“I don't know if the U.S. Open is supposed to be fair": Golf reporter talks about the difficulty level at Pinehurst No. 2

The 2024 U.S. Open is set to be played at the legendary Pinehurst Resort and County Club's Number 2 course from June 13 to 16. 156 of the world's best players will be taking to the North Carolina course to take home a slice of the $20 million prize purse and 750 FedEx Cup points.

The Pinehurst No. 2 course has been known to have notoriously tricky greens. The greens at the course play firm, sometimes, leading the ball off the green. The slopey greens tend to play incredibly fast, leading to frustration. NBC's golf analyst and PGA Champions Tour player, Brad Faxon, spoke out on the U.S. Open course on Sirius XM's U.S. Open radio.

" It's interesting to see a course on the edge on a Monday or a Tuesday ... There are going to be times when players try to hit a shot from off the edge of the green that might come right back down to their feet or might go over the green, into the bunker, into the waste area and roll some 20, 30, or 40 yards away. Is that fair? I don't know if the U.S. Open is supposed to be fair. And will it get on the edge? Yes it will and that's gonna be the test for these great players this week," Faxon said.

The last time a U.S. Open was held on Pinehurst No. 2's grounds was in 2014. Since then, no new major changes have been made, leaving players to battle the same course as ten years ago. Speaking on the matter, Brad Faxon commented on the greens the players will be taking on this week.

" With these green speeds, we know that players estimating that these might be 14 or 15 on the stimp meter. If no rain in the forecast, and it stays this firm, all the caddies and players will have the hole location from 2014 and when they look at where these holes were and the steepnees of some of these slopes and hoe close they are to the edges on some of these holes, there are going to be times when some of these players are going to look sillier," Faxon said.

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2024 U.S. Open Round 1 Tee Times and Pairings

Below are the the tee times and pairings for the first round of the 2024 U.S. Open that is set to be played on Thursday, June 13 on the Pinehurst No. 2 course. All times mentioned below are in EST.

Tee 1

• 6:45 AM: Michael McGowan, Carter Jenkins, Logan McAllister
• 6:56 AM: Frederik Kjettrup, Chris Petefish, Parker Bell (a)
• 7:07 AM: Omar Morales (a), Max Greyserman, Casey Jarvis
• 7:18 AM: Corey Conners, Stephan Jaeger, Emiliano Grillo
• 7:29 AM: Ryo Ishikawa, Francesco Molinari, Sergio Garcia
• 7:40 AM: Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka
• 7:51 AM: Rickie Fowler, Adam Hadwin, Phil Mickelson
• 8:02 AM: Min Woo Lee, Sahith Theegala, Nicolai Højgaard
• 8:13 AM: Si Woo Kim, Matthieu Pavon, Sungjae Im
• 8:24 AM: Nico Echavarria, Robert Rock, Neal Shipley (a)
• 8:35 AM: Takumi Kanaya, Stewart Hagestad (a), Mac Meissner
• 8:46 AM: Isaiah Salinda, Bryan Kim (a), Jim Herman
• 8:57 AM: Carson Schaake, Charlie Reiter, Colin Prater (a)
• 12:30 PM: Jason Scrivener, Brandon Robinson Thompson, Brendan Valdes (a)
• 12:41 PM: Santiago De la Fuente (a), Sam Bairstow, Eugenio Chacarra
• 12:52 PM: Kurt Kitayama, Taylor Moore, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• 1:03 PM: Jason Day, Harris English, Tom Kim
• 1:14 PM: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler
• 1:25 PM: Brian Harman, Nick Dunlap, Wyndham Clark
• 1:36 PM: Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth
• 1:47 PM: Shane Lowry, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer
• 1:58 PM: Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole, Erik van Rooyen
• 2:09 PM: Brendon Todd, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
• 2:20 PM: Thomas Detry, Brian Campbell, Jackson Buchanan (a)
• 2:31 PM: Taisei Shimuzu, Gunnar Broin (a), Maxwell Moldovan
• 2:42 PM: Sung Kang, Riki Kawamoto, John Ch

Tee 10

• 6:45 AM: Rico Hoey, Tom McKibbin, Matteo Manassero
• 6:56 AM: Dean Burmester, Rikuya Hoshino, Seamus Power
• 7:07 AM: S.H. Kim, Justin Lower, Tim Widing
• 7:18 AM: Lucas Glover, Sam Burns, Cameron Smith
• 7:29 AM: Will Zalatoris, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tiger Woods
• 7:40 AM: Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar, Russell Henley
• 7:51 AM: Tony Finau, Ludvig Åberg, Dustin Johnson
• 8:02 AM: Justin Rose, Gary Woodland, Webb Simpson
• 8:13 AM: Daniel Berger, Ryan Fox, David Puig
• 8:24 AM: Byeong Hun An, Sam Bennett, Edoardo Molinari
• 8:35 AM: Austin Eckroat, Adrian Meronk, Cam Davis
• 8:46 AM: Aaron Rai, Davis Thompson, Zac Blair
• 8:57 AM: Willie Mack III, Richard Mansell, Ashton McCulloch (a)
• 12:30 PM: Greyson Sigg, Grant Forrest, Wells Williams (a)
• 12:41 PM: Chesson Hadley, Mark Hubbard, Adam Svensson
• 12:52 PM: Beau Hossler, Victor Perez, Adam Schenk
• 1:03 PM: Robert MacIntyre, Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes
• 1:14 PM: Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Hoge
• 1:25 PM: Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa
• 1:36 PM: Sepp Straka, Peter Malnati, J.T. Poston
• 1:47 PM: Gordon Sargent (a), Jake Knapp, Cameron Young
• 1:58 PM: Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel, Adam Scott
• 2:09 PM: Ben Kohles, Denny McCarthy, Benjamin James (a)
• 2:20 PM: Frankie Capan III, Andrew Svoboda, Luke Clanton (a)
• 2:31 PM: Harry Higgs, Hiroshi Tai (a), Brandon Wu
• 2:42 PM: Joey Vrzich, Chris Naegel, Otto Black