For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the U.S. Open gets underway.

1. “Full steam ahead” in Monahan’s absence

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…“PGA Tour executive vice president Tyler Dennis said Wednesday that the Tour’s priorities remain unchanged even with commissioner Jay Monahan currently sidelined because of an undisclosed medical situation.…“We’re full steam ahead as a business,” Dennis said Wednesday while appearing on Golf Channel’s “Live From the U.S. Open”.”

• “All of our priorities remain unchanged. We had a big announcement last week and nothing is changing in that regard. We’re working very hard toward the definitive agreements. There’ll be a lot of news on that subject in the coming weeks and months.”

2. Rahm: Many players feel betrayed

Peter Scrivener for BBC Sport…”A lot” of PGA Tour players “feel betrayal from management” following last week’s announcement of the proposed merger with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, says Jon Rahm.

• “The world number two was only alerted to the news by text messages.”

• “I thought my phone was going to catch on fire at one point,” said Rahm.

• “I told [my wife] Kelley I’m going to throw my phone in the drawer and not look at it for four hours because I can’t deal with this anymore.”

3. Saudis to compensate PGA Tour loyalists?

Martyn Ziegler for the Times…”Golf’s Saudi investors are planning a compensation fund for players such as Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour and refused hundreds of millions of dollars to join the breakaway LIV competition.”

• “The move follows last week’s peace deal in which Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will effectively bankroll the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour via a new joint venture.”

• “The plan would allow players such as Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Sergio García to keep the money they were paid to join LIV Golf but would also hand leading players on the PGA Tour substantial payments from the new entity to “level up” their financial rewards, according to a source with knowledge of the proposal.”

4. Hadwin on viral security guard incident

Jon McCarthy of the Toronto Sun…“I don’t blame him one bit,” Hadwin told Postmedia ahead of a Tuesday practice round at Los Angeles Country Club.

• “Of course, that’s easier for Hadwin to say after waking up Monday morning pain-free after the wild finish to the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale.”

• “Listen, I think it was just one of those freak incidents,” Hadwin said. “I kind of came around the corner just as hot as he did, and I’m sure in the moment the entire security team was told not to lose contain on the situation because if Nick wins it could get crazy, and I was a plain-clothed, hoodie- and jeans-wearing guy coming in hot.”

5. Morikawa on PIF-PGA Tour deal

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Morikawa, you may remember, had a hilarious, somewhat indignant response—and a response that was echoed by many players—to last Tuesday’s shocking news, tweeting, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter.” Speaking to the media on Tuesday at Los Angeles Country Club, the two-time major winner was asked his thoughts on the potential deal, now that he’s had a week to marinate on it, and Morikawa started by saying the obvious before making a hard zag.”

• “Yeah. I don’t know anything,” Morikawa said. “So I’ll talk about my FORE Youth Project that we’re doing. It’s this Maggie Hathaway project. It’s amazing. It’s in a community that is for underprivileged kids, kids that don’t have an opportunity to play. There’s many great organizations coming on board with this, and it’s something that means a lot to me.

6. The challenge of the shortest hole in U.S. Open history

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”Ten years ago at the 2013 Pac-12 Championship, Jon Rahm, then a freshman at Arizona State, thought he’d flagged a lob wedge at Los Angeles Country Club’s diminutive one-shotter, the par-3 15th hole.”

• “It landed a foot from the hole,” Rahm recalled, “and went long into the rough.”

• “Expect a similar script this weekend.”

• “While No. 15 is listed at 125 yards on the official card for the 123rd U.S. Open, it is expected to weigh in at just 80 yards – or perhaps a couple yards shorter. That yardage would make it the shortest hole ever played in a U.S. Open…”

• “It will prove that par-3s don’t have to be 200 yards,” Rory McIlroy said of the hole, which is part of LACC’s five par-5s, two of which tip out at 284 yards or longer.

7. Rory ready to roll

John Turnbull for Bunkered…“The long wait to capture a major championship might almost be over for Rory McIlroy, who believes he is primed to end his drought.”

• “In an interview with Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir, the Northern Irishman hinted at being in a confident position heading into this week’s US Open.”

• “McIlroy claimed the first of his four major wins at Congressional in 2011 and has a top-ten finish in his last four US Open starts.”

• “He said: “I’ve started to figure out how to handle US Open conditions, and there is a lot more patience in my game than there used to be.”

• “I’ve had my ups and downs in this tournament as the years have gone by, but I feel like I’ve figured it out.”

8. 2012 vs 2023

9. Photos from the U.S. Open

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s major!