US Open – Fog on day one at Shinnecock Hills has halted Round 1. Rickie Fowler described the wait as all players can do, while the leaderboard remains tightly packed with eight players tied on even par as play pauses.
Long Island looked ready for golf early on, right up until the fog turned everything into a guessing game.
Round 1 of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills has been suspended for poor visibility. with players pulled from the course at 12.05pm UK time. The official weather update from the US Open said: “Round 1 remains suspended. Next update: 8:00am. ET.” That is 1pm UK time. giving players and fans a little under an hour before the next word on whether anything changes.
Rickie Fowler, one of the morning starters, put it plainly while he waited for the skies to clear. “Kind of just sit and wait. There’s nothing we can do about what we can and can’t see out there,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting some low-hanging clouds like this, so sit and wait.”
He added what everyone around him was feeling as the pause dragged on: “Good to see some of the shots this morning. roughly how the golf course is playing. And yeah, kind of just wait. I know we’re supposed to have wind and gusts that are supposed to pick up as the day goes on. And yeah, hopefully get it moving forward out there.”.
Fowler knows the stakes at Shinnecock. He was runner-up in the US Open at Pinehurst in 2014, and in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club he opened with a remarkable 62, the joint-lowest score in the history of men’s majors.
By the time the game officially stopped, the very early starters had managed to play only a couple of holes. No one was under par. There is an eight-way tie for the lead on evens, including Jackson Suber and amateur Ethan Fang.
Fang’s name carries real weight beyond this opening stretch. Last June, American Fang won the 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s. On this US Open day one, he has played just a single hole so far.
Two more Americans sit at the top of the leaderboard based on holes completed: James Nicholas and Caleb Surratt, both parred their first two holes.
While the course went quiet, players didn’t fully stop moving. They were taken to practice areas, working on chipping and putting as the fog refused to budge. “Exactly an hour since play was suspended,” the broadcast described the scene, with it still looking pretty foggy.
The pause doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Shinnecock when conditions turn.
Shinnecock Hills in the Hamptons is the only US Open venue to have hosted the tournament in three different centuries. And with just one road in and out for those making the trip to Long Island. the week already has the feel of something demanding patience—even before the weather forced the first break.
The US Open has a history of punishing days like this. In the four US Opens staged since 1986, only three men have emerged with scorecards totalling under par. When conditions go sideways. the numbers follow: in 2018. none of the last 45 players to tee off in round three broke par of 70. In 2004. final-round scoring average ballooned to 78.7. and the par-3 7th had to be watered between groups with conditions described as bordering on the impossible.
Now the spotlight is on what fog will allow today—and what it will take away.
There’s a Grand Slam thread running through the field. with Scottie Scheffler potentially becoming just the seventh player to complete the Grand Slam if a first US Open would complete his set. Rory McIlroy is also in the conversation for a seventh major—adding a record for any European player. Others are watching for their own breakthroughs. including Tommy Fleetwood or Tyrrell Hatton. who were second and sixth respectively at Shinnecock in 2018. and are looking for a first major title.
For now, all that’s certain is that at Shinnecock Hills, the day has been decided by what players can’t see.
Foggy conditions at Shinnecock Hills were captured as a rules official sounded the horn to signal the suspension of play due to limited visibility on Thursday. The next official update is set for 8:00am ET. with the clock ticking toward the moment players will finally be allowed back out—or told to wait again.
Updated at 14.02 CEST.
US Open 2026 Shinnecock Hills Round 1 suspended fog limited visibility Rickie Fowler Jackson Suber Ethan Fang James Nicholas Caleb Surratt leaderboard