Preparation for the 123rd U.S. Open has officially started for the 156 players in the field fighting to be best player after four rounds for the toughest test in golf on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club.
This is the third major tournament of the season and there is only one more – the Open Championship – left next month.
Everyone in the field had to qualify in some way. For those who were not one of the 86 players exempt, golfers had to work their way up the leaderboard to advance. It began with 9,693 people competing in about 50 different 18-hole local qualifying tournaments to be one of 530 to advance to final qualifying.
From those 530 players, a total of 868 players competed in 12 different 36-hole final qualifying tournaments across the country on June 5, known as the longest day of golf, to be one of 64 players to compete in the U.S. Open this week.
Some of the players in final qualifying, including PGA Tour players, who were not already in the field, such as rookie Nico Echavarria, who won the Puerto Rico Open in March.
As a result, everyone, no matter if you are on the PGA Tour or an amateur, has an opportunity to play in the U.S. Open and have an opportunity to play well.
Last year, Joel Dahmen went through the final qualifying process for the U.S. Open and ended up finishing tied for 10th, giving himself the opportunity to be exempt into this year’s national championship for being withing the top 10 finishes, including ties from the previous U.S. Open.
Being in Los Angeles, anything can happen where all the cameras and spotlights are on the players trying to win the 123rd U.S. Open.
Here are five storylines heading into the U.S. Open.
Related: Ranking all 18 U.S. Open holes at the Los Angeles Country Club
1. PGA-LIV merger saga: the unknown next steps
The news last week of the PGA Tour merging with the Public Investment Fund, who financially owns LIV Golf, brought the men’s professional golf world to the top of the news chain. As a result, any player on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour or LIV Golf, will probably be asked their thoughts to the merger.
Most players, no matter what the league they are affiliated with, remain curious about this deal and are still unaware what the next steps will be.
When reigning U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick spoke to the media on Monday, his first question from a reporter was about the merger and what he knows about, which was not a lot.
“I’ll be completely honest, I literally know as much as you,” Fitzpatrick said. “So, I’m sure, everyone has a million and one questions about it. I found out when everyone else found out and honestly, I know literally nothing.”
This feeling is a lot different than the Masters and PGA Championship over the last two months and before the merger was announced last week.
In April and May, it was about how the PGA Tour and LIV Golf players were going to interact with one another. Now it is about how the players feel about the new and unknown within this merger.
2. Can Rory McIlroy end his major tournament drought?
World No. 3 Rory McIlroy comes into this week as one of the de facto faces on the PGA Tour. Though, he has no Major victories over the past nine years.
According to Vegas Insider, McIlroy is +1100 to win this week’s U.S. Open, which is the third best odds, only behind Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm.
McIlroy has three consecutive top 10s and five top 10 finishes in his last eight events, including finishing tied for ninth at last week’s RBC Canadian Open. At one point last week, McIlroy had the solo lead in the third round, but was unable to have a strong Sunday finish with an even par day.
The Northern Irishman, who won the 2011 U.S. Open by eight strokes at Congressional in Bethesda, MD., has finished inside the top 10 in each of the last three national championships, including top five last year as he tries to get back into the U.S. Open winner’s circle in a dozen years.
3. Will someone return to the top or will a new face hoist the U.S. Open trophy?
In addition to McIlroy, there are many past champions competing this week. From Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau to Gary Woodland and Rahm, there are plenty of faces who have hoisted the U.S. Open trophy in the past.
Every winner over the last 10 years is in the field looking to win this week, including Koepka, who is trying to win his third U.S. Open in six years.
Scheffler, ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking entering this week, is the favorite at +700 according to Vegas Insider. The Texan is looking to win his first U.S. Open and get halfway to the career grand slam after his Masters victory last year.
In addition, Phil Mickelson is trying to win the career grand slam this week with a victory. Mickelson, who became the oldest major champion at the 2021 PGA Championship at the age of 50, is playing in his 32nd U.S. Open and has six runner-up finishes with his latest coming 10 years ago.
Scheffler and Mickelson are just two of the many who are looking to capture their first U.S. Open title this week.
With a new venue it will be interesting to see if a former champion can get into the winner’s circle or a new face can enter the champions block in the locker room for years to come.
4. Expectations for a first-time U.S. Open venue
Playing at a venue for the first time for any major championship, let alone a U.S. Open, gives a lot more variables than a U.S. Open playing on a familiar course.
In 2008 at Torrey Pines, 15-time major champion Tiger Woods was at 3-over par at one point and eventually went on to win with a clutch birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force the most recent U.S. Open playoff against Rocco Mediate. There are so many uncertainties when it comes to new sites hosting major championships, including at Erin Hills six years ago.
What we do know is that this course is going to be difficult like any other U.S. Open course. The barrancas and rough are going to challenge the field to hit the correct side of the fairway and greens. As a result, ball-striking is going to be key this week.
5. Can a Californian win this week in their home state?
There are four in-state players who remain as favorites entering this week. Collin Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park in the Bay Area. He was also part of the 2017 Walker Cup team when the U.S. defeated Great Britain and Ireland, 19-7, at Los Angeles Country Club. Morikawa went 4-0 in his matches over the two-day event.
Morikawa, who was born in Los Angeles, can get the third leg of the career grand slam with a win this week. Last year, Morikawa finished tied for fifth with McIlroy at -2.
Another fellow Los Angeles native has also had success in California. That is Max Homa, who has won twice this season, in addition to being part of Team USA for the Presidents Cup, a week after winning the Fortinet Championship last September. Four of Homa’s six PGA Tour wins have come on California soil, including winning the Farmers Insurance Open five months ago.
Related: How Max Homa is changing golf using the ‘Mamba Mentality’
Before making his debut on the PGA Tour, Homa shot a 9-under 61 at LACC during the first day of the 2013 Pac-12 Championship during his senior season, which remains the course record. That experience could come into play like Fitzpatrick last year after winning the U.S. Amateur a few months after Homa and the University of California Berkley Bears won the Pac-12 Championship.
In addition to Homa and Morikawa, another California duo who teamed up both during the Presidents Cup is Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, who are both looking for their first major victory.
Cantlay, who was born in Long Beach, near Los Angeles and played golf at UCLA, comes to LACC with seven top 10s this season, including a ninth-place finish at the PGA Championship last month. Cantlay, ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, finished tied for 14th last year at 2-over.
Schauffele, ranked No. 6 in the OWGR comes to Los Angeles with seven career PGA Tour wins. His best finish this season was placing second at the Wells Fargo Championship in May to give him his fifth consecutive top-10 finish and eighth top 10 alongside Homa and Rahm, while only trailing Scheffler. The San Diego State alumnus leads the PGA Tour with 26 consecutive cuts, which is six more than Viktor Hovland and Adam Scott.