US Open Power Rankings

The year’s third major is upon as the world’s best players head to Shinnecock Hills for the 2026 US Open.

Last held at the venue in 2018 when Brooks Koepka beat Tommy Fleetwood by a shot, it’s notable how many of the top 10 finishers were either elite ball-strikers, have excellent Open records, or both.

Of players who finished in the top 10 at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, Koepka, Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton and Patrick Reed all finished in the top 10 at Royal Portrush for the 2019 Open.

Extending that to the 2025 Open, there’s Xander Schauffele who finished T7 last year, Matt Fitzpatrick (T12 at Shinnecock, T4 at Portrush), and even Haotong Li, who was T4 at Portrush last year, recorded a T16 finish at Shinnecock.

There’s also Rickie Fowler, who was T20 at Shinnecock despite carding an 84 on Saturday, who finished T6 at the following year’s Open.

All of the above is perhaps not so surprising given Shinnecock’s reputation as an inland links.

The US Open is the ultimate test in golf; players typically need to be long and straight off the tee, immaculate on approach, possess an excellent short game and be able to navigate fast, undulating greens. There’s also the mental question the week poses with birdies so hard to come by and bogeys constantly waiting to punish the smallest mistake, as players fight to keep their composure amidst frequent adversity.

But despite being a US Open venue, Shinnecock Hills is unusually generous off the tee, and longer hitters might be at even more of an advantage than usual. Fairways are extremely wide, and only the most wayward hitters will be punished by the extremely penal rough.

That said, Koepka took more than his share of driving irons off tees on the Sunday in 2018 with strategic bunkering preventing players from letting fly everywhere.

Of the top five finishers that week, Fleetwood and Dustin Johnson had excellent driving weeks, but Koepka, Patrick Reed and Finau ranked 21st, 15th and 55th respectively for SG: OTT.

SG: APP was a little more telling, with Koepka ranking first, Fleetwood 12th, Johnson 34th, Reed ninth and Finau 13th.

A good short game is always useful at a major, with four of the top five players in terms of short game all ranking in the top 10 on the final leaderboard, and anyone who plays Shinnecock will say all of the danger comes on approach, with green complexes repelling approach shots and forcing players to scramble well.

It’s hard to win a major without an excellent putting week, and Koepka’s putting was outstanding en route to victory eight years ago, but Shinnecock is a real tee-to-green test.

5 - Matt Fitzpatrick

The solo-second at the RBC Canadian Open was a welcome return to form after a slightly underwhelming few weeks for Matt Fitzpatrick. After going 2-1-T18-1-1, Fitzpatrick was a disappointing T52 at the Truist, T14 at the PGA and T36 at the Memorial.

Was this just regression striking or was Fitzpatrick genuinely out of form? The performance last week suggests the former, and though Fitzpatrick's slow start cost him any real chance of victory, his strong finish bodes well, with the Englishman's -6 the round of the day on Sunday.

Despite his US Open win in 2022, Fitzpatrick's major record remains surprisingly underwhelming, with just six top-10s in 41 appearances as a professional, but there are reasons for optimism. After his win, Fitzpatrick's best US Open finish came at at Shinnecock in 2018, and his best Open finish came at Portrush last year.

Fitzpatrick's also shown a fondness for coastal golf, twice winning the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, boasting a T6 and T4 in two of his last four outings at the Scottish Open and winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2023.

With a good finish at Shinnecock and a return to form at the Canadian Open, Fitzpatrick has every chance of success this week.

4 - Xander Schauffele

Taking Xander Schauffele at a major always feels like a safe pick. His T7 at the PGA Championship was, remarkably, his 19th top 10 in 36 appearances as a professional.

The Open had been Schauffele’s weakest major, but he even cracked that in 2024, and with his T7 at Portrush last year, the Californian should go well once again at Shinnecock.

Schauffele was T6 in 2018, and while that seems routine for him now, it was just his fifth major appearance at the time.

After struggling off the tee in the early parts of last season, struggling with a rib injury, Schauffele is back to his best with the big stick in 2026, ranking eighth for SG: OTT in the last sixth months, gaining strokes in 17 of his last 18 starts.

If there’s a slight concern, it’s that Schauffele’s laser-accurate approach play has been a little streakier than usual this year, and for the first time since June 2018, he lost strokes on approach in back-to-back starts.

Only a cool putter held Schauffele back at the Memorial, though is short game was much improved after some minor struggles around the green.

3 - Jon Rahm

It’s hard to know exactly what we’re going to get from Jon Rahm at the moment. The ongoing uncertainty around LIV Golf’s future can’t be helping, but there’s a hint of inconsistency about the Spaniard’s game of late.

One week his irons are razor-sharp, the next he’s a little off. His driving can be an enormous weapon but is still hit and miss, and even his short game: brilliant one week, average the next. Likewise with the putter.

That said, when he’s on, Rahm remains one of the elite golfers in the world, and he’s on far more often than not, currently ranking first for SG: T2G, SG: ARG and SG: TOT across the last eight events as per Golf Betting System.

Rahm had a miserable time on his previous outing to Shinnecock, missing the cut by eight, but coming off the back of two runner-up finishes in his last three outings – including at the PGA Championship, Rahm will surely fancy his chances.

2 - Rory McIlroy

Give Rory McIlroy a long course with wide-open fairways and he might be the best player in the world. Indeed, he’s won at Augusta two years running now.

The only weakness in McIlroy’s game at the moment is what it’s been for most of the last few years in that he’s not finding enough fairways, but that shouldn’t be an issue at Shinnecock.

In 2018, an opening round of 80 had McIlroy 11 off the lead and an impressive round of 70 on Friday saw him miss the cut by two. But McIlroy’s putting a lot better now than he was then and his iron play remains at an elite level.

McIlroy’s career now seems to be about hunting majors and two of his three best finishes in the USA this season have been in majors.

McIlroy never quite got going at the Memorial in his last outing but still finished a respectable T12, and he’ll ensure his game is in the best shape possible heading back to Shinnecock.

1 - Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler is a fascinating prospect heading into this year’s US Open. At the ripe old age of 29, Scheffler is one win away from the career Grand Slam.

While many of this year’s contenders have some history at Shinnecock from 2018, Scheffler doesn’t, but he does have a win at Portrush from last year to his name, and if the crossover between the two courses carries any weight, he’s a more than worthy favourite this week.

Scheffler’s form this season is also rather curious. He won on his first start at the American Express, but a series of poor first rounds frequently left him with too much work to do. Finishes of T12, T24, T22 suggested that Scheffler was struggling, but he’s since gone 2, 2, 2, T14, 3, T12.

At the PGA Championship, Scheffler was tied for the lead after the first round, making his T14 finish all the more surprising, but his most recent outing at the Memorial showed a side we never see of Scheffler. While his on- and off-course demeanour portrays a man unbothered by the glories of professional golf, Scheffler is a ferocious competitor, who’s better than most at hiding his emotions. Things boiled over at Muirfield Village however, when Scheffler found water on a par-3, leading to a heated rant at caddie Ted Scott.

Scheffler actually responded quite well though he was never quite in contention.

It feels like a win is around the corner for the four-time major winner. Scheffler turns 30 on Sunday, and what a birthday present he could be in store for.

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.