⛳They just don't stop

Good morning. The U.S. Open is the week where “just hit the fairway” somehow becomes both the most obvious advice in golf and the hardest thing to do.

-Harry Carlisle

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER we’ll get into:

Bud Cauley won the RBC Canadian Open for his first PGA TOUR victory.

It had been a long wait. Cauley turned pro in 2011, played 15 seasons as a pro, and had made 239 PGA TOUR starts without a win before Sunday.

Memorable moment: Cauley’s Sunday push came in the middle of the back nine, where he birdied 11, 12, 13, and 15. The big one was No. 13, the hardest hole of the week, which played more than three-tenths of a shot over par.

Brooks Koepka withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday morning with a hand issue. I watched him Saturday, and around the green on No. 2, he appeared to flex his hand after taking practice swings from the rough. Later, near No. 8, he seemed to grimace again. By No. 9, he was speaking with his trainer.

After the round, Koepka explained the issue: “I’m struggling to grip the club with my ring finger and pinkie finger,” he said. “The club is kind of just, my fingers would come loose, it was kind of numb.”

It fits the bigger theme heading into Shinnecock: these guys don’t really stop. Morikawa is coming off a back injury, Knapp has been out with a thumb problem, and Marco Penge has already withdrawn from the U.S. Open because of ongoing health issues.

Aaron Rai has one of golf’s craziest streaks. According to the PGA TOUR broadcast, he’s never posted an over-par round in a PGA TOUR event in Canada. That’s insane.

Shinnecock has rare history: it’s the only golf club to host the U.S. Open in three different centuries, one of them being the second U.S. Open ever, back in 1896.

Scottie Scheffler is missing only the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam. If he wins at Shinnecock, he becomes the seventh men’s player to win all four majors, and joins Tiger Woods as the only player since 1960 to complete the slam the first time they had the chance at the missing piece.

The USGA is leaning into Shinnecock’s actual personality: wide targets, wind, angles, short grass around the greens, and approach shots that reward the correct side of the fairway.

The danger is when firm becomes unfair. Shinnecock has crossed that line before. In 2004, the 7th green got so dry that officials watered it between groups. In 2018, the setup got severe enough that Phil Mickelson chased a putt while it was still rolling off the 13th green and hit it back toward the hole before it stopped.

Hole to watch: No. 16

It’s the only par 5 on Shinnecock’s back nine, and it’s not a normal “bomb it and go” par 5.

The hole is 614 yards, and the usual wind is into players from the right.

How pros will play it: They’ll pick one side of the fairway and most will most likely lay up short of a bunker about 100 yards from the green.

“Hit the fairway” sounds simple, but it gives your brain too much room to wander.

A better process is to shrink the target.

Pick a tiny mark about six feet in front of the ball, a broken tee, old divot, or discolored blade of grass. Aim the clubface at that mark, then build everything around it.

Check the wind. Pick the safe side. Flatten the ground behind the ball if it helps you stand comfortably. Take two practice swings. Step in. Send the ball over that small spot.

Want more tips like this? We’re building a simple learning library, with every tip organized by part of the game so it’s easier to remember when you’re actually on the course. It’ll be live this week, so keep an eye out for the link in Thursday’s issue.

This week’s Golf Mini is called Masked. A few clues are hiding in plain sight.

Play the mini crossword →

Jackson Koivun, the No. 1 amateur in the world, will forgo his senior season at Auburn and accept PGA TOUR membership through PGA TOUR University Accelerated. He’ll finish his amateur career at next week’s U.S. Open, then make his pro debut at the John Deere Classic. At this point, there wasn’t much left to prove: two NCAA team titles, two Ben Hogan Awards, and one of the best college golf resumes in recent memory.

In case you missed it: Phil Mickelson was reportedly removed as a member at The Farms Golf Club near San Diego after a female employee accused him of inappropriate physical contact. The notable detail is the timing: reports say club officials confronted Mickelson mid-round, which suggests the club believed the matter required immediate action.

Bob Does Sports keeps landing pros: Justin Thomas joined Bob Does Sports for a three-on-one match filmed the day after his final-round 65 at the PGA Championship. The best story: JT said he once played 45 holes at Ohoopee Match Club with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Jason Dufner, and Kevin Kisner. By the end, they had 37 open bets on the card and somehow finished dead even.