NBA star Curry won’t host Tour event this season

Brooks Koepka goes for the three-peat. Tiger Woods returns to the site of his masterpiece performance. Phil Mickelson attempts to complete the career Grand Slam. There are plenty of storylines for next week’s U.S. Open at arguably the world’s most scenic course. Six hundred FedExCup points are available for the winner, as well. Here’s a look at some of the tee times we’ll have an eye on at Pebble Beach (note: FedExCup ranking in parentheses; (a) – amateur; all times ET). Jon Rahm (12): The winner of this season’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Ryan Palmer) has three top-10s in majors in his career. His best U.S. Open finish was T23 in 2016, his last event as an amateur. Marc Leishman (11): The CIMB Classic champion has five top-10s in majors but none at the U.S. Open. Rory McIlroy (4): The reigning PLAYERS champion and 2016 FedExCup champion also won the U.S. Open in 2011. Thursday tee time: 10:51 a.m. off No. 10. Friday tee time: 4:36 p.m. off No. 1. Si Woo Kim (39): The 2017 PLAYERS champion has four top-10s this season. Rickie Fowler (8): The 2015 PLAYERS champion also won this year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. He was runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Open. Jason Day (36): His 12 PGA TOUR victories include the 2016 PLAYERS and 2015 PGA Championship. He is a two-time U.S. Open runner-up. Thursday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 1. Friday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 10. Justin Thomas (14): The 2017 FedExCup champion has two top-3 finishes this season but is still seeking his first win since last year’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Kevin Kisner (19): Kisner picked up his first World Golf Championship at this year’s Dell Technologies Match Play. Kisner and Thomas were teammates on the 2017 Presidents Cup. Bryson DeChambeau (27): The five-time PGA TOUR winner also was the 2015 U.S. Amateur champion. Thursday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 10. Friday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 1. Dustin Johnson (5): Not only has he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am two times, but he was the 54-hole leader at the 2010 U.S. Open. He shot a final-round 82, but got his U.S. Open title six years later. Phil Mickelson (24): He picked up his record-tying fifth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am victory earlier this year. Now he’s trying to complete the Career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He finished T4 at the 2010 U.S. Open. Graeme McDowell (53): The 2010 U.S. Open champion won earlier this year at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Thursday tee time: 11:13 a.m. off No. 10. Friday tee time: 4:58 p.m. off No. 1. Francesco Molinari (22): The reigning champion of The Open won earlier this year with a final-round 64 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Viktor Hovland (a): Hovland won last year’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, and was the fifth-ranked player in college golf this season. Brooks Koepka (2): He’s won the past two U.S. Opens and PGA Championships. He also won this season’s CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Thursday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 1. Friday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 10. Webb Simpson (42): The 2018 PLAYERS champion also won the 2012 U.S. Open in Northern California, at the Olympic Club. Adam Scott (15): The former PLAYERS champion has two runners-up this season, at the Farmers Insurance Open and Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Matt Kuchar (1): He leads the FedExCup standings after two wins this season. He also popularized the arm-lock putting method on the PGA TOUR that Simpson employs and Scott used earlier this year. Kuchar is the 2012 PLAYERS champion. Thursday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 10.  Friday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 1. Jordan Spieth (65): He won the 2015 U.S. Open en route to claiming the FedExCup. He hasn’t won since the 2017 Open Championship but his game is trending in the right direction. He has three consecutive top-10s. Spieth also won the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Justin Rose (10): The reigning FedExCup champion already won once this year on the California coast, at the Farmers Insurance Open. He is the 2013 U.S. Open champion. Tiger Woods (20): He returns to the site of his record-smashing performance in the 2000 U.S. Open. He also was T4 here 10 years later. Woods is a two-time FedExCup champion. He’ll have another opportunity to tie Sam Snead’s PGA TOUR record of 82 victories this week. Thursday tee time: 5:09 p.m. off No. 1 Friday tee time: 11:24 a.m. off No. 10. Here are the full first and second round tee times for the 2019 U.S. Open. (* Denotes 10th Tee Start) FIRST ROUND 9:45 AM Sam Saunders Carlos Ortiz Marcus Fraser 9:45 AM* Luis Gagne (a) Sepp Straka Julian Etulain 9:56 AM Player TBD Erik Van Rooyen Chun An Yu (a) 9:56 AM* Dean Burmester Player TBD Kyounghoon Lee 10:07 AM Ryan Fox Thorbjorn Olesen Player TBD 10:07 AM* Clement Sordet Tom Hoge Adri Arnaus 10:18 AM Scottie Scheffler Matt Parziale (a) Nick Taylor 10:18 AM* Brian Davis Kevin O’Connell (a) Billy Hurley III 10:29 AM Patton Kizzire Jovan Rebula (a) Jason Dufner 10:29 AM* Brendon Todd Luke Donald Mike Weir 10:40 AM Haotong Li Bubba Watson J.B. Holmes 10:40 AM* Kyle Stanley Billy Horschel Danny Willett 10:51 AM Zach Johnson Martin Kaymer Ernie Els 10:51 AM* Jon Rahm Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy 11:02 AM Si Woo Kim Rickie Fowler Jason Day 11:02 AM* Justin Thomas Kevin Kisner Bryson Dechambeau 11:13 AM Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton Gary Woodland 11:13 AM* Dustin Johnson Phil Mickelson Graeme McDowell 11:24 AM Cameron Smith Matthew Wallace Xander Schauffele 11:24 AM* Hideki Matsuyama Sergio Garcia Tommy Fleetwood 11:35 AM C.T. Pan Abraham Ancer Brandon Wu (a) 11:35 AM* Jhonattan Vegas Patrick Reed Louis Oosthuizen 11:46 AM Chan Kim Justin Walters Player TBD 11:46 AM* Rob Oppenheim Rhys Enoch Richard Lee 11:57 AM Nick Hardy Noah Norton (a) Andreas Halvorsen 11:57 AM* Andy Pope Ryan Sullivan Matthew Naumec 3:30 PM Rory Sabbatini Sam Horsfield Roberto Castro 3:30 PM* Nathan Lashley Renato Paratore Lee Slattery 3:41 PM Cameron Young (a) Marcus Kinhult Brian Stuard 3:41 PM* Player TBD Collin Morikawa Aaron Wise 3:52 PM Luke Guthrie Joseph Bramlett Charlie Danielson 3:52 PM* Merrick Bremner Chip McDaniel Cody Gribble 4:03 PM Austin Eckroat (a) Alexander Noren Charles Howell III 4:03 PM* Michael Thorbjornsen (a) Chez Reavie David Toms 4:14 PM Thomas Pieters Chesson Hadley Stewart Hagestad (a) 4:14 PM* Rafa Cabrera Bello Kevin Na Keegan Bradley 4:25 PM Paul Casey Patrick Cantlay Lucas Glover 4:25 PM* Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson Brandt Snedeker 4:36 PM Kiradech Aphibarnrat Keith Mitchell Shugo Imahira 4:36 PM* Luke List Lucas Bjerregaard Branden Grace 4:47 PM Francesco Molinari Viktor Hovland (a) Brooks Koepka 4:47 PM* Webb Simpson Adam Scott Matt Kuchar 4:58 PM Tony Finau Jimmy Walker Ian Poulter 4:58 PM* Byeong Hun An Devon Bling (a) Matthew Fitzpatrick 5:09 PM Jordan Spieth Justin Rose Tiger Woods 5:09 PM* Justin Harding Aaron Baddeley Player TBD 5:20 PM Daniel Berger Matthew Jones Kodai Ichihara 5:20 PM* Ollie Schniederjans Mikumu Horikawa Anirban Lahiri 5:31 PM Matthieu Pavon Chandler Eaton (a) Callum Tarren 5:31 PM* Daniel Hillier (a) Alex Prugh Zac Blair 5:42 PM Eric Dietrich Guillermo Pereira Brett Drewitt 5:42 PM* Hayden Shieh Spencer Tibbits (a) Connor Arendell SECOND ROUND 9:45 AM Nathan Lashley Renato Paratore Lee Slattery 9:45 AM* Rory Sabbatini Sam Horsfield Roberto Castro 9:56 AM Player TBD Collin Morikawa Aaron Wise 9:56 AM* Cameron Young (a) Marcus Kinhult Brian Stuard 10:07 AM Merrick Bremner Chip McDaniel Cody Gribble 10:07 AM* Luke Guthrie Joseph Bramlett Charlie Danielson 10:18 AM Michael Thorbjornsen (a) Chez Reavie David Toms 10:18 AM* Austin Eckroat (a) Alexander Noren Charles Howell III 10:29 AM Rafa Cabrera Bello Kevin Na Keegan Bradley 10:29 AM* Thomas Pieters Chesson Hadley Stewart Hagestad (a) 10:40 AM Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson Brandt Snedeker 10:40 AM* Paul Casey Patrick Cantlay Lucas Glover 10:51 AM Luke List Lucas Bjerregaard Branden Grace 10:51 AM* Kiradech Aphibarnrat Keith Mitchell Shugo Imahira 11:02 AM Webb Simpson Adam Scott Matt Kuchar 11:02 AM* Francesco Molinari Viktor Hovland (a) Brooks Koepka 11:13 AM Byeong Hun An Devon Bling (a) Matthew Fitzpatrick 11:13 AM* Tony Finau Jimmy Walker Ian Poulter 11:24 AM Justin Harding Aaron Baddeley Player TBD 11:24 AM* Jordan Spieth Justin Rose Tiger Woods 11:35 AM Ollie Schniederjans Mikumu Horikawa Anirban Lahiri 11:35 AM* Daniel Berger Matthew Jones Kodai Ichihara 11:46 AM Daniel Hillier (a) Alex Prugh Zac Blair 11:46 AM* Matthieu Pavon Chandler Eaton (a) Callum Tarren 11:57 AM Hayden Shieh Spencer Tibbits (a) Connor Arendell 11:57 AM* Eric Dietrich Guillermo Pereira Brett Drewitt 3:30 PM Luis Gagne (a) Sepp Straka Julian Etulain 3:30 PM* Sam Saunders Carlos Ortiz Marcus Fraser 3:41 PM Dean Burmester Player TBD Kyounghoon Lee 3:41 PM* Player TBD Erik Van Rooyen Chun An Yu (a) 3:52 PM Clement Sordet Tom Hoge Adri Arnaus 3:52 PM* Ryan Fox Thorbjorn Olesen Player TBD 4:03 PM Brian Davis Kevin O’Connell (a) Billy Hurley III 4:03 PM* Scottie Scheffler Matt Parziale (a) Nick Taylor 4:14 PM Brendon Todd Luke Donald Mike Weir 4:14 PM* Patton Kizzire Jovan Rebula (a) Jason Dufner 4:25 PM Kyle Stanley Billy Horschel Danny Willett 4:25 PM* Haotong Li Bubba Watson J.B. Holmes 4:36 PM Jon Rahm Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy 4:36 PM* Zach Johnson Martin Kaymer Ernie Els 4:47 PM Justin Thomas Kevin Kisner Bryson Dechambeau 4:47 PM* Si Woo Kim Rickie Fowler Jason Day 4:58 PM Dustin Johnson Phil Mickelson Graeme McDowell 4:58 PM* Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton Gary Woodland 5:09 PM Hideki Matsuyama Sergio Garcia Tommy Fleetwood 5:09 PM* Cameron Smith Matthew Wallace Xander Schauffele 5:20 PM Jhonattan Vegas Patrick Reed Louis Oosthuizen 5:20 PM* C.T. Pan Abraham Ancer Brandon Wu (a) 5:31 PM Rob Oppenheim Rhys Enoch Richard Lee 5:31 PM* Chan Kim Justin Walters Player TBD 5:42 PM Andy Pope Ryan Sullivan Matthew Naumec 5:42 PM* Nick Hardy Noah Norton (a) Andreas Halvorsen

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — The U.S. Open is changing to a two-hole aggregate playoff, the last of the four majors to do away with an 18-hole playoff. The change is takes effect immediately and would be used at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in June if there is a tie after 72 holes. The U.S. Golf Association also decided to make its other three open champions two-hole playoffs — the U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Women’s Open. The U.S Open has had 33 playoffs in its 117 years, all decided by 18 holes or more. “There was a time when they did make sense before television, before the modern era of wanting everything decided immediately,” said Mike Davis, chief executive of the USGA. “There is no correct way to determine a tie in stroke play.” The last U.S. Open playoff was 10 years ago at Torrey Pines, where Tiger Woods beat Rocco Mediate in 19 holes for his 14th major. The Masters was the first major to abandon the 18-hole playoff in 1976 when it changed to sudden death. The PGA Championship did the same a year later, and Lanny Wadkins won the first sudden-death playoff in major championship history in 1977 at Pebble Beach. The PGA later changed to a three-hole aggregate. The British Open changed to a four-hole aggregate in 1986. The U.S. Open used to have a 36-hole playoff, last used in 1931 when Billy Burke and George Von Elm tied after 72 holes, tied after the 36-hole playoff and then played another 36 holes. Burke won by one shot. Then, if 18-hole playoffs were tied, another 18 holes were played. Starting with the 1990 U.S. Open, an 18-hole playoff that ended with a tie was decided by sudden death. Hale Irwin won that year. Davis said the USGA chose a two-hole playoff to allow a player to recover from one bad shot and still keep the intensity of the playoff being decided quickly. The 10-year stretch between playoffs is the longest in U.S. Open history. “This came up about two months ago,” Davis said. “We’ve had 33 playoffs since 1895. Do your math and that’s one every 3 years. For the last 23 years, we’ve had two playoffs. So it was proactive.” He said the USGA asked players, broadcaster partners, vendors and fans about ending the 18-hole playoff. “I won’t say it was everybody, but seemingly it was, `Why do we have to come back tomorrow?'” Davis said. No one seemed to mind the last playoff, mainly because it involved Woods, who was playing for the first time since the Masters because of a shattered left leg that required surgery two weeks after he won. There was pandemonium at the gates with people trying to get in, long lines at concession stands with few vendors. Davis said it was one of the largest digital audiences for a sports event because so many people were at work. Stewart Cink, who won the British Open at Turnberry in 2009 over Tom Watson, liked the idea of scrapping the 18-hole playoff. “I think 18 holes is a bit much for a playoff, and it’s more often than not going to be a bit anticlimactic,” he said. “They’ve got the captive audiences, the players are at the peak of their games, why not let them duke it out? They’ve got plenty of daylight. Whether it’s two, three or four holes doesn’t matter. I do not like the sudden-death aspect of the major. I think one hole is a little quick to decide a major.” The USGA also felt the three-hole aggregate playoffs for the U.S. Women’s Open — instituted after Annika Sorenstam beat Pat Hurst in 18 holes at Newport Country Club in 2006 — and the U.S. Senior Open worked well. Davis also said he was having a hard time explaining why the men had to go 18 holes for a playoff and the women played only three holes. “That got us to say, `Let’s look at every aspect.’ We just concluded now is the right time,” Davis said. Davis said the two-hole aggregate would be different holes, but not limited to the 17th and 18th holes depending on the course. In the case of Shinnecock Hills, playing the 17th and 18th would mean a par 3 and a par 4. The 17th and 18th holes at Pebble Beach in 2019 would be a par 3 and a par 5, two of the most scenic holes in American golf.

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