The second major championship of the 2016 golf season has arrived, with the field ready to attempt the difficult challenge of the U.S. Open at Oakmont beginning on Thursday. The return of the U.S. Open means the return of Fox’s major championship golf coverage.
2016 U.S. Open live stream: How to watch Thursday’s round online
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The network made its golf debut at the U.S. Open last year, the first of a 10-year, $1.2 billion deal. There were some rough patches in the coverage and critics certainly let their opinions be heard. Now, the network is back with a year of experience under its belt and the coverage will supply fans with numerous options to watch.
Like any major championship, viewers won’t be able to see every shot live live, but there is a solid TV window this year and a few options to stream online. The first wave of players will begin their rounds at 6:45 a.m. ET, but television coverage won’t begin for more than three hours after that. Fox is slated to broadcast 10 hours of live TV coverage, using both Fox Sports 1 and Fox.
Online viewers will be able to watch all of the television coverage live thanks to TV simulcast streams on Fox Sports Go. That will include a host of technological support to aid the coverage that Fox relied on heavily last year. No event coverage features heavier use of ProTracer technology than what Fox used last year. The network also incorporated more microphones around the course to give viewers closer access to the decision-making process players go through and the emotions they experience after every shot.
In addition to the main TV coverage, online viewers will be able to watch bonus coverage thanks to featured group and featured hole streams. USOpen.com and Fox Sports Go will both broadcast the streams. The streams will start prior to the television coverage and give viewers the chance to watch some of the biggest names in the field live. The streams on Thursday include some of the top players in the world with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler among the players in the featured groups. No. 1 player in the world Jason Day isn’t scheduled to tee off until 2:20 p.m. ET, so his round will occur during the TV window.
There will also be a featured holes stream that will follow the field through Nos. 3, 13 and 17. That stream will begin at 7:30 a.m., allowing viewers the ability to watch nearly every player in the field play No. 3, the most famous and difficult hole on the course.
The coverage options will give viewers the chance to watch the field try to tame what might be the most difficult test in the world. Oakmont is set up to be very challenging and isn’t likely to yield many red numbers this week. With long, thick rough combined with very fast greens, scores near par might be good enough to move up the leaderboard. There are a lot of difficult tests in golf and the U.S. Open is always a challenge, but Oakmont this year might be on a level all by itself.
Here is a complete look at the coverage options. All times Eastern.
Thursday’s first round coverage
Television:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET -- FOX Sports 1
5 to 8 p.m. -- FOX
Online streams:
7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. -- Featured groups streams
7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. -- Featured holes stream, Nos. 3, 13, and 17
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. -- TV simulcast stream
7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. -- Simulcast of featured groups stream / Featured holes stream
Radio:
Noon to 8 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)
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