2016 U.S. Open: Tee times and pairings for Rounds 1 and 2

The season’s longest break between majors is almost over and now we have the groupings and tee times for next week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont. Unlike the green jackets of Augusta, who give us about a day to dissect the pairings, the USGA has been releasing their tee sheet the Friday before U.S. Open week. So everyone will touch down in Pittsburgh knowing exactly what they have ahead for the first two rounds at the end of next week.

The U.S. Open is one of the more daunting logistical challenges in golf. The field is a full 156 players deep, which is as big as it gets. The Open and PGA Championship have the same-sized field, while the folks at Augusta would start having a panic attack if their field hit triple digits. With a 156-man field, the USGA has to send the players out in groups of three off split tees from about sun-up to sundown. These are the longest days of the year in the United States, and the national championship takes advantage of just about every minute of daylight in those first two rounds.

Any slight weather disruption on Thursday or Friday can throw things off by a couple days, as we’ve seen in the past at places like Merion and Bethpage. Weather delays on the weekend, when the field is cut in half, are much more manageable, but there’s little cushion on Thursday and Friday.

The tee sheet is not completely full yet. There’s one more method of qualification to check off -- the top 60 in the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of this week will get into the field. There should be a couple names who have jumped over that threshold since May 23, which was the previous date anyone inside the top 60 automatically earned a spot in the field. Alternates from the U.S. Open sectional qualifying sites will then fill in the rest of the remaining spots on the tee sheet, as well as any late withdrawals. We’ve already had Tiger Woods, Darren Clarke and Thongchai Jaidee withdraw this week.

With Tiger’s continued recession from the game, there’s more of a committee of headliners at all these majors. The defending champion, Jordan Spieth, will probably draw the most interest at the top of the week. His last major championship round did not end so well, but he’s picked up yet another PGA Tour win in the intervening days and, well, he is the defending champ of this event. Spieth will play with Bryson DeChambeau and Zach Johnson for the first two rounds. This is the second straight major that Spieth will play his first 36 holes with DeChambeau, who is the same age as our defending champ but just turned pro after the Masters. That is probably your tastiest grouping of the first two rounds.

Here’s the full tee sheet for the first two rounds (all times Eastern). We’ll break down your marquee groups next week.