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Cherished Championship – The 110th U.S. Open

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16 years ago

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Nicklaus, Watson, Kite, Woods. The last four winners of United States Open Championships contested at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. It’s a prestigious list and one every player in the field wants to join at the 110th playing of the U.S. National Championship.

But few win U.S. Opens; most simply survive better than their peers. That wasn’t the case in 2000 when Tiger Woods lapped the field but this year looks a lot different than those halcyon days of just a decade ago.

Woods is in the field this week, as in Tom Watson as each will have very different perspectives on what this Open will mean to them. For Watson, undoubtedly it will be a swan song, while Woods is hoping it will signify his return to the game at a championship level. 

 Like any major championship there are dozens of storylines to follow but before you pay attention to the front runners have to give respect to what is championship is really about. Every dreamer with enough ability can qualify to play in this event, adding an element unseen for most of the year, save for the British Open Championship.

The dream of young American golfers, the one they play out on the putting green as a child, is to win their national championship, and whether you are five times runner-up Phil Mickelson or Stanford standout Joseph Bramlett, you have that opportunity before you this week on the Monterrey Peninsula. 

Homegrown Contenders

Mickelson, as the number 2 ranked player in the world and the best player who has come closest but is yet to win the U.S. Open, is “the guy”. He is the one the weight of America rests on this week. He has been in position to succeed before and if he can find fairways at Pebble (no easy task but considerably easier given the positive weather forecast for the week) it is his championship to win or lose. That is written with no disrespect to any non-American players but being that is his OWN National Championship gives him that more motivation and the edge.

In a couple days of practice at Pebble, Tiger Woods has been the polar opposite of his 2000 form. A decade ago he knew where the ball was going each and every time. This week, in practice at least, there appears to be little consistency in the results of each and every shot. It is hard not to imagine that he will find some sort of a swing to play with come Thursday when he tees it up in Group 39 with Ernie Els and Lee Westwood. Even so, by the end of the day he just might be the high man in that illustrious trio. It is just too tough to say but the memories of 2000, when he won by 15, just might be the fuel he needs to light his fire. Either way, it will be entertaining to watch.

As for other U.S. contenders – there are plenty of options. Hunter Mahan and Sean O’Hair, out of the Sean Foley stable, could make this their breakout championship. Steve Stricker is always a good pick and if you want dark horses – try David Duval or Shawn Micheel. Duval is determined to win a U.S. Open and Micheel, a man who knows how to win a major, is coming off a strong week in Memphis. Zach Johnson has both the ability and mindset to win a major and should not be discounted.

Foreign Invasion

Westwood, Westwood, Westwood. After a win last week the Englishman will grab a large portion of the spotlight. But the #3 player in the world, in my estimation, was rather erratic last week. And variable shots will buy nothing but trouble this week on the gnarly U.S. Open layout strewn with wild grasses and innumerable unplayable lies. 

For foreign content on the leaderboard I’ll stick to the straight and narrow players, given the layout and the inherent penalties for getting off-line. Tim Clark (Players Championship) and Luke Donald (Madrid Masters) have wins this year and might be ready for Major Championship glory.  Watch too for fairway and green specialists like Stephen Ames.

Ground Resistance

Like any recent U.S. Open, while one player may end up hoisting the trophy, the golf course will always be the winner.

At 7040 yards and playing to a par of 71, on paper Pebble Beach Golf Links does not look the typical U.S. Open configuration but as we know from past Championships here, only the best players will prevail. 

Playing 194 yards longer than it did for the 2000 U.S. Open , length is not a huge factor at Pebble, but keeping a ball on the fairway and on the correct part of the greens (n fact, just hitting them), will be.   Favourable weather should help players manage their fairways and greens in regulation but it is all too easy in a major to worry about where NOT to hit it than the opposite.

No hole will stand as a better barometer of play than hole #2. After an opener where birdie is a real possibility, the 502 –yard, par four, 2nd will be ready to slap players in the head and remind them that they are playing in a U.S. Open.

If they survive the first 8 holes they will get another reminder on the 9th, a par four playing 505 yards this week where the tilting fairway effectively plays half its yardage.

If players can manage to avoid disasters at those two holes they might be in the running.

And lastly, if the Championship is close, it will all come to down to the 17th and 18th holes. The tricky 208-yard 17th has been the home to U.S. Open drama in the past and there is no reason to think that another on-the-stick shot (Nicklaus, 1972), or chip-in (Tom Watson) on the way to victory cannot happen again.

Come Father’s Day on Sunday the chances are good an emotionally charged moment will take place on one of the most beautiful golf holes in the world, the 543-yard, 18th at Pebble Beach. The par five is an ideal canvas for drama with the ocean looming left.

There could be no better backdrop for any player, whether a first-time major champion or repeat victor, to make their U.S. Open dreams come true.

This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

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May 12, 2026

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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