Who Does Bryson DeChambeau Really Want to Be? Three Burning Questions the U.S. Open Will Answer

Welcome to the 126th edition of the U.S. Open.

After weeks of anticipation and a brief fog delay, the third major of the 2026 season began Thursday at the arduous Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y.

There are plenty of storylines that will be hovering in the (now not-so-foggy) air all weekend as the field of 156 golfers attempt to join Rory McIlroy and Aaron Rai as 2026 major winners.

Without further ado, here are three burning questions in golf that the U.S. Open will answer this week:

Does Bryson DeChambeau want to be a competitive golfer again?

DeChambeau, a two-time U.S. Open winner, is in a strange place in his golf career. He’s watched LIV Golf fall apart over the last few months and has been thrust into the role to try to revive it. On the course, it hasn’t been pretty. DeChambeau failed to make the cut at both the Masters and the PGA Championship, and he was seen trying out a new TaylorMade driver this week at Shinnecock, which every golfer knows is the ultimate sign that things are not going well.

Dechambeau’s 2026 season so far has been a whole lot of YouTube videos like “Can I Break the Record of a Public Golf Course?” and not much “Can I Compete at a Major?”

If DeChambeau competes this week, it’ll be a sign the 32-year-old still has something left in the tank. If he misses the cut again, well, maybe it will be good content for his YouTube channel.

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Will Scottie Scheffler get the grand slam monkey off his back on his first attempt?

The golf world watched and cringed for over a decade as Rory McIlroy fought himself time and time again trying to complete the career grand slam at the Masters. He finally won the green jacket in 2025, and lifted so much weight off his shoulders by doing so that he won the whole dang thing again in ’26.

Now, Scheffler finds himself in that spot. The four-time major winner just needs a win at the U.S. Open to become the seventh PGA Tour golfer in history to notch the career grand slam. He’s got his first chance to join that list this week. With Scheffler, the career grand slam seems more of a question of “when,” not “if.” But every year that goes by, the pressure on Scheffler to hoist the U.S. Open trophy will build and build. Just ask Rory.

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Is Jon Rahm ready to be Jon Rahm again?

There was a time not so long ago when Rahm was the biggest name in golf. He was playing better than Rory. He was hotter than Scheffler, better than Bryson. In a stretch of 24 events from 2022 to April 2023, Rahm won seven tournaments, tallied 15 top-10 finishes and didn’t miss a single cut. In January 2023, he broke the all-time PGA Tour record for the lowest total score posted over a 10-round stretch at 62-under par. The guy was breaking records every time he strolled off the driving range.

But where has that Rahm been?

Like many of the game’s best who chased a paycheck in LIV Golf, Rahm’s game fell off a cliff.

In 2024, after signing with LIV in December 2023, he tied for 45th place at the Masters and was cut at the PGA Championship. He finished 34th last year at the British Open, but otherwise has started to show signs of his old dominant self again with three top-10 finishes in the last five majors. Rahm finished runner-up to Aaron Rai at the PGA Championship in May.

A good showing at the U.S. Open this week, and Rahm is officially back on track. All that’s left is to figure out that confusing LIV Golf contract and start playing four rounds of competitive golf every weekend once again.

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