The major’s return to the famous West Course for the first time since 2006 was originally scheduled for June 18 to June 21, but the coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to postpone the event by three months.
Defending champion Gary Woodland arrives into the tournament with the unenviable task of becoming only the second player in the last three decades to successfully defend the U.S. Open title, after Brooks Koepka, absent this week because of injury, won the tournament in 2017 and 2018.
If history doesn’t bode well for Woodland, it is not particularly encouraging for bookmakers’ favorite and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson either.
Of the last 18 majors, 13—including the last three—have been won by a player who had never clinched one of golf’s four big tournaments before, meaning that Johnson could face an uphill task if he is to add a second crown to the U.S. Open he won in 2016.
However, if there is a man capable of brushing off inauspicious statistical omens, it is Johnson in his current form.
The 36-year-old finished tied for second at the PGA Championship in August, before winning The Northern Trust and the Tour Championship, with a second-place finish at the BMW Championship sandwiched between those two victories.
World no. 2 Jon Rahm will be looking to clinch a first career major, while like Johnson world no. 3 Justin Thomas hopes to add a second major title to his trophy cabinet.
Tiger Woods makes his first start since the BMW Championship late last month as he looks to win a fourth U.S. Open crown and a 16th major, while Rory McIlroy hopes to end a major drought that has now extended into its sixth year.
Here’s all you need to know to keep up with the action in the first round.
TV Coverage (All times ET)
The U.S. Open is broadcast by Golf Channel and NBC. Coverage of the first round begins on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. ET on Golf Channel and runs until 2 p.m., before switching to NBC from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Live Stream (All times ET)
Golfchannel.com, NBCSports.com and fuboTV. The final two hours of first round coverage between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. will also be available for free via NBC Universal’s new streaming service, Peacock.
Between 7:55 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. usopen.com, the U.S. Open app and the U.S. Open streaming app will offer coverage of featured groups, with coverage of featured holes running on all three platforms between 8:10 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Selected Tee Times (All times ET)
Tee No. 1
7:56 a. m. —Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth8:07 a. m. —Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods1:05 p. m. —Gary Woodland, Andy Ogletree, Shane Lowry1:16 p. m. —Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau1:27 p. m. —Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Jon Rahm1:38 p. m. —Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland
Tee No. 10
7:45 a. m. —Tyrrell Hatton, Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett7:56 a. m. —Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day8:07 a. m. —Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Justin Rose8:18 a. m. —Ian Poulter, Patrick Cantlay, Steve Stricker1:05 p. m. —Matt Fitzpatrick, Daniel Berger, Branden Grace1:16 p. m. —Tommy Fleetwood, Kevin Kisner, Abraham Ancer1:27 p. m. —Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley1:38 p. m. —Billy Horschel, Xander Schauffele, Brandt Snedeker