Sports

The best view of this U.S. Open? It starts at the beginning

Published

2 years ago

June 15, 2024

The best view of this U.S. Open? It starts at the beginning

PINEHURST, N.C. — It was still early when Justin Thomas woke up the ghost.

A little after 8 a.m., he walked along the pine straw lining the right side of the third hole at Pinehurst No. 2. The two-time major champion considered his options. Having bogeyed the second hole he was already feeling the heat on a day growing warmer by the minute. Now an errant tee shot on the third left an awkward angle into the green.

With that, Thomas drew back his club and hit a shot that can only be described as … relatable. Something between a dead pull and a violent hook. Perhaps a knot of wire grass near the lie was to blame. Perhaps it was simply a terrible shot. Either way, it was so bad, and so left, that it crossed the entire fairway and entered the native area left of the third green.

It was a spot few visited during Thursday’s opening round of the U.S. Open. The third hole measures under 400 yards. Perhaps the course’s friendliest par 4. A wedge into the green will do — at least for these guys. But Thomas ended up near a temporary fence wrapped in a thick green canvas, the dividing line between the course and the houses lining it. Appropriately, not far from where Thomas’ ball ended up, the fence includes a single opening.

Two swinging doors are held together by a padlock, but allow for access from either side.

There, on the other side of that fence, is Donald Ross’ house.

The Scotsman first moved to Pinehurst in 1900. He was hired to serve as a golf pro and teaching instructor for the area’s two nine-hole horses — courses he ultimately decided to combine into one 18-hole track. Then set out to build a second course in 1907. He shaped the land as he’d learned back home, where golf’s first architects wandered the planes looking for where the sheep created mounds to block the northern wind. That’s where they built their bunkers.

The course Ross crafted in Pinehurst became his muse. So much so he wanted to look after her. So he and his second wife, Florence, built their home behind the third green in 1925. They disagreed on the style during construction. Thus, today, 76 years after Ross’ 1948 passing, if you walk along Midland Road, you’ll see what looks like a Scottish Cottage, while if you walk along back near the third green, you see what looks like a Southern colonial. Every good marriage has a middle ground.

Donald Ross built a home along Pinehurst No. 2, the most famous course in his legendary history as a golf architect. (Brendan Quinn / The Athletic)

The romantics here say Ross used to sit out back and smoke cigars, watching players come through the third and fifth holes. He’d note how they approached the two turtleback greens, then plot against them. Some claim Ross would wander out to the course at night, checking the contours of that third green and looking after things.

“Ross continued to improve No. 2 long after he finished it,” says Dan Maples, whose father, Frank, came to be a sort of adopted son by Ross, and handled construction and course maintenance for umpteen Ross courses, including No. 2. “It became an extension of himself.”

All these years later, the U.S. Open is being played at Pinehurst for the fourth time. So to understand what both Ross and God intended, where else would you watch it other than Ross’ back lawn?

GO DEEPER

McIlroy, Cantlay shoot first-round 65 at U.S. Open

Just ask Sam Bennett. The 24-year-old posed with high hands watching his approach into the third. A good one. Settling upon what looked like a flat piece of the green, the shot left Bennett with a 15-20 foot birdie try. But then a wiggle. The ball seemed to consider its options. Then a lean to the left. The crowd moaned. Picking up speed, the ball rolled off the green, through the fringe and somehow settled onto the cut of rough atop the bunker, inches from dropping into the sand for a straightforward bunker shot. Out in the fairway, Bennett doubled over. He then arrived on the green to find an uneasy stance, a tricky chip, and a bogey.

The third could be a postcard for all of Ross’ greens at Pinehurst. It tempts. It teases. It accepts. It rejects. It is crowned, but can hold approach shots and allow scoring. It is short and accessible, but so difficult to get up and down.

Thursday’s pin placement was on the left side of a right-to-left slope. Looking up at it from the fairway, the top of the green cuts a horizon line that turns the backside of the green into a great unknown. Players are well aware of what’s back there, but can be nevertheless unnerved. That’s precisely what Ross was going for.

In the back, the green careens downhill toward a sandy footpath and, if you cross that, all the way to the fifth green. Some are now more aware of this than others.

Dustin Johnson rolled his eyes upon finding his ball sitting in the middle of that dusty path. Then he made bogey on his way to a 4-over 74.

Jason Day tried a traditional bunker shot from the path, but found a compressed patch of sand and thinned a shot back over the green. His up-and-down from 82 feet probably was one of the better bogey saves you’ll see this week.

Poor Cameron Davis found his ball behind the third green and asked a USGA rules official if he might receive relief from the path, as if it were a cart path. Confused by the question, the official responded, only, “No.” Accepting the answer, Davis pulled out a sand wedge, blasted a shot and watched his ball roll to the crest of the green and come to a standstill. Then he watched it roll 50 feet back to him. Davis saved bogey, but finished with a 77.

Scottie Scheffler plays a shot out of the greenside bunker on No. 3. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

The third hole wasn’t all spin-outs and evil eyes. Nineteen players birdied it. Every player inside the top eight at days’ end left with par, except two. Bryson DeChambeau and Akshay Bhatia made birdie.

GO DEEPER

The two Pinehursts have not always seen eye to eye

That is, in many ways, the point. Ross aimed to create courses that could test the best, fairly. Good shots are rewarded. Bad shots are not. Chance is always in play. Add it up and you get a war of attrition. Who can keep aiming at the middle of greens? Who can take their medicine when necessary? Who can keep giving themselves opportunities?

Following an opening 3-under 67, DeChambeau exhaled and said: “From a mental exhaustion perspective, this was probably the most difficult that I’ve had in a long, long, long time. I can’t remember the last time I mentally exerted myself that hard to focus on hitting fatter parts of the green instead of going for flags.”

As for Thomas, his bogey on the third was an early reveal of what was to come. He sure as hell got a scare and finished his morning with a 7-over 77, returning to the driving range afterward to figure out what went wrong.

Ross, you see, is no ghost. He is very alive.

(Top photo of Justin Thomas: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

Sports

2026 World Cup Odds: How Far Can Mexico Go After Winning Group A?

Published

3 hours ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

2026 World Cup Odds: How Far Can Mexico Go After Winning Group A?

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After its massive 1-0 win over South Korea on Thursday night, Mexico has won Group A and officially clinched a spot in the knockout round.

El Tri will play its Round of 32 game in Mexico City, and will face the third-place finisher in either Group C/E/F/H/I.

This is the fourth time that Mexico has topped the group stage of a World Cup, with the other three coming in 1986, 1994 and 2002.

With the win, Mexico remains unbeaten in World Cup group games at home, going a combined 6-2-0 (W-D-L), with two wins and a draw in 1970 and 1986, and now two wins in 2026.

Before the tournament began, Mexico was listed at +6500 to win the World Cup. Now, after winning its first two games of the tournament, Mexico has surged up the oddsboard to +5000.

Can Mexico build off its first two matches and make a deep run in this tournament? Let’s check out the updated odds for El Tri as of June 19.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

Team Mexico — Stage of Elimination

Last 32: +125 (bet $10 to win $22.50 total)
Last 16: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)
Quarterfinals: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Semifinals: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Runner-up: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Outright winner: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)

Mexico is currently +5000 to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup after winning Group A (Getty Images).

Mexico’s Past World Cup Results:

1930: Group stage
1934: Did not qualify
1938: Withdrew
1950: Group stage
1954: Group stage
1958: Group stage
1962: Group stage
1966: Group stage
1970: Quarterfinals
1974: Did not qualify
1978: Group stage
1982: Did not qualify
1986: Quarterfinals
1990: Banned
1994: Round of 16
1998: Round of 16
2002: Round of 16
2006: Round of 16
2010: Round of 16
2014: Round of 16
2018: Round of 16
2022: Group stage
2026: TBD

What to know: Mexico has made a habit of being in the running, but never really being in the running. Make sense? Consider this: El Tri made it out of the group stage in seven consecutive World Cups (1994-2018), but never made it past the Round of 16 in any of those years. In 2022, Mexico failed to make it out of the group stage, and it will look to get back to its winning ways in 2026 after a great start to the tournament. With its win Thursday night, Mexico has now advanced to the knockout stage in eight of the last nine World Cups. It is important to note, however, that Mexico has never made it past the quarterfinals at a FIFA men’s World Cup.

Sports

Goalkeeper Raúl Rangel’s elite play and South Korea’s mistake help Mexico advance

Published

3 hours ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

Goalkeeper Raúl Rangel’s elite play and South Korea’s mistake help Mexico advance

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Three and a half years after its biggest failure on the World Cup stage in half a century, the Mexican national team needed only two games to advance to the knockout round of this year’s tournament as winner of Group A.

Mexico’s defense held off a spirited final push by South Korea, earning a 1-0 win on Thursday night at Guadalajara Stadium in front of a fiery announced sellout crowd of 45,522.

“It was a very tough game,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said.

Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu made a mistake in the 50th minute, failing to stop what appeared to be a simple cross and bobbling the ball. That allowed Mexico’s Luis Romo to easily tap the ball into the net and claim a 1-0 lead.

“In the end, a mistake was going to tip the scales,” Aguirre said.

Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel blocks a shot from South Korea’s Son Heung-min during their World Cup match at Guadalajara Stadium on Thursday.

(Natacha Pisarenko / Ap Photo/natacha Pisarenko)

“You always want to be there; I felt it, and I got the chance,” said Romo, who started the game after starting the opener on the bench — a strategic change by the Mexican coach that paid off.

South Korea put pressure on the Mexican team throughout the game. Late in the scoreless first half, Jae-sung Lee came close to giving South Korea the lead. Aguirre hoped his team would shake off nerves following the emotional opener at Azteca Stadium and show more bite in its second game against South Korea, but his team didn’t have much power behind its attack during the game’s first 45 minutes.

The crowd in Guadalajara grew frustrated and began booing the Mexican national team’s performance at the end of the first half.

Mexico, however, won back their cheers when it capitalized on South Korea’s costly mistake and converted it into a goal.

Obed Vargas replaced Romo in the 71st minute and was close to scoring a spectacular goal if not for Seung-gyu’s save.

El Tri earned a win without any other goals thanks, in part, to a great night by goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, who stopped a header by Cho Gue-sung in the 87th minute. Captain Edson Álvarez helped turn away South Korea’s attack late, holding up relatively well despite having left ankle surgery during the past year.

“It was just a reflex,” said Rangel, whose club team Chivas plays at at Guadalajara Stadium. “I was very focused and stepped up when the team needed me, and I’m happy about that.”

LAFC star and South Korea captain Son Heung-min fired one shot over Mexico’s goalkeeper in the first half, but Álvarez cleared it off the line before the referee ruled Son was offsides.

South Korea finished controlling possession 58% of the time, but it only earned two shots on target.

“It wasn’t a good game because they didn’t let us do much,” Aguirre said.

Mexico was coming off a comfortable 2-0 victory over South Africa, while the South Koreans had defeated the Czech Republic 2-1, marking their first World Cup opening-match win since 2010.

During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Mexico was eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1978, breaking a streak of seven consecutive appearances in the knockout rounds. However, playing on home soil, the team’s goal is to emulate El Tri’s achievements in 1970 and 1986, when they reached the quarterfinals — the country’s best World Cup finish.

Due to the new 48-team format, Mexico would need to win two knockout-round matches and reach a sixth game to realize its goals.

“We’re taking it one step at a time; first, there’s the third game,” Romo said.

Mexico's Luis Romo celebrates with his teammates after scoring during a match against South Korea at Guadalajara Stadium

After the win over South Korea, Mexico will close out group play against Czechia at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Wednesday. El Tri will get to play the first two games of the knockout round — should it win the first one — at Azteca Stadium, a venue where it has never lost a World Cup game.

South Korea has four points and will be favored when it plays South Africa Wednesday in Monterrey. If South Korea wins the match, it would be the Group A runner-up and advance to play the Group B runner-up on June 28 at SoFi Stadium.

“We want all nine points,” Vargas said of Mexico’s goal entering its next game against Czechia.

Sports

2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Race Tracker: Lionel Messi Is Alone At The Top

Published

13 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Press Room

2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Race Tracker: Lionel Messi Is Alone At The Top

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Who’ll win the Golden Boot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup? The race is on for who’ll score the most goals at the tournament, and it is set to be one of the tournament’s most closely watched storylines.

Several of the world’s top forwards will be aiming to finish as the competition’s leading goalscorer. Kylian Mbappé enters the tournament after winning the Golden Boot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, and Mikel Oyarzabal are among the other players expected to challenge for the award.

And check out our list of all the 2026 World Cup goals, ranked!

Favorites To Win The Golden Boot

Harry Kane: +310 (bet $10 to win $41 total)
Lionel Messi: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Kylian Mbappé: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Erling Haaland: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Kai Havertz: +1300 (bet $10 to win $140 total)
Vinícius Júnior: +3300 (bet $10 to win $340 total)
Folarin Balogun: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Mikel Oyarzabal: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Lamine Yamal: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Raphinha: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Michael Olise: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Romelu Lukaku: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Viktor Gyökeres: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Cody Gakpo: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Cristiano Ronaldo: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)

3 Goals

Lionel Messi (Argentina)

2 Goals

Johan Manzambi (Switzerland)
Harry Kane (England)
Erling Haaland (Norway)
Kylian Mbappé (France)
Harry Kane (England)
Elijah Just (New Zealand)
Yasin Ayari (Sweden)
Kai Havertz (Germany)
Folarin Balogun (USA)

1 Goal

Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
Rubén Vargas (Switzerland)
Ermin Mahmic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Michal Sadilek (Czechia)
Teboho Mokoena (South Africa)
Jáminton Campaz (Colombia)
Luis Díaz (Colombia)
Daniel Muñoz (Colombia)
Abbosbek Fayzullaev (Uzbekistan)
Caleb Yirenkyi (Ghana)
Jude Bellingham (England)
Marcus Rashford (England)
Martin Baturina (Croatia)
Petar Musa (Croatia)
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
João Neves (Portugal)
Marko Arnautović (Austria)
Jude Bellingham (England)
Marcus Rashford (England)
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
João Neves (Portugal)
Caleb Yirenkyi (Ghana)
Ali Olwan (Jordan)
Romano Schmid (Austria)
Leo Østigard (Norway)
Ayman Hussein (Iraq)
Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal)
Bradley Barcola (France)
Ramin Rezaeian (Iran)
Mohammad Mohebbi (Iran)
Maxi Araújo (Uruguay)
Abdulelah Al-Amri (Saudi Arabia)
Emam Ashour (Egypt)
Alexander Isak (Sweden)
Viktor Gyökeres (Sweden)
Mattias Svanberg (Sweden)
Omar Rekik (Tunisia)
Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)
Keito Nakamura (Japan)
Daichi Kamada (Japan)
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)
Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands)
Felix Nmecha (Germany)
Nico Schlotterbeck (Germany)
Jamal Musiala (Germany)
Nathaniel Brown (Germany)
Deniz Undav (Germany)
Connor Metcalfe (Australia)
Nestory Irankunda (Australia)
John McGinn (Scotland)
Ismael Saibari (Morocco)
Vinícius Júnior (Brazil)
Breel Embolo (Switzerland)
Gio Reyna (USA)
Mauricio (Paraguay)
Cyle Larin (Canada)
Jovo Lukić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ladislav Krejcí (Czechia)
Julián Quiñones (Mexico)
Raúl Jimenez (Mexico)
Hwang In-Beom (South Korea)
Oh Hyeon-Gyu (South Korea)