Follow live: Who will win the U.S. Open?

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Mike Davis knows what people say. Davis, the CEO of the United States Golf Association, has heard the talk that the USGA obsesses about par and how to keep its U.S. Open champions at least within shouting distance of it. That’s fine, he says. But it’s not true. “Since I’ve been at the USGA, and it’s been almost 30 years, I’ve never heard anybody at the USGA say we’re shooting for even par,â€� Davis said in a press conference before the 118th U.S. Open on Wednesday. “Never heard it. … “But we talk about, incessantly, how do we get the course to be really a great test of golf?â€� Davis continued. “As we say, get all 14 clubs dirty to make sure that these players are tested to the nth degree.â€� What they’ve come up with is the latest and, in the opinion of many, greatest version of Shinnecock Hills, a course that opened as a 12-holer in 1891 and since then has been altered in ways big (William Flynn, 1931) and small (the newly restored Stanford White clubhouse). The most significant recent change: A three-year restoration by the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw that began in 2012 and yielded a course that is vastly different than the one that hosted U.S. Opens in 2004, 1995, 1986 and all the way back to the first one in 1896. “Honestly, I think they’ve got it right,â€� said Rory McIlroy. There is a perception that the USGA is due and maybe overdue for a rousingly successful U.S. Open host course. At the largely experimental 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, players ripped the bumpy greens. Last year brought controversy over the generously wide fairways at Erin Hills, a pastoral gem in Wisconsin where the anticipated wind didn’t blow. In the crudest terms, Coore-Crenshaw took out a lot of natural vegetation: trees, bushes, and fescue. They had brought Shinnecock’s fairways to as much as 60 yards wide, but in the aftermath of Erin Hills, last September, the USGA and the Shinnecock grounds crew replaced the fairways’ edges with transplanted fescue so that the average width is now closer to 40. That’s still a lot more generous off the tee than the 26.6-yard average that confronted players in ’04. In Shinnecock, the USGA is going back to its roots, a course that is by turns clever and beautiful, and with a clubhouse that could’ve been painted by Andrew Wyeth. The 7,440-yard, par-70 beauty is built on roughly 250 acres of rolling, sand-based terrain. It’s bouncy and fast, and, in part thanks to Coore-Crenshaw, mostly treeless and devoid of extraneous brush. Photographs of previous U.S. Opens here show a different looking, different playing course. In 1995, when the mustachioed Corey Pavin won, holes were separated from one another by trees and brush. Not anymore. Coore-Crenshaw also expanded both the greens and the green roll-offs. Phil Mickelson, who is second on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting, has backed the changes. Ditto for 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, who once disliked Shinnecock. “I did play in 2004,â€� he said, “didn’t have the fondest of memories of the place, but that actually changed.â€� The Englishman said he returned to Shinnecock in 2012 or ’13, played with a few members, and saw a landscape transformed. “I saw the course more width-wise as we’re seeing this week,â€� Rose said, “and it completely changed my impression of the whole golf course. “It went from being not a very fun experience to actually, wow, now I see why it’s one of the top-rated golf courses in the world,â€� he added. “I thoroughly enjoyed it. I came here with a changed approach, I suppose, and an attitude towards the place, and I’ve really enjoyed my practice.â€� Players will debate what to hit off the tees, mixing in plenty of long-irons, fairway woods and hybrids and potentially limiting driver use, depending on the wind. (Thursday could bring gusts of 25-30 mph.) Then, Rose said, he’ll aim for the middle of the greens. “Easier said than done,â€� he added. The humps and hollows, steep grades and tight run-off areas, will funnel balls away from pins and, in some cases, up to 50-plus yards away. That’s why one of the most common sentiments so far this week is that this is a second-shot golf course. “They have to think about what happens when the ball lands,â€� Davis said, “where’s it going to bounce and roll to. It rewards players that can work the ball both left and right and right and left, knock down shots, hit high shots. So, it really, indeed, is what we’re looking for as a test.â€� At most golf courses, a shot is over when the ball lands on the green; at Shinnecock Hills, that’s when the fun is just beginning.

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Wake up! Time to get back to work. The 2019-20 season is upon us, starting with this week’s event, A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. It’s a new date for the event, which skipped a year in the schedule reshuffling and now becomes the PGA TOUR’s kickoff event. Consequently, that means rookies in the field. In fact, all 21 rookies this season will be at The Greenbrier. So the chances of seeing a first-time winner this week? Higher than usual. The Flyover The 615-yard 17th is the last of the two par 5s on the back nine (but it’s not necessarily the last scoring hole, as the 179-yard par-3 18th played under par in 2018). Despite its length, the 17th is reachable for long hitters. Howard’s Creek guards the right side of the fairway, and bunkers surround the four corners of an undulating green. Landing Zone Beware of the “principal’s noseâ€� that sits in the middle of the fairway at the 385-yard 10th, the shortest – and easiest – par 3 at The Old White TPC. The nose is about 315 yards from the tee, so most players will land short – although J.B. Holmes had a tee shot two years ago that finished just left of the two bunkers. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed in 2018. Weather check From PGA TOUR meteorologist Kyle Koval: “The threat for thunderstorms will persist into tonight, with highest chances before midnight. Another warm and humid day on Thursday may allow isolated shower/T-storm development over the higher terrain, again chances of impactful weather at the course is low. Shower and T-storm chances will increase Friday and Saturday as a front moves through the area. Rainfall amounts could exceed 0.50 inch. Drier conditions should return for Sunday but this will depend on the positioning of the front. Areas of morning fog are possible each day and could become dense after recent rains.â€� For the latest weather news from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. Sound Check When you think about a bad season, really was it a bad season? I kept my job and I get to play golf for a living. When I look at it from that perspective it wasn’t a bad year at all. By the numbers 50 – Strokes under par by Kevin Na in his Greenbrier career (20 rounds). That’s the best cumulative score to par by any player in the tournament’s history. The next closest to Na is Russell Henley and Pat Perez, each at 39 under. 7 – Cuts made by Scott Stallings at The Greenbrier, the most of any player (he’s never missed a cut). Keegan Bradley is next with six made cuts. Stallings won the first of his three TOUR titles at Greenbrier in 2011. 480 – TOUR-leading total birdies made by Sungjae Im in his rookie season in 2018-19. It’s the third highest total in a single season on TOUR since 1980. Scattershots New cut line: This will be the first TOUR event since the change of the cut line from top 70/ties to now top 65/ties. Had the top 65/ties rule been in place the last time the Greenbrier was played, well, it would not have changed anything. A total of 77 players made the cut that week, with 18 players landing on the cut number of 3 under, leaving that group T-60 going into the weekend. Elusive Top 10: Although Bubba Watson has a house at Greenbrier, The Old White TPC has not treated him so kindly in his five starts. His best finish is a T-13 (in 2015 and 2018). A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier is one of just four events in which Watson has made five or more starts without at least one top-10 finish. (The rest of the list includes 12 starts at THE PLAYERS Championship, 11 starts at The Open Championship and five starts at the John Deere Classic). Zach’s 50th: Zach Johnson is playing A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier for the first time. It will be the 50th different tournament that Johnson has played on TOUR. His lone win in a tournament debut came in the 2008 Valero Texas Open. He has 24 top-25 finishes in those 49 previous debuts. Fall winners: Of the 43 players who have won fall events since the start of the wrap-around schedule for the 2013-14 season, 39 have finished inside the top 70 in the final FedExCup standings. That’s a 91% conversion rate. Of those who reached the BMW Championship, 25 advanced to the TOUR Championship. With 11 tournaments this fall, it’ll be interesting to see how those numbers are affected.

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Dustin Johnson is everywhere. If you've spent any time at the newsstand lately, you've seen this week's defending Masters champion on the cover of Golf Digest. And Golf Magazine. And Cigar Aficionado, with fiancée Paulina Gretzky. And Modern Luxury Manhattan. He is posing with his driver, hitting a shot, smoking a cigar, and rocking not the green jacket but a stylish black leather one. Two of the cover stories mention the name of his yacht, Just Chillin'. One of them enlists DJ in making a pimento cheese sandwich. Another has him recreating an iconic cover shot from 24 years ago. Another still reveals his unusual standard breakfast on tournament days. But which writer was surprised to wind up sharing a pizza with him? Herewith, a quick rundown. CIGAR AFICIONADO Headline: "The Natural" Writer: David Savona Gist of article: The human side of a superstar with a dream life. "I was home, he was home," Savona says of their interview. "I got him in the morning, before his workout. When I called him at 7:30, there were some kids' noises, and he was like, ‘Hey, man, I need a few minutes, can you call me back?' It turned out he was taking his kids to school." Fun fact: Johnson made his high school golf team as a seventh grader. Cover backstory: The magazine recreated a March/April 1997 cover of Wayne Gretzky and wife Janet; Gretzky suggested the concept to Cigar Aficionado publisher and owner Marvin Shankel while they were playing golf. "We recreated the pose down to the outfits," Savona says. "White dress shirt and black slacks for Dustin and Wayne, the smoking jacket for Paulina and Janet. The way they're holding the cigars is the same. It's a real homage to when Paulina's parents appeared on the cover. We got a great reaction to it; people really liked the image." Where interviewed: "We're actually not supposed to say precisely where we did it," Savona says. "It was at a golf club. And I had about an hour with him on the phone for the story." Quote wall: "The distance he hits it, as straight as he hits it, we all wonder how he ever loses a golf tournament." - Jack Nicklaus DJ on DJ: "My favorite thing about the Masters is the sandwiches." Takeaway: "I'd never spoken with him before, even though he had gone to a couple of our events," Savona says. "We're co-sponsors of the Els for Autism Pro-Am, and he's participated in the past, down in Jupiter, at Old Palm. The overall impression I got is he comes across as a pretty easygoing guy, despite being the world's No. 1 golfer and being engaged to the daughter of the greatest hockey player ever. He has a lot of regular guy to him, which is pretty remarkable." GOLF DIGEST Headline: "Might it be that Dustin Johnson's greatest strength is his mind?" Writer: Daniel Rapaport Gist of article: Johnson has a Zen-like ability to stay in the present moment. Fun fact: Johnson had to tame his aggression and learn to manage his game. "He was a free-wheeler," Butch Harmon says. "As he used to say, on every hole, ‘I'm just sending it, bro.'" Where interviewed: Floridian Golf Club. "We spent about four hours with DJ capturing a bunch of different content—instructional videos, fun videos, cover shots, fun shots—before I sat down with him for an extended interview," Rapaport says. "I wanted to take a deeper dive into DJ's mind ... it's clear that his outlook is the envy of his peers. I'm a big meditation guy, and from afar I thought he best personifies the benefits of a quiet mind and thought control. The guy is 36 and he's been a force in golf for a decade, so you have to find an angle to avoid simply re-stating what's already been written." Quote wall: "Dustin has a wonderful ability to be very interested in what he's doing but to underreact to everything." - Dr. Bob Rotella DJ on DJ: "I try not to overcomplicate stuff - shots. Obviously, I've played enough golf. I understand the game very well." Takeaway: "I believe there are lessons in the way he goes about his business," Rapaport says. "That there are only a few select people whose opinions matter, and that the key is identifying who those people are, and who they are not. As far as golf goes, that there's no need to add any significance to a bad shot or a bad round. We all have a tendency to try to add a second sentence to a poor outcome. I played terrible...so I am terrible. I hit this bad shot...because I stink at hitting draws. There is no need to add the second sentence. Dustin has an innate ability to ignore narratives entirely. Some things in life just are." GOLF MAGAZINE Headline: "Master of One" Writer: Josh Sens Gist of article: Johnson has worked hard to get the most from his talent. Fun fact: "I was less surprised by DJ than I was by his brother Austin, who was very engaging and funny," Sens says. "It’s probably easier to be the caddie than the star. It made me wonder whether DJ has some of that in him and just doesn’t show it. I was also surprised to learn that DJ’s nickname in high school was Styles DJ. A snappy dresser who really cared how he looked." Where interviewed: "The cover shoot was in Florida a few weeks before we met," Sens says, "so I only interacted with DJ for the interview, which we did on an outdoor patio at the Fairmont in Santa Monica. DJ looked ridiculously relaxed, lounging back on a chair, enjoying the weather. But he hadn’t had time to eat and was really hungry. His agent ran out and got him a pizza from down the street. I was hungry, too, but didn’t want to mooch food off my subject. I think DJ saw me eying the pizza because he offered me a slice. And, when I ate that slice, he offered another. He was insistent that I share with him. That seemed like good southern manners to me." Quote wall: "Dustin was obviously a big hitter and a good player, but I'd be lying if I said that I knew how good he was going to be." - Allen Terrell, Johnson's coach at Coastal Carolina DJ on DJ: "When I retire, I'm going to buy a bigger boat." Takeaway: "I had watched him on the range at Riviera, and he went to the very far end, far from all the other guys," Sens says. "It was like he just needed to be in his own private Idaho. About 20 minutes into DJ’s range session, Rory wandered up, said hello and started hitting balls beside him. He and DJ would pause now and then and engage in conversation. They seemed to have an easy rapport. I guess there’s nothing too remarkable about this, but I was reminded of all the praise and supportive things Rory has said about DJ in the press in recent times. In particular, at Harding Park, where Rory was one of the first to leap to DJ’s defense when Koepka threw shade on DJ’s record in the majors. It underscored for me the level of respect DJ commands on Tour." MODERN LUXURY MANHATTAN Headline: "Golf Pro Dustin Johnson on Family, Focus And The Future" Writer: Phebe Wahl Gist of article: Johnson is stylish and successful, but also a soft-spoken family man. Fun fact: Johnson recently learned he's allergic to gluten. "I'm very routine in what I do every day - especially before a tournament round," he tells Wahl. "I eat the same breakfast, usually an omelet and an oatmeal pancake." Where interviewed: "The shoot was at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica," Wahl says, "and we also caught up over the phone while he was at home with his family. Sometimes with athletes at this level there are big egos, but Dustin was so humble and grounded. He was so pleasantly down-to-earth. I really enjoyed getting a glimpse inside his mind and understanding how much he loves the game. I loved seeing how much he loves his family. The joy and pride he has playing with his young children was apparent." DJ on DJ: "Paulina helps with my style for sure. She's way more stylish than I am." Takeaway: "I walked away thinking Dustin is in it for the true love of the game," Wahl says. "It was so refreshing to learn that someone at this level still feels that joy from the sport that got them interested in it as a kid."

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