How to watch the U.S. Open on Thursday

The 2018 U.S. Open golf tournament begins Thursday at Shinnecock Hills in the Hamptons. It’s the fifth time the course has hosted America’s national championship.

Tiger Woods is playing this event for the first time since he missed the cut at Chambers Bay in 2015. He is healthier now than then, and he’s among the leading contenders this weekend. It would be stunning if he didn’t at least make his first U.S. Open cut since 2013. He’s among the betting favorites, with only seven players in the 156-man field getting better odds in Las Vegas than Woods at 18/1. The overall favorite is world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who won the championship at Oakmont in 2016 and is coming off a win last weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis. He ended that weekend with a 170-yard hole-out.

It’s a deep field, featuring 12 past U.S. Open champions including Woods and Johnson. Ten of those champions have won it in the last decade, with the exceptions Ernie Els (wins in 1994 and ‘97) and Jim Furyk (in 2003). All of the world’s top players will participate, including the last few superstars who haven’t yet won a major. Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, and 23-year-old star Jon Rahm could all find themselves in contention.

Shinnecock will play as a par-70 course throughout the championship. Its fairways are wider than the last time the tournament was here, 2004, when Retief Goosen won with a score of 4-under. In 1995, Corey Pavin’s winning number was an even-par 280. It’s been a challenging course to make birdies on, even by U.S. Open standards. Even with the course set up to be easier now than 14 years ago, don’t expect to see a winning score like the 16-under Brooks Koepka posted at Erin Hills in 2017. The winner will likely have to grit it out.

All times are Eastern.

TV: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m on FS1, 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. on FOX.

Streaming: FOX Sports GO and the FOX Sports app on the App Store, Google Play, etc. Also at usopen.com and the U.S. Open app, with featured holes and groups. Before the TV broadcast starts at 9:30 a.m., your best bet is the official championship website. Featured groups there in the morning hours are:

Commentators: Joe Buck leads the coverage, with help from former PGA Championship winner Paul Azinger, two-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange, college football analyst Joel Klatt, and a cast of others. Full information on the group is here.