The 2026 United States Open Championship was the 126th edition of the U.S. Open, the national open golf championship of the United States. It was held from June 18–21, 2026 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York. It was the sixth Open hosted at the club.
The prize pool was $22.5 million, which was an increase of $1 million compared to the 2025 edition. The winner's share also rose from $4.3 to $4.5 million. Wyndham Clark led wire-to-wire to claim his second U.S. Open title.
Course layout
Field The field for the U.S. Open is made up of players who gain entry through qualifying events and also those who are exempt from qualifying. The exemption criteria include provisions for recent major champions, winners of major amateur events, and leading players in the world rankings. Qualifying is in two stages, local and final, with some players being exempted through to final qualifying.
Exemptions
This list details the exemption criteria for the 2026 U.S. Open and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players were exempt are indicated in parentheses.
1. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2016–2025)
Wyndham Clark Bryson DeChambeau (21) Matt Fitzpatrick (12,21) Dustin Johnson Brooks Koepka (7) Jon Rahm (2,6,21) J. J. Spaun (2,11,21) Gary Woodland (21)
2. The leading ten players, and those tying for tenth place, in the 2025 U.S. Open
Sam Burns (11,21) Ben Griffin (11,21) Tyrrell Hatton (21) Russell Henley (11,21) Viktor Hovland (11,21) Robert MacIntyre (11,21) Carlos Ortiz Scottie Scheffler (6,7,8,9,11,12,21) Cameron Young (9,11,12,21)
3. The winner of the 2025 U.S. Senior Open Pádraig Harrington
4. The winner of the 2025 U.S. Amateur Mason Howell (a)
5. Winners of the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, and the runner-up in the 2025 U.S. Amateur
Hamilton Coleman (a) Jackson Herrington (a) Brandon Holtz (a)
6. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2022–2026) Rory McIlroy (9,11,21)
7. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2022–2026)
Aaron Rai (21) Xander Schauffele (8,21) Justin Thomas (11,21)
8. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2021–2025)
Brian Harman (11,21) Collin Morikawa (11,21) Cameron Smith
9. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2024–2026)
10. The winner of the 2025 BMW PGA Championship Alex Norén (21)
11. All players who qualified and were eligible for the 2025 Tour Championship
Ludvig Åberg (21) Akshay Bhatia (21) Keegan Bradley (21) Jacob Bridgeman (21) Patrick Cantlay (21) Corey Conners (21) Harris English (21) Tommy Fleetwood (21) Chris Gotterup (12,21) Harry Hall Im Sung-jae Shane Lowry (21) Hideki Matsuyama (21) Maverick McNealy (21) Andrew Novak (21) Justin Rose (12,21) Sepp Straka (21) Nick Taylor (21)
12. Winners of multiple PGA Tour events from the 2025 U.S. Open to the start of the 2026 tournament
13. The top 5 players in the FedEx Cup standings as of May 18 who are not yet exempt
Alex Fitzpatrick Patrick Rodgers Matti Schmid Sahith Theegala Sudarshan Yellamaraju
14. The top player on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour points list Johnny Keefer
15. The top 2 players on the 2025 Race to Dubai who are not yet exempt as of May 18
Laurie Canter Adrien Saddier
16. The top player on the 2026 Race to Dubai as of May 18 who is not yet exempt Jayden Schaper
17. The winner of the 2025 Amateur Championship Ethan Fang (a)
18. The winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2025 Jackson Koivun (a)
19. The individual winner of the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship Preston Stout (a)
20. The winner of the 2026 Latin America Amateur Championship Mateo Pulcini (a)
21. The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 18
Daniel Berger Michael Brennan Pierceson Coody Jason Day Nico Echavarría Rickie Fowler Ryan Fox Ryan Gerard Ryo Hisatsune Nicolai Højgaard Michael Kim Kim Si-woo Kurt Kitayama Jake Knapp Min Woo Lee Matt McCarty David Puig Patrick Reed Kristoffer Reitan Adam Scott Alex Smalley Jordan Spieth Sam Stevens
Marco Penge did not play due to chronic health problems.
22. The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking if not otherwise exempt as of June 15
Bud Cauley J. T. Poston
23. The top player from within the top 3 of the 2025 LIV Golf League individual standings who is not yet exempt as of May 18 Joaquín Niemann
24. The top player from within the top 3 of the 2026 LIV Golf League individual standings as of May 18 who is not yet exempt Lucas Herbert
25. Special exemptions
Qualifiers
Date Location Venue Field Spots Qualifiers May18 Surrey, England Walton Heath Golf Club(New and Old courses) 80 7 Filippo Celli, Ugo Coussaud, Ángel Hidalgo, Matthew Jordan, Nathan Kimsey, Niklas Nørgaard, Rocco Repetto Dallas, Texas Dallas Athletic Club(Blue and Gold courses) 123 9 Cooper Dossey, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, T. K. Kim (L), Tom Kim, Graeme McDowell, Manav Shah (L), Jimmy Stanger, Caleb Surratt, Peter Uihlein May25 Hino, Japan Hino Golf Club 38 3 Ryuichi Oiwa, Kaito Onishi, Taihei Sato Jun8 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Lambton Golf and Country Club 59 6 Emiliano Grillo, Max McGreevy, William Mouw, John Parry, Marcelo Rozo, Alejandro Tosti Sacramento, California Del Paso Country Club 77 4 Marek Fleming (a,L), Eric Lee (a), Taylor Montgomery, Matt Robles (a,L) Palm Beach Gardens, Florida BallenIsles Country Club 73 4 Ryder Cowan (a), Giuseppe Puebla (a,L), Miles Russell (a), Ben Silverman Ball Ground, Georgia Hawks Ridge Golf Club 77 5 Robbie Higgins (L), Chris Kirk, Chase Kyes (a,L), Keith Mitchell, Jake Peacock (L) Rockville, Maryland Woodmont Country Club 77 4 Ben Kohles, Logan Reilly (a,L), Jake Sollon (L), Jackson Suber Purchase, New York Century Country ClubGolf Club of Purchase 79 4 Max Greyserman, Ben James, James Nicholas, Kevin Roy Gastonia, North Carolina Gaston Country Club 63 5 Cole Hammer, Jackson Ormond (a,L), Jackson Van Paris (L), Brandon Wu, Yuan Yechun Springfield, Ohio Springfield Country Club 75 5 Zac Blair, Nick Hardy, Billy Horschel, Neal Shipley, Dylan Wu Westerville, Ohio Lakes Golf and Country Club 51 4 Vaughn Harber (a,L), J. B. Holmes, Árni Sveinsson (a), Davis Thompson Creswell, Oregon Emerald Valley Golf Club 54 2 Greyson Leach (L), Andrew Putnam
Alternates who gained entry The following players gained a place in the field, having finished as the leading alternates in the specified final qualifying events:
Chandler Phillips (Texas) Hennie du Plessis (England) Bryan Lee (a) (Maryland) Jack Schoenberger (L) (Georgia) Spencer Tibbits (L) (Oregon) Harry Higgs (North Carolina)
Round summaries
First round Thursday, June 18, 2026
Play started on time but after 30 minutes into it things got delayed by approximately two hours due to heavy morning fog, while strong winds throughout the day tested the field on the championship layout. The opening round was ultimately suspended due to darkness, leaving 50 players yet to complete their rounds.
2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark seized control of the opening round of the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, setting the early pace with a six-under-par score through 16 holes before darkness suspended play. Clark took advantage of calmer late-afternoon conditions and produced a stretch of birdie-birdie-eagle to open a four-shot lead over the field.
A group of seven players sat four shots behind Clark at two-under par, including former U.S. Open champions Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland. Sam Stevens and Max McGreevy shared the completed clubhouse lead after rounds of 68, while amateur Ryder Cowan matched the lowest opening round by an amateur at Shinnecock Hills with a two-under-par 68.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy briefly held a share of the lead during the afternoon before settling for a one-under-par 69 after finishing with back-to-back bogeys. Ludvig Åberg also opened with a 69 to sit five shots behind Clark.
Keith Mitchell set a new low-scoring record for the first nine holes at Shinnecock, completing it in 29 strokes with four birdies plus an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole. However, he had started on the 10th tee during the worst of the weather and played the back nine in 41 shots (four bogeys and a double on the 10th) to card an even-par 70.
Defending champion J. J. Spaun struggled in the difficult conditions and opened with a seven-over-par 77. World number one Scottie Scheffler, attempting to complete the Career Grand Slam, carded a two-over-par 72 after battling putting issues and several costly mistakes during his round.
Friday, June 19, 2026
Overnight leader Wyndham Clark completed his final two holes on Friday morning with pars to finish the opening round at six-under-par 64 and retain a two-shot lead.
Among the players returning to complete their opening rounds, Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland produced the biggest moves up the leaderboard. Both former U.S. Open champions birdied enough of their remaining holes, reaching four-under-par 66, and three-under-par 67 respectively, moving into 2nd and 3rd place, two and three strokes behind Clark.
Amateur Ryder Cowan completed one of the standout rounds of the day, finishing with a two-under-par 68 to share fourth place. Cowan's score matched the lowest opening round by an amateur at Shinnecock Hills and left him firmly in contention entering the weekend.
Jon Rahm, Sam Stevens and qualifier Spencer Tibbits finished tied for fifth at two under par, while a group of nine players shared tenth place at one under. That group included Ludvig Åberg, Rory McIlroy, Max Greyserman, Brian Harman, Ben James, William Mouw, Max McGreevy, Corey Conners and Ángel Hidalgo.
The first round concluded with 18 players under par, highlighting the more receptive conditions that followed Thursday's fog delay despite the continuing challenge presented by Shinnecock Hills.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Wyndham Clark 64 −62 Dustin Johnson 66 −4T3 Matt Fitzpatrick 67 −3 Gary WoodlandT5 Ryder Cowan (a) 68 −2 Max McGreevy Jon Rahm Sam Stevens Spencer TibbitsT10 Ludvig Åberg 69 −1 Corey Conners Max Greyserman Brian Harman Ángel Hidalgo Ben James Rory McIlroy
Second round Friday, June 19, 2026
Summary
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Wyndham Clark 64-69=133 −7T2 Matt Fitzpatrick 67-70=137 −3 Tom Kim 70-67=137 Xander Schauffele 71-66=137 Sam Stevens 68-69=1376 Collin Morikawa 73-65=138 −2T7 Sam Burns 71-68=139 −1 Harry Higgs 71-68=139 Sahith Theegala 72-67=139 Justin Thomas 71-68=139
Third round Saturday, June 20, 2026
The third round (also known as "Moving Day") proved to be tricky at Shinnecock Hills, as only two players shot a round under par and most falling back. Wyndham Clark, the leader of the first and second round, shot an even round of 70 to maintain the lead, which was extended to six shots.
Scottie Scheffler, looking to complete the career Grand Slam, shot a one under 69 after chipping in at the 14th. He had reached two under for the tournament, but a bogey on the 17th dropped him back into a tie for second at one under with Tom Kim, Sam Stevens, and Sahith Theegala.
The only other player who shot under par was Emiliano Grillo, shooting a round of three under 67, which was the best round on Saturday, which moved him into a tie for sixth with Sam Burns, Keith Mitchell, and Xander Schauffele.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Wyndham Clark 64-69-70=203 −7T2 Tom Kim 70-67-72=209 −1 Scottie Scheffler 72-68-69=209 Sam Stevens 68-69-72=209 Sahith Theegala 72-67-70=209T6 Sam Burns 71-68-71=210 E Emiliano Grillo 73-70-67=210 Keith Mitchell 70-70-70=210 Xander Schauffele 71-66-73=210T10 Matt Fitzpatrick 67-70-74=211 +1 Tommy Fleetwood 70-71-70=211 Collin Morikawa 73-65-73=211
Final round Sunday, June 21, 2026
Summary