Who and what to root for in the 2016 U.S. Open

Club-grabbing rough. Undulating, lightning-quick greens. Oakmont’s famously brutal setup has been the story of the 2016 U.S. Open through the early part of the week. But as players finally take to the Pittsburgh, Pa., area course for real on Thursday morning, that won’t last.

There are storylines all over for this year’s edition of the tournament. Could Phil Mickelson finally get over the U.S. Open hump and get his career grand slam? Will Jordan Spieth rebound from his stumble at Augusta to defend his Open title? Could Jason Day add another major piece of hardware to his Tiger-esque past 12 months?

Having trouble picking who you’ll pull for this week? Don’t worry — here’s who and what to root for as golf's toughest test gets underway this morning.

Root for Phil Mickelson to win this golf tournament

What’s more endearing than a rich dude who just had to pay back almost a million bucks to the SEC as part of an insider trading investigation, right?! OK, OK. For such reasons, we’ll pardon you if you don’t feel like pulling for a dude who some feel subverted the justice process in recent weeks. But if that doesn’t give you pause, Phil’s a sentimental favorite with a real chance this week. Decent showings the last two weeks at Muirfield Village and TPC Southwind in Memphis make it seem that his game’s in a good enough place to be competitive at Oakmont.

He’s already finished second in this tournament six times, and at 46 years old, his window to win one of these things is shutting quickly. Heck, if he were to take home the title, he’d be the oldest winner of the tournament ever — one year older than Hale Irwin when he took home the 1990 championship at Medinah.

But ...

You should also root for Phil Mickelson to do something very stupid

Why has Phil struggled at U.S. Open so mightily at times? The setups generally force you to not force golf shots, not flirt with disaster, not do things that can end in total disaster. Phil, uh, well, hasn’t exactly avoided those things over the course of his career at the U.S. Open.

Sometimes those shots he hits end up are executed well and end up in good spots — rather than, you know, by the hospitality tent behind a tree. When Phil inevitably goes haywire and tries something inadvisable, the fun part isn’t the result — it's wondering what gambling debtor he’s got a side bet with before the round that he could pull that shot off during the tournament.

Root for Jason Day to keep making history

There’s no player in golf right now that’s been as prolific over the past year as Jason Day — and another major title would only continue to validate his Tiger-esque current run. Here’s Day’s results starting last July at the Canadian Open: Win, T-12, Win, Win, T-12, Win, T-10, T-10, MC, T-11, T-23, Win, Win, T-10, T-23, T-5, Win, T-27. That’s seven wins in 18 starts. It's stupid good, and a statistical improbability that Tiger Woods simply made us callused to seeing.

Considering his struggles as a child and even battles with himself once he established himself on the Tour, Day's always talked open about his legacy with seemingly an understanding of how high-level players can inexplicably fall off — almost to the point if one wonders he’s still in disbelief himself that he’s this good. A championship this week at the Open would give Day multiple major titles, something massive for his legacy that should continue to give him the self-validation that he's the best player in the world.

Oh, and a win would mean more Dash Day. More Dash Day is always good. Dash Day for Sports Kid of the Year.

Dash Day is already a star: https://t.co/fkwszj7hsH pic.twitter.com/GRbY5P1ixA

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 16, 2016

Root for somebody you've never heard of — like Ryan Stachler

The fun and the charm of the U.S. Open comes in that you — yes, you! — could theoretically play in the tournament. Unlike nearly every other sporting event in America that depends on power brokers unearthing talent and inviting such talent to teams or tournaments, the USGA provides a path for every golfer to win the sport’s national championship. Simply get good enough at the game with your weekend buddies to have a 1.4 handicap index (OK, that’ll take some work), play your way through the local and sectional qualifiers, and then, boom, you're in the U.S. Open.

Golf.com writer Gary Van Sickle’s son and mini-tour player, Matt Van Sickle, made it to play the national championship in his own dang hometown. Drexel University’s Chris Crawford made the Open on a 40-foot putt and he’ll be using his second-choice caddy — his original one fell into one of Oakmont’s bunkers and broke his ankle earlier in the week. But for those that understand college golf, the most absurd story of the week might be 19-year-old South Carolina rising sophomore Ryan Stachler.

Stachler couldn’t even crack the lineup to play tournaments for South Carolina as a freshman — and justifiably so. He only played in four events all season, shooting in the mid-80s (once) more often than he broke par (never), and only getting in the lineup for two true team events. His best finish was a T-22 at the "Camden Collegiate Invitational" where South Carolina played against smaller schools like USC-Aiken, Wofford, Presbyterian, and Frances Marion University on a 6,400 yard golf course.

Then he shot a 7-under-par 65 at the sectional qualifier en route to finishing second and punched his ticket to play in a major championship.

Golf is a weird, weird game.

Root for a verbal altercation between a USGA official and a player

Beyond anything else, the one thing a U.S. Open is seemingly always good for is complaints about the golf course. Overnight rains prior to the first round should have tuned that down a bit, but you'd be foolish to think Mike Davis and friends won’t get a bit sadistic before the week’s out.

So, hey, why not have some fun with it. Golf could use a little livening up at times through the early rounds, so root for somebody to just totally lose it and go off on the USGA in a post-round interview. Players are often a bit muted toward the press after a bad round, and there’s only so much "I just didn’t have it today" one can take before it gets monotonous. Odds are, somebody will have some strong words about the course setup at some point. Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia are as good of bets as any to give you those sound bites or meltdowns if things don’t go well for them early in the week.

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