America’s golf championship returns to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Long Island for the U.S. Open 2026 tournament June 18-21. The 126th U.S. Open will be contested by 156 players on the same course that produced a 1-over-par winning score by Brooks Koepka when he won the 2018 U.S. Open. Tournament and course preview along with player odds to win with player profiles and additional information you can bet on plus picks and props provided next week ahead of the U.S. Open. 

Another severe and stiff challenge awaits the world’s top golfers, along with 12 amateurs from a near record 10,201 entries across local and regional qualifying that included 43 players advancing through golf's longest day of 36-hole qualifying on Monday, June 8. Now golf's most grueling and mentally challenging test awaits the top players with the leaders finding more patience and endurance to persevere with the U.S. Open Trophy and Jack Nicklaus Medal.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

The par 70 Shinnecock Hills Golf Club will play to 7,440 yards. The links course and golf club is located in Southampton, an upscale seaside town on Long Island's South Fork about 80 miles east of New York City anchoring the famous Hamptons region known for its pristine, white-sand shorelines along the Atlantic Ocean. A hole-by-hole description and aerial view of Shinnecock Hills provides some insights and stats when last played in 2018 at the links-style course. 

- Hole 1: The shortest par 4 on the front nine just under 400 yards. More 1-putts than any other hole in 2018 U.S. Open
- Hole 2: Longest par 3 at nearly 250 yards, and a 3.44 stroke average in 2018
- Hole 3: A 500 yard par 4 and the hardest fairway to hit in 2018. Severely-sloped green produced most 3-putts in 2018.
- Hole 4: One of six par 4’s at least 475 yards. Elevated green and gettable pin produced most birdies on a par 4 in 2018.
- Hole 5: Par 5 with split fairways and nearly 600 yards. Easiest hole in relation to par in 2018.
- Hole 6: Par 4 at nearly 500 yards, hole called ‘Pond’ with the courses lone penalty area.
- Hole 7: Shortest par 4 nearly 190 yards with elevation change and sloped green. Most difficult par save if long into large bunker.
- Hole 8: Shorter 440 yard par 4, but plays longer into prevailing wind.
- Hole 9: Blind driving zone on 480 yard par 4. Distance control and uphill approach more difficult into elevated green surrounded by front bunkers.
- Hole 10: Another blind driving zone on a shorter par 4 at 415 yards. Elevated green with false front leaving short shots rolling back 30+ yards.
Hole 11: Shortest hole par 3 less than 160 yards with elevated green surrounded by deep bunkers. "You feel like you can lose the golf tournament here." Brooks Koepka
Hole 12: Prevailing left to right breeze on 470 yard par 4 with generous entry to the green featuring many breaks. 
Hole 13: Shortest par 4 at less than 375 yards, and players in 2018 U.S. Open averaged just 239 yards off the tee going for placement over power approaching an angled green with false front.
Hole 14: Longest par 4 at 520 yards and played as most difficult scoring hole in 2018 at 4.56 and the most difficult green to hit after driving to a severe drop down to drive zone.
Hole 15: Another big dropoff from the tee to landing area on shorter par 4 at 409 yards. Six bunkers protecting larger green. 
Hole 16: Second-easiest scoring hole in 2018 for the 620 yard par 5 into prevailing breeze. But narrow green is flanked by 10 bunkers. 
Hole 17: Narrow angled green on par 3 at 176 yards with bunkers flanked on each side. 
Hole 18: The 490 yard par 4 played as the most difficult hole in 2018. Approach angle key into severely sloped back-to-front pitched green. 

More hole-by-hole details, previews and ranking each hole at Shinnecock. 

The world's top ranked players Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy provided some comments and clues of Shinnecock after playing practice rounds recently. Both Scheffler and McIlroy finished T12 at (-4) in the Memorial Tournament Signature Event in preparation for the U.S. Open. 

“Shinnecock looks good. The fairways are very generous,” McIlroy told reporters last week. “They’re more generous than they were in 2018. But the first cut of rough is 5 inches long. So it’s like the first cut is maybe three paces wide and then it gets into the fescue."

Scheffler visited Shinnecock on Monday, June 1 for the first time. 

"That was my first time on property,” he said. “I was a little surprised at the width of the fairways, but the green complexes there are extremely difficult, and I think that’s where the greatest challenge comes from.” 

According to USGA Chief Championship Officer John Bodenhamer, the fairways at Shinnecock will play an average of 48 yards wide in 2026. 

“It’s widest we’ve been in 50, if not 75, years,” Bodenhamer said.

Both Scheffler and McIlroy acknowledged to Golf.com the difficulty of the Shinnecock green complexes, which are fairly large by square footage but infinitesimally small by strategic upside. Miss the wrong side of the fairway, and your approach to the landing area to keep your ball on the green is often only a few feet wide, perhaps the size of a hula hoop. From the right side of the fairway, your odds are better, but not by much. 

“The greens are rolling around 11, 11.2, something like that, and I really don’t think they need to get much faster,” McIlroy said. “I think if they can keep them at that green speed, they can get them firm, and they can use the hole locations that they want to use without having some of the struggles that they have had the last couple of U.S. Opens.” 

“If it’s set up the right way, I think it’s one of the best championship tests in the country,” McIlroy said. “I mean, it’s an amazing golf course.”

U.S. Open Golf Odds

Leading favorites and contenders golf odds from BetOnline other leading online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live/in-game betting. U.S. Open golf odds adjust during and following rounds. 

+550: S. Scheffler
+1100: R. McIlroy
+1600: J. Rahm
+2000: C. Young
+2200: X. Schauffele
+2500: L. Aberg, T. Fleetwood
+2800: B. DeChambeau
+3000: M. Fitzpatrick
+3300: B. Koepka
+4000: T. Hatton, R. Henley, W. Clark
+5000: J. Rose, SW Kim, C. Gotterup
+5500: J. Thomas, S. Burns
+6000: C. Morikawa, JJ Spaun, P. Reed
+7000: P. Cantlay, H. Matsuyama
+7500: J. Spieth
+8000: V.Hovland, J. Niemann, B. Griffin
+9000: S. Lowry, R. MacIntyre, MW Lee, C. Smith
+10000-13500: A. Rai, A. Bhatia, R. Gerard, K. Reitan,
M. McNealy, K. Kitayama, S. Straka, A. Noren, H. English,
J.T. Poston, G. Woodland, A. Scott, R. Fowler, N. Hojgaard 

Next week's U.S. Open will begin as the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals are completed and champions are crowned. More sports including MLB and the world stage for the World Cup and World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, which I've already cashed-in a top 1% finish from 4,600 entries in a WSOP Gold Bracelet event while getting the best of it at the live cash games across Las Vegas. 

More U.S. Open coverage ahead including player profiles and stats, which I provided for this year's majors at The Masters and PGA Championship at Off Shore Gaming Association. 

You can bet on it. 

FairwayJay is a leading sports betting industry analyst, handicapper, content creator, writer, reporter and poker player based in Las Vegas. He's been covering major sports including from a betting perspective for more than two decades. FairwayJay is also on the scene for major sports and poker events plus industry conferences as a credentialed media member. Follow @FairwayJay on X and OSGA for more insight and information you can bet on.