US Open Tee Times 2015: Pairings and Predictions for Thursday Schedule
After what feels like years—OK, it has been years—of talk about Chambers Bay Golf Course and its impending hosting of the 2015 U.S. Open, the time has finally arrived for the controversy and intrigue to come full circle in 72 holes of spectacular golf.
Chambers Bay is only your typical U.S. Open setting in terms of course difficulty, otherwise going against the grain of the more traditional settings that the USGA usually goes for. Its links-style course is very uncommon in the U.S. and the PGA Tour, and the course's official website even calls it "an inspired tribute to the ancient links-land of Scotland."
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Endorsements haven't been as kind from some golfers, as Ian Poulter called it a "complete farce" and Henrik Stenson called it "a tricked-up links course," per New York Post's Mark Cannizzaro. But most other golfers are approaching it with an open mind and a will to prepare, which is the only way they're going to stand a chance in this year's second major.
Thursday's opening round is always vital in a championship hopeful establishing himself on the course, so let's take a look at how some of the top golfers will fare on Day 1.
Day 1 Tee Times
| 10 a.m. | Michael Putnam | Marcus Fraser | TBA |
| 10:11 a.m. | Garth Mulroy | Richard Lee | Lucas Bjerregaard |
| 10:22 a.m. | Jason Allred | Kyle Jones | Cody Gribble |
| 10:33 a.m. | Phil Mickelson | Bubba Watson | Angel Cabrera |
| 10:44 a.m. | Wen-Chong Liang | David Hearn | Hiroyuki Fujita |
| 10:55 a.m. | Robert Streb | Lee McCoy | TBA |
| 11:06 a.m. | George McNeill | Masahiro Kawamura | Cameron Tringale |
| 11:17 a.m. | Henrik Stenson | Francesco Molinari | Brandt Snedeker |
| 11:28 a.m. | Jim Furyk | Miguel Angel Jimenez | Colin Montgomerie |
| 11:39 a.m. | Brooks Koepka | Russell Henley | Byeong-Hun An |
| 11:50 a.m. | Jason Dufner | Marc Warren | Matt Every |
| 12:01 p.m. | Brandon Hagy | Matthew NeSmith | Sebastian Cappelen |
| 12:12 p.m. | Nick Hardy | Alex Kim | Rich Berberian Jr. |
| 10 a.m. | Troy Kelly | Seuk Hyun Baek | Cameron Smith |
| 10:11 a.m. | John Parry | Jack Maguire | --- |
| 10:22 a.m. | Timothy O'Neal | Stephan Jaeger | Kurt Barnes |
| 10:33 a.m. | Gary Woodland | Victor Dubuisson | John Senden |
| 10:44 a.m. | TBA | Morgan Hoffman | Bernd Wiesberger |
| 10:55 a.m. | Marcel Siem | Alexander Levy | Brian Harman |
| 11:06 a.m. | Hideki Matsuyama | Graeme McDowell | Matt Kuchar |
| 11:17 a.m. | Dustin Johnson | Adam Scott | Sergio Garcia |
| 11:28 a.m. | Martin Kaymer | Gunn Yang | Rory McIlroy |
| 11:39 a.m. | Patrick Reed | Chris Kirk | Jamie Donaldson |
| 11:50 a.m. | Webb Simpson | Keegan Bradley | Kevin Na |
| 12:01 p.m. | Sam Horsfield | Shunsuke Sonoda | Oliver Farr |
| 12:12 p.m. | Kevin Lucas | Pat Wilson | Cole Hammer |
| 4 p.m. | Jason Palmer | Roberto Castro | Andres Romero |
| 4:11 p.m. | Denny McCarthy | D.A. Points | Shiv Kapur |
| 4:22 p.m. | Bryson DeChambeau | Blayne Barber | Billy Hurley III |
| 4:33 p.m. | Geoff Ogilvy | Ernie Els | Retief Goosen |
| 4:44 p.m. | Bo Van Pelt | Charlie Beljan | Tony Finau |
| 4:55 p.m. | Lee Janzen | Oliver Schniederjans | Darren Clarke |
| 5:06 p.m. | Daniel Summerhays | Thomas Aiken | Danny Lee |
| 5:17 p.m. | Jordan Spieth | Jason Day | Justin Rose |
| 5:28 p.m. | Tiger Woods | Rickie Fowler | Louis Oosthuizen |
| 5:39 p.m. | Jimmy Walker | Zach Johnson | Ian Poulter |
| 5:50 p.m. | Ryan Moore | Anirban Lahiri | Erik Compton |
| 6:01 p.m. | Jake Knapp | Tyler Duncan | Matt Mabrey |
| 6:12 p.m. | Michael Davan | Davis Riley | Andrew Pope |
| 4 p.m. | Tom Hoge | Brad Fritsch | Tjaart van der Walt |
| 4:11 p.m. | Brad Elder | Beau Hossler | Jamie Lovemark |
| 4:22 p.m. | Ryo Ishikawa | Luke Donald | J.B. Holmes |
| 4:33 p.m. | Lucas Glover | Bradley Neil | Marc Leishman |
| 4:44 p.m. | Ryan Palmer | Joost Luiten | Danny Willett |
| 4:55 p.m. | TBA | George Coetzee | Alexander Noren |
| 5:06 p.m. | Brendon Todd | Branden Grace | Thongchai Jaidee |
| 5:17 p.m. | Billy Horschel | Paul Casey | Lee Westwood |
| 5:28 p.m. | Bill Haas | Charl Schwartzel | Hunter Mahan |
| 5:39 p.m. | Shane Lowry | Ben Martin | Stephen Gallacher |
| 5:50 p.m. | Charley Hoffman | Camilo Villegas | Tommy Fleetwood |
| 6:01 p.m. | Mark Silvers | Brian Campbell | Cheng-Tsung Pan |
| 6:12 p.m. | TBA | Jared Becher | Samuel Saunders |
Tee times courtesy of USOpen.com
Predictions for Day 1
There's pressure on many golfers to perform up to their recent form at Chambers Bay, but none more than Phil Mickelson.
Having just turned 45 Tuesday, Mickelson will aim to tie Hale Irwin as the oldest U.S. Open champion. But unlike Irwin, he has years upon years of past failures to motivate him.
Mickelson has six second-placed finishes at the U.S. Open, the most of all time. But some have been more heartbreaking than others, and the near-misses have only lit the fire underneath Mickelson even more, per ESPN's Jason Sobel:
Mickelson also has some close failures of late to help motivate him as well, coming in second at the Masters—narrowly missing his fourth green jacket—before a fourth-place finish at Wells Fargo and a third-place result at the St. Jude Classic. Even though he played last weekend elsewhere, though, he's quickly familiarizing himself with Chambers Bay.
As he told Golf Digest's John Strege, he's getting used to some of the tweaks of the course: "If you're going to be ready for this tournament it takes a lot more time to learn the golf course than just a couple of days... I'm pleased that I've developed kind of a game plan for each hole and how I'm going to get to certain pins."
While other golfers didn't begin working on the course until Monday or Tuesday, Mickelson has already gotten plenty of work in. Throughout the early rounds, that should prove beneficial in giving Lefty an early advantage.
Day 1 prediction: Mickelson shoots two-under
Jordan Spieth
Perhaps the only golfer enjoying a better run of form throughout 2015 than Mickelson is the only one who finished ahead of him at this year's first major. And with how well Jordan Spieth has continued to play after Augusta, he doesn't seem to be slowing down.
Alas, the Masters hangover mastered by Bubba Watson over the years hasn't followed Spieth after he broke through for his first major title. He finished 11th and 17th in his next two April tournaments, which resulted in second-place and third-place finishes at Crowne Plaza and the Memorial, respectively.
A player like Spieth, who played at Chambers Bay and struggled to a final-round 83 that bounced him from the U.S. amateur championships, has more reason to complain about the course than most. He chose not to do that, as told by the Associated Press, via PGATour.com.
"If you are going to talk negative about a place, you're almost throwing yourself out to begin with because golf is a mental game," Spieth said.
He's taking on some of the game's active legends so far at Chambers Bay and standing out, as Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker noted:
It wouldn't be surprising to see Spieth perform much better at Chambers Bay than he did back in 2010. The 21-year-old has of course aged five years since then, evolving from an untapped youngster into one of the game's biggest threats. And his caddie, Michael Greller, has walked the Chambers Bay course up to 40 times, as Jason Sobel reported.
That will result in Spieth setting an early pace once again at a 2015 major. This time, will he be able to be caught?
Day 1 prediction: Spieth shoots three-under
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