2016 U.S. Open tee times: Pairings and start time for Friday’s round

The U.S. Open got off to just about the messiest start you could imagine. Only a handful of players actually got through 18 holes on a Thursday that was disrupted three times by lengthy delays and severe storms. Rains hammered Oakmont and the opening round never really got any rhythm. The 116th edition of the U.S. Open is now also going to have sprint through the final three days to get a Sunday night finish.

The USGA and its network partner, FOX, insisted on Thursday evening that this thing would finish on time. It’s certainly doable but given the minimal play on Thursday, almost a fully wasted day, it’s going to be a challenge. The USGA doesn’t just think they can be on schedule by Sunday night, but actually thinks they’ll be back on track by Saturday evening and have everyone play in twosomes come Sunday morning. That seems ambitious and they will need the pace of play to cooperate over the next 48 hours in order to get there. The good news is that the weather is supposed to oblige an aggressive make-up schedule, with clear sunny skies.

Here’s the USGA’s gameplan for the next two days to try and catch up by Sunday morning:

Again, these are just targets for the USGA. It starts on Friday morning with a 7:30 a.m. resumption, which is actually fairly late in the morning to get things back up and running. The first tee times on Thursday started at 6:45 a.m. ET, but the USGA and Oakmont maintenance crews needed some cushion to get the course back in shape first thing in the morning. The biggest issue is the washed out bunkers, which lost a ton of sand as rivers and streams formed during multiple deluges on Thursday. The sand was, by and large, replaced on the faces of those bunkers but they want some time to fully repair and rake them in the morning before play resumes. They’re also hoping to mow and roll the greens once in an effort to get them reading in the 14s on the stimpmeter.

Even with the later than normal start, Friday is going to be an interminable day at Oakmont. The morning wave from Thursday will start at 7:30 a.m. ET, and then the originally scheduled afternoon wave from Thursday will begin right at 8 a.m. ET on both tees. That half of the field is then supposed to turn around and get back out there for the second round in the afternoon, while the group that’s there at the crack of dawn may only get a few holes in around dusk.

Keeping in mind the targeted schedule above going forward, here are your tee times for Friday morning for that second wave of the first round:

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