Leftover Pars, Birdies, and Bogeys from the 2026 U.S. Open

The U.S. Open is always such an interesting, chaotic, and controversial week that it feels like there is never enough time to discuss all the elements of what we witnessed in the Sunday wrap-up, whether they’re good or bad.

Before we move on to the Travelers, we wanted to take a few minutes to hand out a few birdies, bogeys, and pars from the national championship. For the sake of brevity, and because we went deep on each of them in Monday’s newsletter, we don’t need to discuss Wyndham Clark or Sam Burns. Consider them the gross and net winners of the week.

Pars

Scottie Scheffler — Finishing T-4 in your first attempt at a career grand slam? Not anything to be ashamed of. It didn’t feel like it, but his Strokes Gained numbers were actually better than Clark's off the tee (+.92 vs. +.62) and on approach (+.92 vs. +.81). Unfortunately for him, his putting (+.48) was the worst of anyone in the top 10. He’s going to win more majors, but it may need to be on a course where putting isn’t valued quite as much.

Xander Schauffele — His streak of consecutive top-15 finishes in the U.S. Open is now a decade long. He’s also never been closer than five strokes on the final day. Sure would be nice to see this California kid, and two-time major winner, get in the mix at Pebble in 2027.

Julie Elion — Probably got a little too much camera time, judging by the reaction on X. Some of that was NBC’s fault. Not sure we needed an interview with her during the golf on Saturday, then another on Sunday. On the flip side, she’s clearly able to work wonders with Clark. You have to think her phone will be blowing up with players interested in hiring her.

USGA Leadership — It’s been 24 years since the original distance report came out. The idea of a rollback still got pushed back to 2030. On the bright side, USGA CEO Mike Whan says he sincerely believes players are open to the idea for the first time. Bifurcation might be back on the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Sam Burns hit 9-iron into 18 from the same distance Corey Pavin hit his iconic 4-wood.

Joaquin Niemann — Threw a tantrum, threw a club 50-plus yards, was in tears on the range when he was assessed a two-stroke penalty, then went out in the second round and birdied five of his first six holes. Finished T-7, took accountability for his behavior, made the press laugh. A truly eventful week!

Keith Mitchell — He actually deserves to be in the Birdies category, but how can we place him anywhere else than here after he became the first player to ever shoot four rounds of even par (70-70-70-70) in the U.S. Open? His 41-29 on Thursday is the stuff you only hear about at bachelor parties, when someone is still sobering up during an early tee time.

Birdies

J.T. Poston — Backs up his win at the Memorial with a T-4 finish. Probably still an outsider for a spot on the President’s Cup team, but trending in a great direction.

Pierceson Coody — Finished T-23 in just his second major as a professional. Has been playing some good golf, but needs to tighten up his short game. He’s statistically one of the worst players on Tour right now around the greens.

Justin Thomas — Consecutive top-20 finishes in a major for the first time since 2022. Getting closer to playing high-level golf again.

{{inline-article}}

Bogeys

Long Island Golf Fans — The USGA and Shinnecock didn’t want a repeat of the behavior displayed at the Ryder Cup and tried to scale back some of the infrastructure and reduce ticket sales by 25 percent from last year at Oakmont in favor of a more intimate event. Whan even told The Athletic those decisions left “tens of millions” of dollars on the table. The fans still misbehaved in a way that became part of the story, openly cheering when Clark hit poor shots. Three spectators (that we know of) were kicked out on the first three holes on Sunday. Some journalists went so far as to call New York golf fans “poisonous” and “a stain on the game.”

Rory McIlroy — Iron play was not great all week. Was briefly in the mix at the championship, but was never sharp enough to win. T-32 is his worst U.S. Open finish since 2018.

Jordan Spieth’s Putting — The flat stick remains a mess. He putted great in the second round, but then putted atrociously in the other three rounds. Is it mental? Sure feels like it. If he’s ever going to climb back into contention, he has to get better on the greens.

Jon Rahm — The only player in the field to shoot in the 60s in the first round and still miss the cut. Was in the same weather wave as Clark, but imploded on Friday, playing a five-hole stretch in 6 over to eject from the championship. Whatever secret he discovered prior to the PGA Championship that helped him feel like he now understood how to prep for majors seems to have vanished. Get this man a good contract lawyer and get him back in a competitive environment the minute LIV Golf files for bankruptcy, please.

Bryson DeChambeau — Appears to be gunning for this year’s Cam Smith Award as he now has a chance to miss the cut at all four majors if he flames out at the Open next month. His time on Long Island would have been better spent filming a Breaking 50 episode with Billy Joel.