VR goggles, World Cup reactions: Social snapshot of first 48 hours at the U.S. Open

Trying to get a pulse on what’s the top story in the leadup to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills can be a challenge.

Is it Scottie Scheffler’s pursuit of the career Grand Slam? What about reigning champ J.J. Spaun’s title defense? And there’s always U.S. Open 2018 winner Brooks Koepka, a seasoned Shinnecock who told reporters that his aching ring and pinkie fingers were feeling fine in the lead up to the year’s third major.

But honestly, you’re not here for a medical update or for the weather forecast. These are the silliest, potential viral moments that have come out of Southampton, N.Y, over the first two days.

Is Alex Fitzpatrick watching ... ‘Live From the U.S. Open’?

Credit the Golf Channel social team for the dutiful work in catching this moment on “Live From the U.S. Open” Tuesday morning.

Alex Fitzpatrick has been one of the best golfers in the world in 2026, and he gave a little insight to how he’s preparing for his first U.S. Open.

The 27-year-old Fitzpatrick is the brother of 2022 U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick. The brothers won earlier this year at the Zurich Classic. Matt conveniently had media duties Monday so his opinion on the VR headset is unknown at this time.

U.S. Open winners: Year-by-year list of past champions, scores, results and sites

Here are the players who have won the men’s U.S. Open and where they prevailed.

• Golf Channel Staff,

• Golf Channel Staff,

Rory dishes on the 2026 World Cup

In his downtime, two-time Masters champ Rory McIlroy has been playing a lot of golf in Long Island and watching a lot of World Cup soccer. He shared his opinions on the expanded format this year to 48 teams and on Spain’s tie against Cape Verde in its first game in Atlanta.

Never too late for a Bryson range session

Late Monday two-time U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau showed he was willing to put in the extra work to improve his game coming off missed cuts at Augusta and Aronimink this year. We’ll let the Live From team do their thing ...

Scottie, what do you think about early morning tee times?

Does the world’s top-ranked player have a preference on when he goes off, morning or afternoon? Nope, not really ...

Scheffler looked a bit sleepy taking his last media question Tuesday. Hopefully he gets a full night’s rest ahead of Round 1 with a tee time of 8:14 a.m. ET. He’s playing the first 36 at Shinnecock with Spaun and amateur Mason Howell.

These pairings have themes

Speaking of U.S. Open tee times and pairings, Golf Channel reporter Brentley Romine was quick to spot this year’s most fun threesomes for fans to have fun watching Thursday and Friday.

Vive la France! USGA has fun with U.S. Open groupings

The first- and second-round tee times were released on Tuesday morning, and on the tee sheet are several notable groupings, many of which have particular themes to them.

• Brentley Romine,

• Brentley Romine,

And a plug before we say goodnight ...