Usually, the U.S. Open is one of the handful of golf events that commands headlines. This year, with the tournament at Los Angeles Country Club on Wiltshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills for the first time, the tournament will definitely be at the forefront of the news cycle. With the news that shocked the golf world last week, the U.S. Open is sure to generate a ton of attention as LIV players like Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and others are sure to be hounded by media for their take on the new deal.
The lovely Los Angeles Country Club.
It's @USOpenGolf week 🤩
📸 @USGA pic.twitter.com/UBCnzU2k3P
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 12, 2023
Maybe—just maybe—the golf will elevate itself over the politics as the best in the game come together to battle firm fairways and long rough in what is surely one of golf’s most difficult tests.
What To Watch For
The Course
Most people will never have laid eyes on LA Country Club, one of the most exclusive courses in the U.S. With a hole that runs adjacent to the Playboy Mansion, LACC is housed in one of the most expensive areas of the country. It is also a remarkable course, having been fully restored by architect Gil Hanse in conjunction with Geoff Shackelford. The course meanders over rolling land punctuated by ever-present ravines and is truly one of the best to ever host the championship. In that regard, LACC might just be the star of the week.
Giving the people what they want.
Cheers to the unofficial start of #USOpen week! pic.twitter.com/r3zLWG0Ou7
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 11, 2023
Who To Watch
Jon Rahm won the U.S. Open in San Diego in 2021 and seems to be able to elevate his game on the west coast. Expect him to be in the mix as he continues to have an exceptional year … Scottie Scheffler nearly won the 2022 U.S. Open and had a Top 10 finish in 2021. He seems poised for a breakthrough in the hardest championship in North America … He’s hardly a dark horse, but Viktor Hovland, hot off his recent win at Muirfield Village, would be one to watch this week.
Canadians In The Mix
Roger Sloan, Corey Conners, Adam Svensson, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor.
There’s lots of Canadian representation this week, with Pendrith qualifying and several Canucks coming into the week having had solid seasons. Listowel, Ont.’s Conners has to be high up the list of potential contenders, having played well at the PGA Championship and recorded his second win at the Valero Texas Open in April. As good a ballstriker as there is on the PGA Tour, Conners hasn’t had significant success at the tournament, but that could change.
“I haven’t probably hit it my best at any of the U.S. Opens I’ve played, but you almost can’t ball strike your way around that tournament because it is so difficult,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “It is so difficult to hit fairways for anyone, even the best in golf. I think your game has to be so well rounded in that championship and the short game and putting are, are really important.”
LIV vs. PGA Tour
With the news that the year-long battle between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour might be coming to an end, breakaway players like Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith and others are sure to get a lot of attention as they offer their perspective on the merger. But all eyes will likely be on Brooks Koepka, who has made significant runs in both of the last two majors, winning the PGA Championship after coming up short at The Masters.