All right. Tiger Woods won the 2000 US Open atPebble Beach by 15 shots, the largest margin in US Open history. What was his winning score?
James: 12 under
Tommy: It was 272. Brilliant.Here's one. Bit of geography. Oh. Which state has hosted the most US Opens?
Paul: I'm gonna go New York.
Tommy: It has, absolutely. I'd like to actually say that I followed that up and found out how many it had, but I didn't. So sorry everybody, let's go to another question. Which course has hosted the US Open the most times? Which course has hosted the US Open the most times?
Paul: Would that be Oakmont?
Tommy: It would be. Do you know how many times it's held it?
Paul: Gonna say 10.
Tommy: Correct. Good knowledge, mate. Good knowledge. Okay. In second place currently, what would the course be? Just for a bit of silly knowledge. Okay, Baltusrol- Oh ... which has held it seven times. Wow. And then we have Pebble Beach on six, Winged Foot also on six, Oakland Hills on six, and after this event this week- Soon to be
soon to be Shinnecock will be on six. Mm-hmm. right, you're gonna get this. Which golfer won the US Open in three different decades?
James: Has to be Jack Nicklaus.
Tommy: yes, Jack won it in '62, '67, '72, and 1980, which meant that he did the '60s, the '70s- Wow ... and snuck into the '80s Absolutely amazing. Fantastic. I mean, that's unbelievable, eh? All right. Okay, next one. Who won the US Open in 1991 and 1999?James, that gesture, I know you've done this. Give it to us.
James: It's Payne Stewart.
Tommy: It is Payne Stewart.
James:I was gonna do the leg kick, but ... if I did the leg kick, I'd probably get cramp.
Tommy: Amazing. All right.Here's one for you. It's a good one, not for the player involved. Which golfer holds the record for the most runner-up finishes in the US Open without ever winning?
Come on, Paul
Paul: I'm gonna say Big Phil Mickelson
Tommy: Correct. How many bridesmaids dresses did he have?
Paul: Not 100% sure. I'm gonna say Three.
Tommy: Double it. Six. Six. Six. Yeah, six. Well done, James. . Okay. Now here's a really good one, who started the final round seven shots behind the leader in 1960 at Cherry Hills and became the champion?
James: Arnold Palmer?
Tommy: Was Arnold Palmer. Well done.
James: Do you know who the runner-up was?
Tommy: I have no idea. Didn't go that deep.
James: he was an amateur? Jack Nicklaus.
Tommy : It was Jack at the time, was it?
James:He was a runner-up in 1960. There we go. There we go.
Tommy : Fantastic. Changing of the guard.
James: Changing of the guard.
Tommy: All right. Okay, so that's the end of the quiz. I hope everyone listening in enjoyed playing along. Fellas, regardless of whether or not you schooled up beforehand, you both did better than I thought you would, so fair play. Okay.
It's time for me to share what I've learned about the golf course. Yet again, I've spent way too many late nights down the rabbit hole on this one because Shinnecock Hills isn't just a golf course, it's a piece of American history. We're talking about a club founded all the way back in 1891. It's one of the five founding clubs of the USGA itself.
They built what's widely considered the first purpose-built golf clubhouse in America right here, a shingled beauty from the legendary firm McKim, Mead & White that still sits on that hill looking out towards the Atlantic Ocean. But don't let the vintage charm fool you. Shinnecock Hills is the oldest incorporated golf club in the United States, and the course evolved in layers.
Willie Davis designed the original 12-hole course in 1891. Willie Dunn expanded it to 18 holes and remodeled the layout in 1895. C.B. MacDonald and Seth Raynor made revisions in 1917, but the modern beast we see today, that relentless routing and those sloping greens, was sculpted by William Flynn in 1931.
Flynn completely overhauled the design, establishing the modern championship layout. Then, in the early 2010s, Coore and Crenshaw led a major restoration, primarily completed by 2012. They were hired to return the course closer to Flynn's original 1930s vision. Their work included removing trees, widening fairways, restoring fescue rough, expanding greens, and adding back tees to lengthen the course for the 2018 US Open.
So the course you see today is Flynn's bones restored by Core and Crenshaw. Shinnecock plays as a par 70, but don't be fooled by that number into thinking it's a pitch and putt
expect the USGA to push this beast to roughly 7,450 yards. Shinnecock consists of 12 par fours, four par threes, and only two par fives. And those two par fives, the 5th and the 16th, are monsters. The 16th can stretch beyond 600 yards. You're not sniffing that green in two when the wind is howling off the bay.
So what does this golf course demand? Well, the one-word answer is everything, but specifically it demands survival. Statistically, in 2004, the final round scoring average was right around 79 strokes. That's carnage. The course is a link-style layout that sits on sandy soil, so the ball will run out, but the rough is that classic US Open jungle.
The defining feature, however, is the wind. It whips across the property because the routing changes direction constantly across this exposed piece of land. You can have a wedge in your hand, but a gust will come up, and the next minute you're switching to a five iron.
Now we have to talk about the greens because they can be brutal. In 2004, the famous 7th hole, roughly 190 to 200 yards of pure slope depending on setup, the green got so baked out and glassy that the USGA had to run out and water it during the final round because balls were repeatedly rolling off the putting surface.
That's the only time I can recall that happening in a US Open.
So who's gonna win? Well, they're gonna have to be a scrambler. Sorry, but the guy who hits 18 greens in regulation, they don't exist here. You're gonna have to be creative. You're gonna have to have soft hands around the greens, and you're also gonna have to have the grit to take your medicine. Corey Pavin hit a forward from 228 yards on the 72nd hole in 95 to seal the win. That tells you everything. Nothing is given around this golf course. You don't need to be the longest hitter, but you'll certainly need to be the smartest hitter. You'll definitely need distance control with your irons into these sloping greens you'll also need a caddy who can read wind shifts on exposed land. Shinnecock rewards local knowledge more than almost any other open golf course.
So to summarize my thoughts, Shinnecock is a strategic, windy, sandy, brutal test of patience.
It suits a player who can flight the ball down, who has an elite short game, and who isn't afraid to par the par fi- and who isn't afra- it suits a player who can flight the ball down, who has an elite short game, and who isn't afraid to par the par fives. Fellas, anything to add?
Paul: I've got a little story here that I thought some of our loyals might be interested in. It's a little story about the shortest par five in the world. This particular hole is the 11th, at Shinnecock. It's a par three actually, but, it's infamously challenging.
This par three plays anywhere between 150 and 160 yards, and it's dubbed a par five by professionals and caddies alike because of its elevated, severely sloping green, and surrounded by deep bunkers. It often takes players five shots to safely navigate this hole. , Yeah, just a little bitty for you there.
tommy: So let's hope they've got the cameras up on that hole, and we have a bit of wind coming in off the Atlantic to make it interesting. It'd be amazing.
James: I've actually got a, a, a long-range weather forecast at this point. Have you? Yeah. Give it to us. So on the Thursday, it's gonna be winds of 18 to 27 kilometers an hour, but with a little bit of drizzle. Like one to three mils. Yeah. Then on the Friday, it's gonna be just as windy again, but with five mils of rain. Only 20 degrees each day, 21 on Sunday. But then on Saturday, the wind's gonna get up to 22 [00:16:00] to 33- Mm-hmm ... with no rain. So if they dry those greens out, Sunday, the wind at this point is gonna be 26 to 39 kilometers-an hour. Right. So they're gonna have to be very careful where they put the pins, because the ball could be blown off the green and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. So scoring will probably be good on the Thursday and the Friday in the softer conditions, and as they dry that golf course out, buckle up.
tommy: Yeah. Well, I don't know where you've got that long-term forecast from, but I don't really care because it's probably gonna be as accurate as anything that the professionals come up with.
So I'm gonna go with that one. It's interesting that you mentioned the weather because I think in another podcast, especially when we were talking about the Open, you were saying if you get the wrong side of the draw- Yeah ... it can kind of take half the field out of play. Now I've watched a little bit of stuff on YouTube in the past week on that golf course.
And there is no doubt 'cause of where it's located that that wind off the Atlantic is gonna blow in, and it's gonna wreak havoc so the wind will be a key factor- Yeah
James, you picked Bryson DeChambeau to win this one at the start of the year. But what I wanna do is come to you now and ask you who else you have for this one. James, over to you.
James: Well, I picked Bryson, at the end of last year based on the fact that he was practicing his wedges, his long game had been good.
But recently he's been asking Google for swing tips. He's been on AI for Google Gemini. So-
Tommy: Has he really?
James: He has.
Tommy:That's crazy.
James: And unfortunately, so- That is crazy ... he's paying $21, and I'm not gonna waste a cent on him. Okay. But that was a long-range pick. Good But I've got a long list of, of could bes.
There's one that's gonna be with my heart, which is Tyrrell Hatton. Yeah. He's just won on the LIV Tour- Yeah ... in Spain, Valderrama- Right ... which is a tough course. Very tough. So he's ready in that tough mentality. So I've got him as one of my picks at $34. Okay. So he's obviously got to be hitting the ball well to score round there.
Course yeah. And then I'm gonna go with Si Woo Kim. Hmm. Now, he has got some putting problems at the moment, but he seems to be overcoming those. He's one of the best ball strikers on tour. His numbers, for ball striking and everything else are brilliant. His putting is horrendous. So if he gets that sorted, and he gets his brain sorted around the fact that it's gonna blow, and he's gonna miss putts, I think he's got a really, really good chance.
tommy: Okay. So what odds is Si Woo? Did you find out? Si Woo's 51. 51.
James: I know I only wanted to do two, but I do wanna sneak another little one in with the heart, which is Ludvig.
Ludvig Åberg. Yeah. I just feel like he's got the perfect mentality for it. Absolutely. He just seems to go with the flow.But has he got, the balls for it? I think us
tommy: Europeans would love to see him get across the line because he's almost getting to that stage where you feel like if he just breaks through- Yeah
he could win a handful. But he's almost getting to that stage where he kind of almost needs to, doesn't he? He needs to get one in the bag, you know? I, I,
James: I'd give him another four, five years. Would you? Yeah. Okay. I'd, I would let him get to 30. I'm talking though,
tommy: you know, when, when Donald picked him for the Ryder Cup He's just said he's gonna be prolific.
And I'm thinking, "If he's gonna be prolific, he's got to start notching them up, hasn't he?"
James: problem is we've seen him in the last few months in, with a shout with 18 holes to go and not put it over the line, so. Yeah, yeah.
tommy: yeah. It's almost a little bit like Viktor Hovland, you know. He was hot for two, three years there, and everyone was willing him to get one over the line.
And we know he did really, really well, won the FedEx Cup. I'm not saying that Viktor won't win one, but you kind of feel like if he had- Similar vein ... he'd have kicked on. Do you know what I mean?
James: and the problem now is he's gone searching, so he's just changing swing. Yeah.
He's changing equipment. Absolutely. He's d- changing his underpants. Yeah. Yeah. Just to hope anything.
tommy: we’ll come back to some of your probables in a moment. I'll go to Paul now. Paul, you picked Justin Rose for this one. Yeah. At the start of the year. Yeah. So you've obviously still got him in play.
Yeah. Who else have you gone for in this?
Paul: Again, I've got a list.
Tommy: Well give us your, give us your two. Oh. That if you, if you were gonna go and have a bet, right? So
Paul: we'll keep Rosey there. Keep Rosey there. Okay? Yeah. And I'm actually gonna give you three. Right, okay.
Jon Rahm. Okay. Yeah. Okay? I think he's 14 to 1, roughly. I'm not 100% sure.
Mm. But I know he's, like, right up there, top two, top three. One of the favorites. And then I'm gonna stick with my main man, Mr. Min Woo Lee. Yes. I'm gonna keep going with him. Well, the moment you don't back him, he wins, right? I... Exactly. So you have to. That's exactly- Okay ... my thinking. Yeah.
And then as a complete outsider- Okay ... I'm not gonna mention the guy's name straightaway, but I'm just gonna give you a little bit of background on this guy. Okay, so we can guess. Okay. Okay? I like this. So this, this kid, okay, he's 23 years old. Ooh. Comes from Spain. Oh. He shot 66, 66 round Walton Heath- Okay
to qualify. Okay? Ooh. He came second to an, English player called Nathan Kimsey. All right? Now, this Spanish kid, he has a great name, his name is Rocco Repetto Taylor, and he is 750 to 1.
Now, the interesting thing is that there's only a handful of people that have won having qualified. Yeah. Okay? Can you name the last person to win from qualifying? Okay, it was Lucas Glover, but interestingly enough, our very own Michael Campbell. Cambo.
tommy: Was he a qualifier? He qualified. Yeah, he, he qualified at Walton Heath, didn't he? He qualified at Walton Heath. Wow. So therefore- There you go ... Walton
James: Just- No? ... as a, an aside, they do have a qualifier at Walton Heath every year. Yes. It's very true. And also notice that I didn't go for a South African- just in case they weren't playing.
tommy: So there are your three. You're learning. All right. Yeah. My turn. All
right. Scottie Scheffler
it's his 30th birthday on Sunday. Does he become the seventh player in modern history to complete the Career Slam? Hasn't won one this year. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see how he goes. He's there or thereabouts, but I don't know. Again, the side of the draw he gets could determine whether he's gonna go or right.
The next person that I went for, who I think stands a chance, we already mentioned earlier that he had a 64 round this golf course, is Tommy Fleetwood, because I like the punch shots that Tommy plays. So I think he's a chance, Tommy. Love to see him do it. But there's another player... I always go for Patrick Reed, a little bit like you, Paul-
with Min Woo Lee. Min Woo. You go for Min Woo Lee, I go for Patrick Reed, just 'cause he's a grinder. He's got a great short game, great putter. But the other player that I thought, "You know what? I think he's got a major in him," is Chris Gotterup. Yeah. Who won the Scottish Open- Yeah
in 2025. So I looked at him, and he has that piercing ball flight. He's very good at controlling the spin on his wedges, which prevents them from ballooning into the wind. Good putter, and he's one of those players that once he gets up the front, he's a good front runner.
He hangs in there. And I looked at him, and I'm pretty sure I saw him about 41, 41 to 1, something like that. He is 41. Same as Patrick Reed. Yep. So I'm, I'm thinking Chris Gotterup would be a chance, you know. And if he gets up there, home crowd gonna get behind him, so yeah. But we go back to you, James.
Give us another couple that you've got on your list.
James: There's one other that I haven't, backed, but it's Xander Schauffele. Yes. Now, his record in the Open over the last seven , odd years, tied third, fifth, tied seventh, 14th, 10th, seventh, and 12th.
So it's pretty consistent. That is steady for a US Open. Steady, yeah. In lots of different courses. Yeah. Lots of different onditions.
tommy: And he's class, isn't he? Mm. I mean, he's a class human as well as a class golfer. I mean, he doesn't lose his rag. , I think he's fantastic, Xander. Mm.Love Xander. Yeah.
James: My nemesis, Ryan Fox. Foxy? Yeah. Foxy, he's playing, , 176. So what I think I'm gonna do, just for Foxy's sake, I'm gonna back him to miss the cut, so that pretty much guarantees he will make- That he will make it ... he'll make the cut. Right. 'Cause every time I back him to miss-
tommy: I never back Foxy, only 'cause I don't want to jinx him.I mean, we want him to win every week, don't we? Yeah. But at the end of the day, I don't back him because I don't, don't want to jinx him.
James:He's been hitting the ball really, really good. Yeah. It's just his putting's been letting him down. If he could just g- get something together, I'd love to see him finish in a top 10.
Yeah. That would be so cool. That'd be brilliant. So cool.
tommy: Yeah. I actually, looked at the topography of this golf course. Mm. It's fantastic. I mean, they're playing approach shots, 60 meters above them, and you just think to yourself, "You have got to be so on your game with where the wind's at," because if you get it wrong- Yeah
you're back down the slope and you're leaving yourself a blind third on a par four. Yeah. So caddies are gonna have to be- Yeah ... on their game. . Gonna be- Yeah ... very, very interesting. But that's pretty much a wrap on our US Open preview. Thanks, boys. Yeah. Cheers, Tommy.
Paul: Nice. Good job.
tommy: If you've made it this far, we hope it's because you've enjoyed listening to Tommy Does Golf. To make sure you never miss our podcast, please hit follow. For more of our content or to get in touch, head to tommydoesgolf.com. So until next time, no matter how you're playing, smile, laugh, and most important of all, enjoy the walk