Out of the Rough: U.S. Senior Open Championship (2026)

This week starts the run of three-consecutive major events on the PGA Champions Tour.

The U.S. Senior Open Championship takes center stage this week as the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio will play host.

Scioto Country Club also hosted the U.S. Senior Open Championship in 2016 and 1986.

This year marks the 46th playing of the event, first held in 1980.

Like the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open, the United States Golf Association (USGA) governs the event.

Additionally, like the other major events on the PGA Champions Tour, the U.S. Senior Open Championship is a four-round event.

The Field

In total, the USGA received 2,780 entries for the 46th edition of the U.S. Senior Open Championship.

In the end, 156-golfers have secured a tee-time at Scioto Country Club

Headling this week’s field is current PGA Champions Tour Regular Season Money List leader Stewart Cink who has won both of the first two majors of the season (Senior PGA Championship and the Regions Tradition.)

Other notable names playing this week include Padraig Harrington, Steven Alker, Ian Poulter, Freddie Jackbson, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Soren Kjeldsen and Scott Hend.

Harrington comes in as the defending champion, having topped Cink by a stroke a season ago to claim his second U.S. Senior Open Championship.

Other former winners of this event playing this week include David Toms (2018,) Gene Sauers (2016,) Jeff Maggert (2015,) Colin Montgomerie (2014) and Olin Browne (2011.)

The Course

Scioto Country Club is a historic Donald Ross designed course that is renowned as the childhood course of Jack Nicklaus.

It plays as a par-70 at 7,170 yards.

In 2021, Andrew Green was brought on to complete a full legacy restoration to bring the course back to Ross’ original design.

In that renovation, Green lowered green complexes, emboldened contours, recreated the iconic Ross sharp-faced bunkering and returned the small green at the par-three 17th to the near side of a creek.

This is a course that requires playing from the fairway with precision and course management over raw power.

Mature greens frame the fairways and many holes require shot-shaping around them. Additionally, the rough is penal and strategically placed bunkers flank the fairways.

A creek does meander throughout the golf course and comes into play on multiple holes as well.

From there, golfers will attack the heavily-contoured Bentgrass greens that too require precision approach shots.

These greens feature deceptive humps and knobs that feed into sloping green-side complexes.

Like the fairways, the greens too are heavily guarded by the sharp-faced Ross’ designed bunkers.

Step collection areas and grassy mounds too surround the greens, making around-the-green play that much more difficult.

The Weather

To start the week, golfers will face some extreme heat. Temperatures are set at 97-degrees on Thursday and 96-degrees on Friday. Temperatures will dip to 92-degrees on Saturday before finishing the week at 88-degrees on Sunday. Thursday currently calls for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation as Friday is calling for a 25-percent chance. Saturday is calling for a 35-percent chance of an afternoon thunderstorm as Sunday is calling for a 60-percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. Winds will start the week at a high of nine miles-per-hour before finishing the week at seven miles-per-hour across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Key Stats

• Ball Striking

• Average Driving Distance

• Scrambling

• Sand Save Percentage

• Putting Average

• Bogey Avoidance

• Par 4 Average Scoring

• Bounce Back

Betting Card

Ernie Els (+2000)

Els actually topped my stats-based model this week, which is surprising with the season Stewart Cink is having. Els is currently first on Tour in all three of putting average, scrambling and bounce back. He is also second on Tour in both bogey avoidance and par-four average scoring, third in ball striking, 14th in average driving distance and 19th in sand saves percentage. He last played the Principal Charity Classic where he placed 12th. Prior to that he placed 22nd at the American Family Insurance Championship, fourth at the Trophy Hassan II, second at the Insperity Invitational and eighth at the Regions Tradition across his last five starts. Els placed 13th last season at the U.S. Senior Open Championship as well as eighth in 2024 and 12th in 2023. 

Tommy Gainey (+2800)

Gainey has been in excellent form across his last five starts. He placed 14th last week at the DICK’s Open, 18th at the Principal Charity Classic, fifth at the American Family Insurance Championship, second at the Trophy Hassan II and eighth at the Insperity Invitational. Gainey is currently sixth on Tour in par-four average scoring, ninth in both average driving distance and putting average, 11th in ball striking, 13th in both bogey avoidance and bounce back, 23rd in scrambling and 41st in sand saves percentage. He’ll be making his U.S. Senior Open Championship debut this week. 

Boo Weekley (+6600)

The first of my two long-shots this week is Weekley, who claimed his maiden PGA Tour Champions victory earlier this season at the Insperity Invitational. Since then, he has placed 56th at the Trophy Hassan II, 17th at the American Family Insurance Championship, 22nd at the Principal Charity Classic and 14th at the DICK’s Open. He missed the cut at the U.S. Senior Open Championship a season ago. On the season, Weekley is currently fourth on Tour in both ball striking and par-four average scoring, sixth in bogey avoidance, 11th in scrambling, 15th in putting average, 27th in average driving distance, 31st in bounce back and 33rd in sand saves percentage. 

Matt Gogel (+6600)

My second long-shot is Gogel. He is currently seventh on Tour in scrambling, tenth in bogey avoidance, 12th in bounce back, 13th in par-four average scoring, 19th in putting average, 20th in both ball striking and sand saves percentage and 22nd in average driving distance. He placed 36th at the U.S. Senior Open Championship a season ago. He also placed third last week at the DICK’s Open, 12th at the Principal Charity Classic, 27th at the American Family Insurance Championship, 16th at the Trophy Hassan II and 19th at the Insperity Invitational.