It seemed a little like laughter and a lot like relief. He was preparing to answer a question about Shinnecock Hills’ 7th hole, which is only a par-3 in Shinnecock Hills note but, in the first round of the 2026 US Open, it was much more than that. fiendish it was a word for him. Crazy another one. A member was elected brutal.
Fleetwood talked about the wind, how the green slopes and where the bunkers sit. The landing area is small and Fleetwood was happy to hit it 27 yards. But what the hole really does is challenge your mental strength, which is what it is US Opens are all about.
“How disciplined can you be?” Fleetwood said. “How aggressively can you try to hit the perfect shot?”
The hole — all 180 yards of it — can drive good nuts. But for the fans in the stands behind them? It’s a blast. As one volunteer spotter said, “It’s the best hole to watch because you see balls going left. AND right.”
The 7th played as the third-hardest hole overall (3.48) on a terrible Thursday (with several players left to finish their rounds) and the hardest par-3. The last time the Open was at Shinnecock, in 2018, the hole was tamer, playing as the hardest 12th with a 3.235 average.
This hole has history. In 2004, when Retief Goosen won here, JJ Henry and Kevin Stadler were the first pair on Sunday and recorded a collective. 12 on the 7th. The greens were so dry that the crew watered them between pars. Mike Davis, head of the USGA at the time, called the day “a double whammy.” The 7th played as the second hardest hole of the tournament that year, with a 3.41 stroke average.
The hole wasn’t that unfair on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.
Cameron Smith birdied a 6. JJ Spaun found the green, walked halfway to the hole and got his ball, clutching the crown of the green and fighting the winds, lost the battle and sank into the sand. Bogeys or worse eclipsed pars made.
“That shot on 7, a par-3, is very difficult,” said Sam Stevens, who shot a 68 to take the club’s early lead. He called the 7th the trickiest shot he faced. “It’s maybe 180 or 175 yards. I hit a 6-iron that I normally hit about 200 yards. Just getting that ball to the green, I don’t know how you get it to the green. You have to hit a perfect shot.”
Shinnecock Hills is known for its strong collection of par-3s, and the 7th is a Redan template. The green corners elevated from front right to back left, with two bunkers to the left and another to the right. The ideal shot is usually something that runs down that slope and is placed near the pin, or something more toward the front middle of the green that won’t flow back. But Thursday’s tee shot was mid-right, and the wind — a steady 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph — was blowing hard toward the front left of the green.
A few balls that landed near that center-left area went away and collected in the bunkers. Long shots were spitted behind the green. The balls on the front end bounced off and tumbled back down the hill. (The worst miss is in the right bunker, which the green played away from, though Max Greyserman missed the memo, found that bunker and somehow opened up for the birdie.)
The safe mandate is left because these guys are good and getting up and down the green or bunker isn’t particularly difficult when you’re working uphill with the green and the wind against you. But that often requires a 4- to 6-footer, and no putt on that green is flat.
“I hit a 6-iron,” Fleetwood said. “The wind is out right today. Even just being on the green, I feel like it’s an incredible shot.”
A view from behind the par-3 7th green at Shinneock Hills.
USGA
Alex Noren hit a low cut with a 5-iron, a swing that barely finished behind his hip. The ball landed 3 feet on the green, bounced a bit and rolled back down the hill. He became a bogeyman.
“It’s a crazy hole, but there’s room,” Noren said. “You just have to hit the right shot, but it’s just penalizing if you don’t. You just have to have the right trajectory and the right spin on the ball.”
Ludvig Aberg skipped the ball out and onto the green. He stepped up and down the par and shot 69.
“I hit a 5-iron today, so it’s a long club,” Aberg said. “Just knowing you don’t have a chance adds up to a lot of shots being played from those two bunkers. … It’s a challenging little hole.”
What is really scary is that the 7th can take more difficult. With 156 players in the first two rounds, the USGA has to balance test players while the rounds don’t last six hours. Some balls that stayed on the left edge of the green on Thursday’s 7th, for example – supported by strategic irrigation – will be in the bunker with faster conditions this weekend, a Shinnecock member warned.
Another volunteer summed it up well: “Not many smiles coming in at 7 today.”
;)
