By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - American Scottie Scheffler faces plenty of opposition on his hunt for a career Grand Slam when the U.S. Open begins on Thursday in Southampton, New York, the genteel slice of Long Island that the rough and ruthless Shinnecock Hills Golf Club calls home.
World number one Scheffler hopes to underline his claim to be the world's most dominant golfer after adding PGA Championship and Open Championship titles last year to his pair of Masters wins, with seven
top-five finishes so far this year.
But Shinnecock Hills, one of the most difficult courses in the world, and an array of challengers including back-to-back Masters winner Rory McIlroy, may prove a tough test for the American who has made winning look so easy.
"He's still the man to beat but he is no longer the man that can't be beat. So, there's a great opportunity there for Rory McIlroy. There's a great opportunity there for Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm," said Golf Channel commentator Brandel Chamblee.
"At a U.S. Open, it's just about dealing with adversity, because you're going to face it from the first hole to the 18th hole."
Brawny American DeChambeau would join a rarified group of only six golfers to pick up three or more U.S. Open titles if he can succeed, while his fellow LIV Golf tour member Rahm of Spain last won in 2021.
McIlroy, meanwhile, leads a European charge. After the Northern Irishman put on the Masters green jacket for a second time in April, Englishman Aaron Rai won the PGA Championship in May, marking the first time in the era of the four current major championships that the first two of the year were won by Europeans.
There is no sure path to the trophy, however, at the famously tricky Shinnecock Hills, revered by American fans as one of the five founding member clubs of the USGA.
The 2027 Ryder Cup U.S. captain and lead Golf Channel analyst Jim Furyk won the U.S. Open tournament in 2003 at Olympia Fields only to finish tied for 48th a year later when Shinnecock hosted it, fresh off wrist surgery and humbled by the challenges that the course threw his way.
"I remember distinctly standing over putts, 20, 25 feet uphill, and still kind of lag mentality. I mean, it was so easy to fire one, four and five feet by the hole, and I just remember there was no place where I felt like you could be aggressive," Furyk told reporters.
The 126th U.S. Open runs from June 18 to 21.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
