Golf’s Longest Day 2026: Everything You Need to Know About U.S. Open Final Qualifying

Golf’s Longest Day 2026 – Monday, June 8 is one of the most unique days on the golf calendar. Ten venues spread across the United States and Canada will simultaneously host 36-hole qualifiers, each one a grueling sprint with a Shinnecock Hills tee time waiting at the finish line. This is Golf’s Longest Day.

What Is Golf’s Longest Day?

The U.S. Open is the most open major in golf. The USGA accepted more than 10,200 entries for this year’s championship, which demands a rigorous filtering process. It runs in two stages.

First comes local qualifying: 18-hole stroke play at 108 sites around the country, held from late April through mid-May. Survive that, and you earn an invitation to Final Qualifying, the second and final stage. Final Qualifying is 36 holes in a single day at venues set up to U.S. Open standards; firm, fast, and unforgiving. No mulligans. No second chances. You’re done, or you’re going to Shinnecock.

The June 8 wave is the main event. Ten sites go simultaneously, covering every time zone in the contiguous United States, stretching from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida out to Creswell, Oregon. Golf Channel airs 10 hours of coverage. The USGA posts live scoring across all sites at usopen.com. By the time the last groups walk off in California, the final field for the 126th U.S. Open will be nearly complete.

Since 2004, an average of 77.9 players per year have advanced through one or both qualifying stages to make the U.S. Open. This year’s 10 June 8 sites will collectively send roughly 60 to 70 players to Southampton.

Golf’s Longest Day 2026

The 10 Sites on June 8

Here is every venue hosting action on Monday:

• Lambton Golf & Country Club — York, Ontario, Canada (61 players)
• Del Paso Country Club — Sacramento, Calif. (78 players)
• Springfield Country Club — Springfield, Ohio (78 players)
• Emerald Valley Golf Club — Creswell, Ore. (54 players)
• Woodmont Country Club (North Course) — Rockville, Md. (77 players)
• BallenIsles Country Club (East Course) — Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (78 players)
• Century Country Club & Golf Club of Purchase — Purchase, N.Y. (79 players)
• Gaston Country Club — Gastonia, N.C.
• The Lakes Golf & Country Club — Westerville, Ohio
• Hawks Ridge Golf Club — Ball Ground, Ga.

Each site has its own personality. Lambton in Toronto serves as a perfect venue for those in this week’s Canadian Open field who haven’t already qualified.

Golf’s Longest Day 2026

The Big Names Trying to Get In

This is where Golf’s Longest Day becomes appointment viewing.

Webb Simpson (Gaston CC, N.C.) won the U.S. Open in 2012 at The Olympic Club in just his second start in the championship. He is 40 years old now, owns seven PGA Tour titles, and has made 12 U.S. Open starts. He needs to go low in Gastonia to get back to a course where he once played some of the best golf of his career.

Lucas Glover (The Lakes, Ohio) is in some ways the perfect Golf’s Longest Day story. He won the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black as a qualifier, one of the few players in history to win the championship after coming through Final Qualifying. Now 46, he is back at it again, trying to earn his 18th U.S. Open start.

Geoff Ogilvy (Del Paso, Calif.) won the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot and is serving as International Team Captain for the 2026 Presidents Cup. At 48, with 13 U.S. Open appearances behind him and eight PGA Tour wins on his resume, he is making one more run in Sacramento.

Tony Finau (Springfield, Ohio) played in the final group at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 and has been in 10 of the last 11 U.S. Opens. He is sitting outside the automatic qualifying cutoff in the world rankings. Best U.S. Open finish: a tie for third at Pinehurst in 2024. He needs 36 good holes in Springfield to return to a venue where he nearly won eight years ago.

Brandt Snedeker (Springfield, Ohio) is one of the more compelling names on the board. The 2026 U.S. Presidents Cup captain is 45, has 14 U.S. Open starts and four top 10s in the championship, and just won the Myrtle Beach Classic in early May, his first PGA Tour victory since 2018.

Aldrich Potgieter (Springfield, Ohio) is the reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He led the Tour in driving distance last season and won the 2025 Rocket Classic in Detroit. He is 21 years old and already a name to track at every major venue. He has one U.S. Open to his name, a tie for 64th at LACC in 2023.

Billy Horschel (Springfield, Ohio) owns eight PGA Tour victories, including the 2014 Tour Championship, and has made eight cuts in 12 U.S. Open starts. His best showing in the championship was a tie for fourth at Merion in 2013.

Max Homa (Lambton, Canada) has six PGA Tour titles and finished tied for ninth at the 2026 Masters, his lone top 10 of the season. He is ranked just outside the top 100 in the world. Last year at qualifying, he carried his own bag through 36 holes in Columbus after a caddie split, three-putted the 72nd hole to fall into a five-for-one playoff, and did not get through. He is back, this time in Toronto, trying to make his eighth U.S. Open.

Rasmus Hojgaard (Lambton, Canada) is 25 and ranked inside the top 75 in the world. His twin brother Nicolai is already in the field as a fully exempt player. The two made history in 2025 as the first set of twins to compete in the same Masters Tournament. Rasmus is trying to join his brother at Shinnecock.

Ricky Castillo (Lambton, Canada) won his first PGA Tour title at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year and made his professional major debut at the 2026 PGA Championship. He was a 4-0 member of the 2021 USA Walker Cup team at Seminole Golf Club.

Kevin Na (Del Paso, Calif.) has 10 U.S. Open starts and a seventh-place finish at Oakmont in 2016. Five career PGA Tour wins. After a stint captaining the Iron Heads on LIV Golf, he is back trying to qualify for his first U.S. Open since 2022.

Michael Block (Del Paso, Calif.) became a cult figure in American golf after his T-15 at the 2023 PGA Championship, one of the greatest performances by a club professional in decades. The teaching pro from Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo is 49 now and has played Shinnecock before, missing the cut in 2018. He wants another shot at the big stage.

Joel Dahmen has four U.S. Open starts, including a tie for 10th at The Country Club in 2022, the qualifying journey documented in full by Netflix’s Full Swing. He is back trying to write another chapter.

Maxwell Moldovan (Springfield, Ohio) is a name to know for Ohio golf fans. The former Ohio State standout has advanced to the U.S. Open from the Springfield site on four consecutive occasions. He qualified again through the Findlay Country Club local in April.

Neal Shipley (Springfield, Ohio) earned low-amateur honors at the 2024 U.S. Open when he tied for 26th at Pinehurst No. 2. He was the runner-up in the 2023 U.S. Amateur to Nick Dunlap at Cherry Hills. He is now in his first year as a PGA Tour professional after winning two Korn Ferry Tour events in 2024.

Michael Thorbjornsen (Woodmont, Md.) has played in three U.S. Opens as an amateur and made it through Final Qualifying twice in 2022 and 2023. He won the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol, which earned him a spot in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he became the first reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion to make the cut.

Blades Brown (Woodmont, Md.) is 19 years old and already has PGA Tour starts on his resume. He earned Special Temporary Membership this season after finishing tied for 14th at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He went 12-under in a single first round at the American Express Championship, making him the youngest player in PGA Tour history to post a round of 60 or better. The U.S. National Junior Team product is trying to make his first U.S. Open.

Matt Kuchar (BallenIsles, Fla.) is 47 years old with nine PGA Tour wins and 22 U.S. Open starts to his name. He made his U.S. Open debut in 1998 at The Olympic Club, finishing tied for 14th as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. He is still chasing major championship tee times.

Luke Clanton (BallenIsles, Fla.) earned the 2024 Mark McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked amateur and tied for 41st at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst as an amateur. He turned professional in 2025 and is trying to get back to the championship in his first full season as a pro.

Matthieu Pavon (BallenIsles, Fla.) has five U.S. Open starts and finished fifth at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024, his best major result. He also has a top 25 at Shinnecock from 2018.

Philip Barbaree Jr. (Springfield, Ohio) won the 2015 U.S. Junior Amateur and made it through Golf’s Longest Day in 2018 at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Texas, tying for medalist honors to earn his first major start. At Shinnecock Hills. He made the cut at last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont after making a five-foot par putt on his final hole Saturday morning to save his week.

Beau Hossler (Lambton, Canada) has five U.S. Open starts and three made cuts. He briefly led the 2012 U.S. Open as a 17-year-old at The Olympic Club, a moment that made him a nationally known name almost overnight.

Stewart Hagestad (Del Paso, Calif.) is one of the most decorated amateurs in the modern era. He has three U.S. Mid-Amateur titles, low-amateur honors at the 2017 Masters, and five victorious Walker Cup team appearances. He works in finance and keeps showing up at the biggest stages in amateur golf.

Andrew and Michael Putnam (Emerald Valley, Ore.) are brothers from University Place, Washington, both competing at the Oregon site. Andrew, 37, has five U.S. Open starts and a win on the PGA Tour. Michael, 42, has six U.S. Open starts and was the one who hit the opening tee shot of the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, just down the road from where he grew up.

Ricky Barnes (Del Paso, Calif.) held the 54-hole lead at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black before finishing in a tie for second. He won the 2002 U.S. Amateur. He is 45 and trying to qualify for his first U.S. Open since 2010.

Zach Bauchou (Woodmont, Md.) earned medalist honors at last year’s Duke University qualifier to make his major championship debut at Oakmont. He is back trying to do it again.

Shane Bacon (Century CC/Purchase, N.Y.) is a CBS golf broadcaster and Korn Ferry Tour commentator who shot 2-under in his local qualifier at Great River Golf Club. He is 42 years old and qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills in 2023 at age 39. This is Golf’s Longest Day working exactly as intended.

Golf’s Longest Day 2026

The Youngest and Oldest in the Field

The range of competitors on Monday is unlike anything else in professional golf. Michael McCoy, 63 years old and the reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion, is the oldest competitor in final qualifying. Nico Gordic-Ronderos, a 14-year-old freshman at Cardinal Mooney High School in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, is the youngest. He shot 3-under in his local qualifier in Naples, Florida. Of the more than 30 14-year-olds who entered local qualifying across the country, he is the only one still standing on June 8.

Miles Russell, 17, of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, is also in the Palm Beach Gardens field. He is the highest-ranked junior in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and has previously been compared to Tiger Woods as the youngest ever AJGA Rolex Boys Player of the Year. He is a lefty who has already reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur.

The Stakes Beyond Monday

For players who do not get through on June 8, one lifeline remains. Anyone who climbs inside the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking by June 15, the day after the RBC Canadian Open, earns automatic entry into the field. That means some bubble players have two paths running simultaneously this week. Most will need Monday to go their way.

The championship itself is no less daunting than the qualifier. Shinnecock Hills is playing 7,434 yards at par 70 for the 2026 U.S. Open, the only course in history to have hosted the championship across three different centuries (1896, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2018, 2026). Scoring will be brutal. Monday’s 36-hole grind is appropriate preparation.

Golf’s Longest Day 2026

How to Watch Golf’s Longest Day

TV: Golf Channel carries the day with 10 hours of live coverage. Broadcast windows are noon-2 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. to midnight ET. The late block is necessary because the Oregon and California sites will not finish until well after dark on the East Coast.

Streaming: Golf Channel’s coverage streams live through the NBC Sports app. Cord-cutters can access it through live TV streaming services that carry Golf Channel, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling TV.

Live Scoring: The USGA posts live leaderboards for all 10 sites simultaneously at usopen.com. That is the only place to track every qualifier in real time on one screen — essential when you have 10 different tournaments running at once across the country.

AmateurGolf.com is worth bookmarking for granular site-by-site coverage, alternate position tracking, and playoff updates. Some of these sites will go past midnight on the East Coast before the final spots are decided.

The 126th U.S. Open tees off at Shinnecock Hills on June 18. Monday is the last chance for most of the field to earn their way in.