What USGA chiefs are already saying about Shinnecock Hills as it prepares to host the 2026 US Open

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The 2025 US Open has just concluded at Oakmont Country Club, but focus has already turned to next year’s event at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

J.J. Spaun won his first major championship at this year’s US Open, defeating Robert MacIntyre by two shots at Oakmont.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau thinks Oakmont is the most difficult course in golf, with the LIV Golf man missing the cut in Pennsylvania.

DeChambeau was devastated by his US Open missed cut, which followed top five finishes at both The Masters and the PGA Championship.

Both of his major championship wins have come at the tournament, but his fellow American Spaun now holds the title.

What USGA chiefs are already saying about 2026 US Open venue Shinnecock Hills

He will now look to defend his crown next year, with New York’s Shinnecock Hills playing host to the 2026 US Open.

And Brandel Chamblee has been sharing insight into the tournament as the countdown starts, saying on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast: “The US Open is about execution, intimidation and there is no other golf course that is more about execution and intimidation than Oakmont.

READ MORE: Jack Nicklaus says what would have happened to his career had he not won the US Open at Oakmont in 1962

“Shinnecock is where they are going to play next year and if you like intimidation, I talked to the powers that be at the USGA and they were like this is what Shinnecock is going to be like next year. I think there is going to be more.

“I think they have found their way back. I grew up and didn’t start playing golf until the late 70s but watching the US Open in the mid 80s, this one is going back a bit.

“But it reminded me in 1985, I was at Oakland Hills and there was a player by the name of T.C. Chen who famously double-chipped a chip in the fifth hole.

“He had a four-shot lead over Andy North, made a quad, everybody was falling away and Andy North was finding every bunker.

“He blasted out to a foot famously on the 15th or 16th hole and it was about chaos. To me they are back to it. After years of trying to figure out what they were.

“Chambers Bay, that is not the US Open. Erin Hills, with all due respect, it’s a fabulous course, but it’s not the US Open.

“I was not particularly fond of the setup at Pinehurst last year, the wire grass didn’t have the necessary effect.

“Nobody has ever driven it as inaccurately as Bryson did last year and won the US Open. That’s not what the US Open is.

“It’s about execution and dealing with adversity so Oakmont is absolutely the epitome of what the US Open should be about.”

Shinnecock Hills among confirmed US Open future sites after Oakmont

Most players will want to see the back of Oakmont after a hugely challenging week, but they won’t be happy to know it is among confirmed future sites for the US Open.

The major championship is set to return to the challenging Pennsylvania course in 2033, 2042 and 2049, with Oakmont having now held 10 editions of the event.

READ MORE: Rick Shiels did not like the US Open as he explains what he found ‘really, really strange’ about the tournament

Before that, however, a long list of other iconic venues across the nation will play host to the US Open, although it remains to be seen just how difficult they will be.

It begins with Shinnecock Hills next year, where Brooks Koepka won in 2018, and includes a return to Pinehurst in 2029, where DeChambeau won in 2024.