It is a national championship. It is also for the sport of golf, so you might not be invested. But if you clicked on this, maybe you’re at least interested. And since G-Day has come and gone, this is your reminder of our long-standing devotion to #CountryClubU.
Welcome to Day 1 of the 124th United States Open at Pinehurst. Located in the sandhills of eastern North Carolina, the resort and it’s championship course #2 are now an “anchor site” of the United States Golf Association – meaning the USGA will hold many of it’s championships here on a regular basis. The USGA has gone so far as to construct a facility on the grounds in conjuction with the Pinehurst Resort, so this is a pretty serious step in any relationship.
This is also the 1,000th championship put on by the USGA. Only 124 Men’s Golf Opens, but also Women’s Opens, Junior Opens, US Amateur’s, US Mid-Amateurs, US 4-Ball, and others. I think they put on 19 or so different championships every year. It just so happens the Men’s US Open gets most of the publicity to the average sports fan (and even the average golf fan).
We’ve given you a preview of the course and the tournament. Now we’re going to highlight some of the featured groups and tee times so you can keep up with your former Bulldogs and even a few of the popular players and favorites. The tee times start Thursday at 6:45 am ET, and you don’t have to wait long until some of the fireworks begin.
7:29 am Tiger Woods, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris. (16 majors between them. Matt/Will have 1 combined)
7:40 am Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa (9 majors between them)
7:40 am (#10 tee) Russell Henley, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Cantlay
8:46 am (#10 tee) Davis Thompson, Aaron Rai, Zac Blair
12:30 pm (#10 tee) Greyson Sigg, Grant Forrest, Wells Williams
1:03 pm Harris English, Jason Day, Tom Kim
1:14 pm Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy (#1, #2, #3 in the world)
1:25 pm Brian Harman, Nick Dunlap, Wyndham Clark (British Open Champ, US Amateur Champ, defending US Open Champ)
1:36 pm Sepp Straka, Peter Malnati, J.T. Poston
1:58 pm (#10 tee) Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel, Adam Scott
2:09 pm Brendon Todd, Alex Noren, Taylor Pendrith
You can watch a lot of the action on the USGA mobile app. I’ll admit I’m not familiar with their app, but if they can execute half as well as the Masters app, it’s probably worth it. Several featured groups can also be found on the web at usopen.com. But here’s the TV schedule (all times Eastern):
Thursday 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (USA Network); 5-8 p.m. (Peacock).
Friday 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (Peacock app), 1-7 p.m. (NBC Network), 7-8 p.m. (Peacock)
Saturday 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (USA), 12 p.m.- 8 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday 9 a.m.- 12 p.m. (USA), 12-7 p.m. (NBC)
That should at least help. Note that in Thursday’s first round, some of the popular groups will only be viewable behind a paywall. While that is frustrating, it is certainly not uncommon and just another transition step towards the inevitable subscription-only model.
Here’s to good golf, Red and Black all over the leaderboard, and happy viewing. And as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!