Good morning from the US Open 🇺🇸

Good morning and welcome to the Breakfast Ball — the email that tells you what's going on in the golf world, in Plain Jane English. The US Open is gets underway momentarily, and here’s what we’re serving up today:

• What you needa know about the US Open 🇺🇸

• Tiger talk 🐅

• Rory is a married man (again) 💍

• Buffet Bets 💰

What you needa know about the US Open 🇺🇸

We have plenty to go through regarding this week’s US Open at Pinehurst, so let’s get right into it.

There is no rough at Pinehurst 

I find that long rough golf courses can make a tournament very one-dimensional, because you only have one option: hack it out as far as possible and figure it out from there.

The beauty of Pinehurst is that there is no rough. Instead, it has this inconsistent sandy waste-area that allows for an array of different outcomes.

A course like this demands a different skill-set, and a ton of creativity.

I can’t wait to watch the fellas maneuver these areas 🍿

Expect carnage around the greens

Pinehurst no. 2 is best known for it’s upside-down-bowl greens. They might look big, but the reality is that only 50-60% of each green is flat enough for a ball to stay on it.

The areas around the greens are extremely tightly-mown, and impossible to make proper contact from.

Combine the two with greens rolling at 13.5 on the stimp, and you have carnage on your hands.

Tiger even said he thinks guys will end up playing ping-pong with themselves because of how hard it is to keep the ball on the green there.

More popcorn material on top of the no-rough situation.

LIV golfers have a new avenue to the US Open

So the USGA announced that they’re looking to create ways for LIV players to qualify for the US Open starting in 2025.

I’m not necessarily the most-pro LIV guy, but not having guys like Joaquin Niemann or Talor Gooch (lol jk) in the field this week is not ideal.

This is great news, snd here’s some that’s even better ↓

Jon Rahm is not playing this week

Jon Rahm showed up to Pinehurst on Monday wearing a shoe on one foot, and a flip-flop on another, did a press conference, and WD from the golf tournament.

Feels pretty useless considering he knew he was likely too hurt to play, but to each their own. Here’s his full statement ↓

Notable tee times today

We have some banger pairings for the first two rounds of the US Open. Here are the top-4, in my opinion:

7:29 am ET: Tiger—Fitz—Zalatoris

7:40 am ET: JT—Collin—Brooks

1:14 pm ET: Rory—Scottie—Xander

1:25 pm ET: Bryson—Vik—Max

Tiger talk 🐅

As per usual, golf twitter is hyping up Tiger pre-major, forcing everyone to develop a tiny sense of belief that IT can happen. And Trevor Immelman even said this ↓

The fact that it’s gonna be hot and humid all week/weekend in North Carolina definitely helps TW — he even said it “feels like home” in this weather.

The coolest Tiger-bit so far this week is that his son Charlie is his new swing consultant. Seeing Big Cat and Little Cat out there working on the game together is so f*cking cool.

Rory is a married man (again) 💍

Shoutout to Rory, who called off his divorce from his wife of seven years. The couple agreed to resolve their differences and that their best future was together. Cool, awesome, divorce sucks.

I follow the press conferences very closely every week, and I was super skeptical regarding Rory’s upbeat mood on Tuesday morning. This news explains it.

I’m not saying he’s winning this week, but I definitely sense contention at the minimum. Buckle up 👀

Buffet Bets 💰

No time to waste, let’s talk some shop.

So we hit another outright last week with Scottie. Some will say it doesn’t count because it’s Scottie, but I’m counting it since we took Collin too and he came second. Uncommon Breakfast Ball outright W.

Since it’s a major week, we’re gonna lay five bets on the table. Tail or fade as you will:

The obvious: Scottie to win outright (+300) — yea, gonna save my breath here. You get it.

The less-obvious-but-still-obvious: Collin to win outright (+1400) — back-to-back weeks ripping these two, and why not. I keep saying it, but Collin is playing great golf and hasn’t broken out yet in 2024. It’s only a matter of when.

The solo-top play: Corey Conners top-10 finish (+600) — the second best iron player in the world right now (yes, it’s true). Tough to pass up on +600 odds when the leaderboard will be bleak at the top. You can finish 8 shots behind the eventual winner and be in the top-10 this week. Run it.

The top-10-parlay: Rory & Collin (+440) — I’m only taking this because the odds shocked me. Feels too good to pass up. Rory, albeit major-less in the span, has been the best US Open player since 2019 (T9, T8, T7, T5, 2). I feel good about this one.

The cut-makers: Brooks, Tommy, Hideki, Cam Smith & Corey Conners to make the cut (+390) — another one I feel great about and will have multiple units of my own on it.

The stage is set. I cannot wait for the 124th US Open at Pinehurst 🇺🇸

Quick Bites 🥓

Gold-digger: Golf Channel’s Live from the US Open coverage was focusing on Rory’s range session, but the real show was some dude picking his nose incessantly and putting his boogers on the railing.

Scottie-arrested jokes haven’t gotten old yet: Someone at a member/guest in Louisville pulled up with a fake cop hanging on the side of his car… 💀

“I suggest you shut the f*ck up!”: DO NOT chirp Ian Poulter, because he will clap back.

Dirty dancing: Scottie’s footwork is truly mind-boggling 🤯