The First Cut at the 2024 U.S. Open – Reports from Pinehurst No. 2 + Picks, Sleepers | FC on CBSSN

The First Cut crew gets you ready for the 2024 U.S. Open from Pinehurst! Rick Gehman, Patrick McDonald and Mark Immelman alongside Kyle Porter and Chip Patterson from the course!

(0:00) Intro + Kyle Porter reports on the course from Pinehurst No. 2
(10:44) The Big Boys – Scheffler, McIlroy, Schauffele
(22:59) Big Storylines – Jon Rahm WD, Collin Morikawa and the LIV Boys
(30:41) Picks and Sleepers with Chip Patterson
(37:54) Final Thoughts before balls fly on Thursday morning

#golf #pgatour #golfoncbs #firstcutpodcast #usopengolf #GolfDFS #golfpicks #dailyfantasysports #PGADFS #usopen #pinehurst

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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

welcome to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network this is your mega preview pod for this week’s Us open we’ve got you covered we’ve got your eyes and ears on the ground story lines and even who is definitely going to win this golf tournament joining me to break it all down Patrick McDonald is here Patrick good day gentlemen good day to you nice to have the US Open back on the East Coast after that debacle last year should be firm fast and I’m excited to hear the insights kp’s got for us from the grounds he’s already wound up Mark imman is here Mark good to see you how’s it boys listen I am so excited that rolls are reversed here and I’m at home watching TV and kp’s on the ground loving this good to be with you guys that’s right Kyle Porter rounds us out for right now and KP yes you are there you are coming to us from Pinehurst you you’re in town you’re seeing things what what what’s what’s the sense from the grounds yeah it’s been it’s been awesome so far I I too I’m glad that roles are reversed and I’m out here for once and and Mar gets to enjoy the uh the work from home life uh it it’s been I’m glad that Patrick brought up last year because that’s the thing that I keep thinking about is how much different this year feels even it’s it’s only Wednesday right but how much different this year already feels than last year you get to you get to p and it’s just sickos everywhere just golf nuts all over the place in the village in town out the I mean this place looks like like I was walking with Brooks kka and and uh his group and then Justin Thomas and Scotty sheffer’s group this morning it looks like how Friday and Saturday at Lac look I mean it is just it’s it’s packed out here the balls are bouncing all over the place it’s already a really good atmosphere and it’s only Wednesday we hav’t got the tournament started yet yeah we are less than 24 hours out from this event starting so so Patrick put a bow on this that what what LACC was what a little a little too sleepy for you oh just the Hollywood Elites out there like Will Arnett Jason baitman we we don’t we don’t need those guys doing all the US Open content and then you think about the actual course right easiest US Open ever lowest 36o cut ever most sub 70 rounds ever most sub 65 rounds ever so it’s nice to actually test these boys for once well we’ll see about that KP I’m gonna bounce this back to you here real quick because we have now heard throughout the week uh we’ve heard comments we’ve heard Tiger Woods say he foresees guys playing pingpong we heard Rory mroy say this is much better than just having thick rough everywhere and then from the USGA presser uh this morning there is an expectation that these greens are going to be running at 13 and a half on the stimp if you are tuning in and that is a foreign sentence to you that is very very fast yeah it’s it’s extraordinarily fast there were two things that I watched this morning that uh that got the juices going a little bit so I was on six and I watched Scotty and JT putting to this uh to the where the PIN today they were kind of above the hole and they were just like just kind of trying to slide these cuts down and they were running forever I mean it it looked like it looked like run out like in a fairway how far they were running out it was unbelievable at one point Scotty threw what looked like a I don’t know some like a like Chopstick or something that was kind of like U like a cylinder over to uh this spot on the green and it just like it just kept rolling it just kept like sliding like down this hill and it so that was exciting and then uh Brooks kep on the ninth ball we watched him for about 10 minutes and it’s kind of this right pin today and he had about a four-footer uh maybe a six-footer uh for birdie he he he hadit a great uh great t- shot on it’s a part three number nine he he he’s not even lined up at the hole he’s lined up toward the grand stands which is about what is that 45 degrees 50 degrees the other way and the I mean if the putt six feet it traveled like nine and he made it it was an incredible putt but uh after that he goes down to the bottom of the hill and putts all the way back like he he kind of he he goes in front of the hole putts all the way back up and tries to get balls to feed back down into the hole I mean he’s putting it like 25 feet past the hole letting it feed back down fans are going crazy US Open baby it’s this is awesome so far it’s so good uh we’ve got three days of prep Monday Tuesday Wednesday in which the the lights have been shined onto Pinehurst number two Mark and there’s a very fine line when it comes to major championship setups when it comes to USGA and US Open setups you know the refrain that you’re going to hear from the USGA is is tough but fair but like I said that that is a very fine line between that and we’ve lost the golf course yeah yeah you’re so right um because the USGA want to defend par right and the truth is when you start to get green speeds it’s 13 and above because that is lightening fast and that’s on a level lie bearing in mind because here at Pinehurst there are very few level areas on these putting greens so you could face something upwards of 14 on the stim and when you start to get speeds like that it’s almost like the friction between the golf ball and the green gets removed and you’ll see balls almost side widen down the grass on on the way to the targets because the balls are hit so softly you’ll hear players say well I try to start that on this line but the ball slid off too early because just to the glossiness of the surfaces so to your fine line um if the usj have any sort of a day with low humidity in the air that Golf Course could turn just into a Banshee in the blink of an eye so it’s it’s got to be very careful how you set it up I expect you’ll see them spritzing the greens once in a while just to keep a little bit of green on them because if you get just a quick change in the weather and the moisture diminishes these surfaces will be impossible because look remember when this golf course was designed by Donald Russ back in the day it was for green speeds of 67 that’s why you could have these slopes now with modern day Agronomy it’s been reworked of course and it’s a championship venue but a golf course’s best defense to me is undulation and this place it’s not up and down like Augusta National but the green complexes to me are reminiscent there are just because of all the humps and Hollows and valleys and such and you can get a ball rolling a long time if you’re on the wrong side of one of those Hills uh we just showed the graphic there Patrick it was uh four golfers have ever broken par at a Us open at Pinehurst number two so as Mark is is mentioning the USGA trying to defend par they’ve historically done a very good job at protecting that number yeah they have and there’s been uh I know we joke about the Phil Mickelson moment from shinik a few years ago there’s the John Daly moment at Pinehurst as well uh in 2005 where he whacked the ball that was coming back down to his feet I I don’t think we’re going to get there just because of those moments like shinok right I think they’re going to continuously apply water to these greens and like Mark said uh about the surfaces of the green being so slick tiger even said in his press conference there might be a moment on Saturday or Sunday where someone puts their putter down to put a ball mark down and it’s slips out under them cuz they’re so slick kind of like you see at Bay Hill from time to time and so I’m really excited for that I’m really excited for Brooks Kea to play feet of break on seven Footers and trickle them in I mean that’s what the us open’s all about it’s about using every Club in your bag it’s about R being a good score and it’s about being a mental test and it seems early in the week that Pinehurst is going to present all of those bar being a good score a mental test everything in between KP we’re GNA let you get back to the action here we’re going to get you back out on the golf course so we can uh look forward to that great Insight throughout the week but before we let you go you’ve taken it in it’s we’re six months from the start of the Year this is major championship number three who’s gonna win the US Open well I picked Scotty Sheffer and I’m sticking with Scotty Sher very bravely uh to get his sixth win of 2024 I think what’s interesting I was talking to some people today out on the golf course and the they’re they’re you get out here and and you you kind of see it from afar and you think about it from afar and you’re like I don’t understand how somebody that’s not a top 10 player could win and I was talking to some some people today and it’s like well the margins are almost The Landing spots are almost so small that everybody’s gonna miss them and so if you’re a really good uh wedge player if you’re really good around the greens if you have really good speed Martin kimer did in 2014 even if you’re not a good wedge player you’re gonna have an opportunity to to put 16 bars together 15 Parts together and and go shoot a score so I almost feel like it strangely like can hurt some of the better players because the margins are almost so small that it it doesn’t properly separate like the very best iron players from everybody else I don’t know if I’m I don’t know if that’s sounding the way that I’m meaning it but I think that part is really interesting so just having been out here Rick I’m actually more bullish on uh somebody that’s like a 60th or 80th or 100 having a really good week and maybe challenging a sheffler or morawa or Xander for this Championship well while you’re out there walking around today just let this go through your head uh Jordan spe is 65 to one to win this golf tournament maybe he’s maybe he’s the guy a little bit farther down the board that you’re looking into uh Kyle thank you very much get back out there enjoy the week I’m sure we’ll be hearing and reading much more from you and we’re looking forward to it the rest of us are just getting started there is a lot more conversation coming up on the first cup podcast right after these words welcome back to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network and gentlemen I want to dive into the big three the number one player in the world the number two player in the world the number three player in the world all going out together off the first T at4 pm. eastern time on Thursday that of course Scotty Sheffer Xander Schley Rory mroy Patrick let’s start with Scotty sheffler all roads lead to Scotty in professional golf right now he is a big favorite uh to win this golf tournament plus 280 that implies he’s going to win this about 25% of the time that’s an outrageous number in professional golf let alone at a major championship and it’s kind of bearing itself out he’s won five of his last eight starts Scotty is firing on all cylinders right now he is and it seems like his floor is maybe a top five finish which sounds absolutely ridiculous to say you see a couple runner-up finishes you think about all their extracurriculars he had to deal with at the PGA Championship if you take that out Steven joerger and Davis r are the two players who have stared Scotty Sheffer in the face and defeated him and you take him to a course like Pinehurst at the US Open where mind you he finished third at Lac last year had a chance finished runner up to Matt Fitzpatrick at the Country Club as well had a chance and he comes to Piner number two which is probably a fantastic course fit for Scotty Sheffer it’s going to ask you to hit it long and straight off the tea guess what when you combine driving distance and driving accuracy the number one player in the world shocker Scott sheer you think about the long iron play that is required needing to hit it high into these small Landing areas Shocker the best long iron player in the world is Scotty sheffler and you think about the green and regulation percentage only hitting these 56 57% of the time in 2014 you need to have a good around the green game shocker once again perhaps underrated which is weird to say in Scotty sheffer’s game is that chipping is that around the green game he’s top five in the world in that regard as well so it’s setting up perfectly for Scotty Sheffer to possibly claim his first US Open yeah I want to dive into that a little bit deeper because here are the places that he’s won five times this year mark And they’re they’re pretty stout uh Bay Hill TPC sass Augusta National Harbor toown mirfield Village how does Pinehurst number two set up maybe compared to some of those other golf courses for Scotty this week well I feel like they kind of ask the same questions Rick and to go sort of deeper than the numbers that Patrick shared you know the one thing about Scotty’s ball striking and all of those venues you talk about especially Bay Hill especially Augusta National they ask you to hit your irons not just accurately but the right distance and if you look at him the way he flights irons the distance control that he has I would almost say that that’s the calling card of his game then you add to that because like KP points out because of the nature of the greens they’re like upside down um sources if you will like turtle backs there at the end of the fairways you could just miss by a few feet catch the wrong side of a slope and all of a sudden the ball’s down there in a chipping area he is really underrated around the greens and the technique he employs is very simple and you’re going to see a lot of golfers with these conditions going simple there won’t be like immense flop shots and stuff going on it’s going to begin to become a little bit of a ground game but on the other side of that I feel like you can hit a good shot you get on the wrong side of a slope the ball wanders away from the hole that’s when frustration begins to set in and you know that word that all the pros will throw at you they talk about patience and being patient I would argue that Scotty is probably the most patient golfer on the PGA tour right now he’s certainly the most present golfer if you watch him how he bounces back from indiscretion like last week at the memorial he made a triple bogey I would have bet the farm on the fact that the guy wouldn’t do that but he makes triple shortly thereafter he rattles off a couple birdies now I feel like birdies may be in short supply but the one thing Scotty isn’t in short supply of is patience and wherewithal and the ability just to hang in there and stick around and kind of win the war of attrition because that’s what it’s going to be so you know you can look at the ball striking and you can look at the putting and all that sort of stuff this week it’s going to wear these players down mentally and emotionally and at the end of it all I feel like the last man standing is going to be tough here and here and Scotty Sheffer is tough in both those areas he’s the number one player in the world he is our recent winner on the PGA tour but he’s not Patrick our most recent major Champion that belongs to Xander Schley who got the job done at Valhalla and now he enters his first major championship as part of the one club now looking to double that total and make it to Xander’s playing some incredibly confident and Incredibly Great Golf right now he would and if it wasn’t for Scotty sheffler doing what Scotty sheffler is doing we’d be talking a lot more about Xander shafley and what Xander shafley is doing as you’re seeing on the screen he has seven top 15 finishes in seven US Open appearances only two other guys in in golf can say they’ve done that Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones I mean what a what a trio that is what a Duo to to be a part of you see Jack Nicholas has the record with 12 in a row I think Xander has a very legitimate shot to push that 7 to8 this week I know the start at Jack’s Place wasn’t great from TD green he was pretty sloppy not the usual ball striking we see from someone like Xander shafley especially in 2014 but you know what he did he got around the golf course effectively he plotted his way around he finished inside the top 10 still without his aame and that’s got to give him a bolster of confidence on top of that PGA Championship win of course so I think the US opens a great setup in general for Xander shafley as the temperament the wethal that Mark was talking about with Scotty sheffler I think Xander totally has that as well and I think he has the distance and accuracy off the T we talk about uh the added distance he’s gained with Chris KO and his new trainer he’s also added a lot of accuracy off the tea as well and so I think that’s going to be a big benefit for Xander and I think honestly he’s going to give it a good chance I I don’t see any reason why he W it except maybe the difficulty of winning backtack Majors which of course is pretty large uh I think you’re preaching Reverend McDonald over there I I’ll tell you personally an anecdote from my point of view few a few friends and me got together and we had a little draft for this week’s Us open because it’s week off so we can do that sort of stuff and I happened to pick make get the first pick and I was a little torn really just a little torn between picking Scotty Sheffer and Xander Shuffle and the golfers I was doing this with these are all Elite golfers that know the game intimately and I went Sheffer and the very next pick was Xander shafley because as you point out he has the entire skill set he is a five tool guy and the thing about Xander he’s awfully resilient to me because if you look at the run that he went on on the way to eventually his major championship Victory it was a lot of success number of top 10 but he was filled in question after question after question all the time like when are you going to do this Xander uh you fell short again Xander and he just weathered the storm in fact when he came short to Rory the week prior to the PGA Championship when Rory went bananas on him Xander was asked so what now and his response was well it’s going to make the next one all the more sweet and so it spoke to me of a guy that sort of he he knows he’s playing well he’s got the confidence in what he’s doing and how he’s doing it and that is huge and so he was able to go well it wasn’t this week but I know if I keep doing what I’m doing and I be resilient and I be tough it’s going to come now Lear behold it comes the following week and I saw a guy last week at the memorial who didn’t have his best stuff but look it’s his first one back since winning the PGA he had been home been celebrating kind of drinking in all of the success pardon the pun there of of what he just achieved and I feel like it’s back to business this week for Zander and so at a golf course that should suit his skill set I I really like his chances resilient and tough is also what Rory mroy has been through a 10-year major championship drought Patrick and you look back at his last handful of us opens 9th in 2019 8th in 2020 7th in 2021 5ifth in 2022 and runner up last year so there’s only one way to go from here right that’s the victory we’ve been doing this dance for the past four years Rick it seems like every every major championship it is now Rory mckoy’s time to get off the schneide to get number five to tie Brooks kka now for the most in this era and I think leaning into the difficulty of the US Open test has been the difference because you look at the three us opens before that miscut miscut miscut I mean in 2017 he was on on the couch tweeting at the usgaa about some rules infraction with Dustin Johnson uh that won’t be happening this year he should definitely be in the mix come the weekend you would think he’s given himself plenty of opportunities and major championships kind of once he turned 32 31 is I think if you want to be critical of Rory mroy it’s that middle portion of his career the late 20s early 30s where he probably didn’t give himself a ton of chances of major championships for how good he is and he’s doing that now and obviously the game’s in a really really good spot winning at the Wells Fargo Championship the zurk classic looking good at the Canadian open as well the iron play taking a step but I am concerned a little bit about some of those LS he tends to have in tournaments we saw it at the PGA Championship in those middle rounds we saw it at the Canadian open that second round of two over 72 that kind of took him out of the tournament and if you have a lull at Pinehurst number two you’re going to be in some sort of trouble so that’s the one thing I’m looking at that six hole stretch where he might not have his swing where he wants it to be is he able to get through that stretch effectively and I if he does I think he’ll have a chance I couldn’t agree more uh look let’s start with the fact that he’s now we’s back together or he’s going to fix up and they’re nulling I I guess I’m using the correct vernacular the divorce with Eric stall so that means to me Rory’s getting the emotions in order but to your point um I called him at the RBC Canadian open and I just saw one too many left balls and the problem with a ball turning left for a right-hander is it’s running faster when it hits the ground if you go in the opposite direction that left to right shot as Lee trino said you can speak to a fade but the hook won’t listen well Rory is victim to one that’s turning left hooking a little bit too fast right now and in fast conditions this is not going to be up his alley so if he’s happened to has have a a handle on the swing where he can manage that get the ball moving left to right getting it Landing a bit more softly around these firm conditions then he’s capable he’s playing with confidence but if he starts to get balls turning left who knows where they might end up around this place so right now I’m always high on Rory but I’m not that bullish this week I’m Keen to see how the golf swing is operating early in the event yeah we often find out how a championship is going to be for Rory early on Thursday we’ll see how he get started in this Mega group we have a lot more to talk about including revealing our picks to win in the 2024 United States open but we’re going to continue that conversation on the first cup podcast after this break welcome back to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network and one of the big storylines in this year’s US Open Patrick is who will not be teeing it up most notably John R Who who has had himself a little bit of a turbulent year since joining Liv golf his performance at uh major championships has been subpar by his lofty standards and thanks to a legion in between his toes he has opted to skip this week’s Us open yes Legion 13 many people are calling that I had to throw that in there Mark’s not the only one who gets the funny puns I get mine every now and again as well that got him that got him pretty good I’m proud of that one uh but turbulence one way to put it it’s just it’s been an odd year for John ROM like you like you said the defense at the Masters not really factoring there missing the cut at Val Hollow which was supposed to be a great course fit for him snapping that 18 uh made cut streak in major championships which was the longest active and I know he finishes top 10 on live golf but look John ROM he’s one of the best players of this era we’re not judging this guy on top 10 finishes on Liv golf were judging him on contention runs at Majors and and picking off big wins and so one from the fan perspective excuse me it’s a bummer he’s not going to be around every tournament’s awesome when John ROM is in the mix and then obviously from his perspective it’s just the continuation of a pretty disappointing 2024 and one he probably wants to put behind him to tell you the truth yeah so without John ROM Mark that opens up the door for a handful of other uh live golfers to kind of make their presence felt here Bryson D Shambo and Brooks kepa now co-favorites to be top live golfer at plus 320 Cameron Smith who has struggled recently on live is is next at five and a half to one TL Hatton lurks lurks and then there are eight other golfers for a total of 12 making up the live contingent that will battle it out this week yeah and as I watch this and and two Patrick’s sentiments about lean that was very very good but but as I watch this it’s almost like Rah going to live was actually the more I think about it not the best thing for live because he’s come out there are not playing very well and it seems like there’s nothing but drama sring around the area the only one that seems sort of immune to all of the drama in a weird way is Bryson Des Shambo because he has shown up with his attitude and he’s been very engaging with the fans at the last two major championships and people were telling me from Valhalla I had him there on Saturday that that brass made the tournament better which was all sorts of respect to him so this week looking at Bryson my only concern really is the fact that around the greens with you know the super upright wedges I’m Keen to see how he chips and pitches because not everyone’s going to hit all the greens in regulation as far as Brooks goes Brooks is a wild card to me which is hard to say because ordinarily he gets up for this sort of stuff now as it pertains to us opens he did win at shinok Hills which in a way you can draw some parallels between these two golf courses in terms of how fast it can play how the ball moves on the ground so we know he has that gear but I know this for certain Rick whether you’re cam Smith you would think that this golf course which is similar to the sand belt in Australia where he grew up that would make a lot of sense right there’s commonalities there but he’s not playing very well there’s no one really apart from Bryson who’s jumping off the page at me and that’s the reality of it because around this golf of course it’s going to identify the most complete game the most complete mind all of the above and right now the only really of all of them the one that sticks out maybe is dambo but there’s some there’s some U unsuri around his name to me as well Bryson is able to avoid the drama because he is the drama and that’s how he lives his life uh Patrick we have identified kind of a clear big three here in in Xander Schley uh Scotty shefer and and Rory mroy the guy who’s trying to fight his way into that conversation is Colin morawa he’s got top five finishes at each of the first two major championships he gave Scotty Sheffer all that he could handle at the memorial and it seems like Colin is on the verge of maybe getting major championship number three which would be insane at his young age and with only less than 30 Majors into his uh career it would be insane and it would set up the Masters next year not only Rory mroy but Kum morawa going for the career Grand Slam at a place where he’s finished inside the top 10 and like you said he’s got back toback top five finish there in the first two major championships not only that he was in the final pairing in both of those Scotty sheffler at the Masters alongside uh s Xander shafley there at the PGA Championship kind of similar rounds there where he hit the ball pretty well but just could not get anything to fall on the greens especially there at Valhalla it seemed like he burned just about every Edge up until the 18th when he finally made a birdie but he looks fantastic he’s driving the ball as well as ever he’s the most accurate driver in this field which is going to be crucial because the iron play is begin beginning to look like Peak K morawa two-time major championship style col morawa as well and I think the X Factor for him is when he did go through that lull with the iron play you know what got better his short game and he still has that the short game is much improved posting career best around the green and on the green as well everyone’s talking about his fivewood Xander shafley called it dirty he said Colin Mora was dirty with the fivewood from around the green I know they’ve played a bunch of rounds before Xander moved uh from Vegas to Florida so I’m really Keen to see how that around the green game Stacks up at pineh Herz number two because it seems like the rest of the game is in order and like I’ve said Rick col Mora was going to be a US Open Champion one day I am convinced of it and it might very well be this Sunday he he even if he wins this week Patrick he would still be just 12 major championships behind Tiger Woods and Mark that is a name that often gets spoken about at the top of shows we are far from the top of the show at this point he missed the cut at the PGA Championship he did make the weekend but struggled very much at the Masters what is at this point a realistic expectation for Tiger around Pinehurst number two I feel like realistic stickers for him to see the weekend and I believe he’s going to and I’ll give you a few quick reasons number one he’s still got the while and the Gile and all those sort of things that you need to play a venue like this secondly around the greens he is old school I mean on soft conditions you’ll see him whip out eight irons seven irons six irons and create around the green so he has that gear then thirdly Pine Hill uh Pine pdon pardon me it’s the golf course is is really not that difficult to walk so it won’t put too much stress in the legs so I feel like with his wit his wisdom the short game and the fact that the golf course Pinehurst is is a fairly easy walk I feel like he plays decent enough to see the weekend yeah the body just as important as the game every time tiger tees it up well we’re ready to do it we’re going to add another voice to the conversation we’re going to reveal the picks to win the US Open get you some sleepers but we’re going to do all of that after this quick break welcome back to the first cut podcast live on CBS Sports Network and look at this voice and this face that we’ve got it’s Chip Patterson live from Pine Hurst chip it’s good to see you oh man it’s um I’m fired up to be back on the first cut podcast you know that I’m a loyal listener uh a one-time host before the great Rick gaming came in and so to be back with the brand uh it feels good especially here in Pinehurst uh it’s so good well listen we’re going to put you right to work here because we’re going to give the people what they want and they want picks so we are gonna start with the very special chip Patterson pick to win this year’s US Open we’re gonna go with Colin marawa and there’s a not controversial I mean we’re talking about a top five name on the odds board but I like the narrative side of this as somebody who was in the top five at each of the first two major championships that we’ve had and just recently you know was in that final pairing with Scotty sheffler and similar to you know what we saw maybe with Xander at Wells Fargo he’s there with Rory Rory runs away with it but then Xander’s the one who walks through the door at the major championship at Valhalla I could see Colin marawa somebody who’s around the green game has been improving uh throughout 2024 somebody who obviously has the ability to hit all the shots into these greens and and this is the icing on the cake gentlemen when I saw him out there with that three-wood getting creative around these green complexes I know you need that creativity so my pick to win it is not Scotty it is not Xander it is Colin marawa getting the Third Leg of the Grand Slam chip I hear you um I’m going with a guy who played alongside Colin last week and beat Colin he’s doesn’t have his cooler beard as you right now CU he shaved it off so I think beardless Scotty Sheffer is just too much he’s got everything going on he’s got confidence and the difference is that often times in a tournament like this you mustn’t beat yourself if you pull players in the locker room who they need to stay in front of if they want to win this tournament you will probably resoundingly hear Scotty Sheffer so I’m going to go with the masses I’m going out on that limb I say Shefler shoots four under and that’s enough to win chalk City gentlemen come on go out on a limb please and we are going to go out on limb with someone who might have been battling some limb injuries for all we know Hadi Matsuyama the 2021 Masters champion I I love what this guy can do in firm fast difficult conditions Mark you talked about needing to hit the ball pin High not only does matama do that but he hits it as high as anyone which I think will be important as well and when you do miss those greens you know who ranks number one on the PGA tour in terms of Strokes gained around the green well that’s Hadi miyama I think this guy is a great major championship competitor some of that luster from the early season start is off his name and I think he’s going to put it right back on at the US Open wow and two under par is the score prediction for Patrick there and Hideki this is tough those are three solid picks I’ll I’ll break the tie here and I will join Mark with Scotty Sheffer I just think he’s the best player in the world it is not even close and now he’s going to a golf course that not only mat magnifies his oncore strengths but his in brain strengths and the duo between him and Ted Scott is in my opinion unbeatable speaking of going out on a limb let’s get somebody a little bit farther down the board dare I say a sleeper chip where are we going for someone who has longer odds than what we’ve covered thus far yeah we’re looking for the Michael Campbell right you know we’re looking for who’s going to finish one shot ahead of Scotty sheffler at the end of this and I’m going to go with Russell Henley uh I think Russell Henley has been playing some good golf recently you just look at his 2024 12 made cuts and 13 starts he’s got three top fives uh five times he’s finished in the top 12 and here at the US open at Pinehurst number two I think that what I guess would be his statistical weakness would be driving distance I think is negated by the firm and the fast conditions and then when you’re making around the green more important when you’re making putting more important approach play all of those are boxes that Russell checks uh got to I mean he was out there got to see a couple t- shots it didn’t look like he was way behind everybody he was playing with and so I think that Russell Henley down there at 90 to1 that’s worth a flyer as someone who you know was what 14 years ago the low am at the US Open and has pretty good history at this major championship so let’s go with the dog the Georgia Bulldog Russell heny Henley as my flyer yeah I can get on board with that pick there chip I’m completely with you in fact I can considered Russ but I’m going to go with sun JM for various reasons the way he strikes it the presence of mind the patience he has and just a few weeks ago he was in the mix just down the way in Charlotte now I understand that Quail Hollow is a different examination but it’s like a major championship golf course in fact it is so I feel like sunj who’s been gaining momentum steadily the neck injury that was bothering him as a thing of the past sjm sign me up chip I just gotta say anytime you get a top 10 player in the world like Russell Henley at 90 to one you gotta bet on him 90 to1 you gotta bet on him Rick’s laughing because he can’t believe that number for a top 10 player like Russell Henley I’m going with a dog as well but I’m going with the septic tank sep straa I love the way this guy is playing you look at the top five finishes he’s had at Harbor toown at Colonial last week at Jack’s Place as well and he has a sneaky sneaky good major champion ship record he was runner up at the Open Championship last season that’s a place where you got to get kind of creative around the green as well the iron play is huming he’s kind of got that same profile as a Russell Henley and he’s been in the mix recently so I like the way straa is looking I think he could surprise this week very good 90 to one for sep straa I’m not going with a dog I’m going with a husky a wild cat what’s northwestern’s mascot wild cat wild wild cat Wild wild cat yeah okay I’m going wild cat in Matt Fitzpatrick it was I’m off the rails a little bit and over my skis when it gets to college mascots but Matt Fitzpatrick uh finished beautifully at the memorial last week as we discussed plenty of times that was major championship like conditions he has a victory at the US Open his 2024 has been all over the place but he feels like he’s getting right and this is the right time to get right so Matt Fitzpatrick checking in at 50 to1 chip it’s always a pleasure we’re GNA get you back out on the golf course we’re GNA get your uh eyes and ears we’re we’re looking forward to everything that comes from you this week thank you so much for doing this I appreciate it great to be with it y’all be well all right we’re going to continue this episode of the first cup podcast with more but first we’re going to take a quick break oh welcome back to the first cut podcast live on CBS Sports Network and gentlemen this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for something that you’re going to be play paying close attention to mark it could be a player it could be tournament related it could be literally anything what will have your attention this week uh well given it’s my week off um my uh cocktails by the pool when I’m watching some golf is going to have my attention and also I’ve learned from you about cut sweats reck so Friday afternoon I’m going to be paying attention now uh at Patrick’s favorite Us open venue last year the cut was two over um at the US Open remember it cuts to 60 in ties at the PGA and at the open cuts to 70 in ties and the Masters cuts to 50 in ties so 60 this week with the way the golf course is playing and from all the reports I’m kind of going because the last time the US Open was held here the cut was six over thank you Rick so I’m going to set the line at about six and a half which I think is modest and uh given last year was two overp par for a cut at Lac I’m going to say six and a half Jens do you go over or do you go under Rick I take over meaning I think it’s gonna be more difficult than that Patrick all right I’m glad you specified because I was going to get lost in the over under there but I I too am gonna go over I think I like seven I like seven over well look either way I think it’s lot of it’s going to be a lot of fun honestly because I I know you guys when I’m out there the golf course it’s difficult to cover difficult golf I’ll be honest with you because there’s there’s no real excitement if you will it’s just more surviving but it’s gonna be a fun watch for me Friday afternoon so I’ll be looking for the cut yeah we like to watch them have trouble not necessarily us when we get out on the golf course Patrick we’ve got one thing to keep our eye on that’s the cut number and potential Cartage what are you most looking forward to this week probably the variety around the green the type of shots that we’re going to see right we see tiger w Woods using the four iron a lot we saw uh we heard from Chip saying the fivewood from colore CWA was getting a lot of usage Xander shafley said he’s going to putt a ton McKenzie Hugh said guess what I’m a great wedge player I’m going to use the 60 degree as much as I possibly can and so just the different variety we’re going to see that we don’t typically see on the week- toe basis on the PGA tour because we get all these runoffs all this short grass I’m really looking forward to one these guys putting their skills on display and two some of them looking like idiots while trying to put those skills on display and that’s what the us open’s all about one quick thing just one quick thing so Patrick if the putter off the Green in Texas is called the Texas wedge what’s it called in North Carolina then oh boy uh the Carolina Club something like that cool petow wedge that might be South Carolina I don’t know if that’s if that’s close enough the Pinehurst putters yeah something like that um how about how about this Mark uh throw it throw your head out the window throw your wallet out the window what does your heart say what who who do you want to win deep in your heart what would be your favorite outcome honestly my favorite outcome would be fer Rari to win um but really because of my little pool that I’ve got going on I really need Scotty Shefler to win because this could be a handsome Payday for me Sunday afternoon so head high my wallet’s saying Scotty let’s go my my heart is saying Scotty sheffler as well after that players win I said I want him to burn them all and this is certainly one of them I want him to put together a historic season maybe get to nine wins a few Majors even so in the hearts of Hearts Scotty Sheffer continuing this stretch is my favorite outcome no love for Jordan spe no love for Justin Thomas no love for Colin MOA cow Xander we’re already over Xander this ain’t the boys club Rick this ain’t the boys club what about somebody getting their first Patrick Klay Victor havland that would be pretty cool H theala for me for that that wouldd be cool ludvig oberg for me getting there first lud would be need that Mark for the one and done the first the first of Betty well listen gentlemen uh if you like this you can catch the first cut podcast on YouTube and the golf on CBS YouTube channel everywhere you get your podcast check out that feed after every round of the US Open and don’t forget to catch us back here on CBS Sports Network on Monday at 2 pm Eastern to recap all of the action from Pinehurst enjoy the week it’s going to be great