Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas are among the favourites ahead of the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline as golf’s third major of the year gets underway.

McIlroy and Thomas were involved in a thrilling duel on the PGA Tour at the Canadian Open last week, away from the cloud left hanging over the game at the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

McIlroy is looking to add to his four major championships and has found form this year, even if the top prizes at the Masters and PGA Championship have evaded him.

Thomas, the PGA Championship winner, has also been tipped, along with Masters winner Scottie Scheffler and the defending U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the tournament.

When is the U.S. Open?

The tournament will get underway on Thursday 16 June and will run to Sunday 19 June. It will be played at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

How can I watch it?

The action will be shown on Sky Sports, with both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Golf carrying the coverage. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

What times does it start?

The opening two rounds will get underway at 11:45am BST while the TV coverage will start from 1pm on Sky Sports. The tee times will be later on round three and four.

Who are the favourites?

Pre-tournament odds

8/1: Rory McIlroy

9/1: Justin Thomas

10/1: Scottie Scheffler

11/1: Jon Rahm

14/1: Xander Schauffele

16/1: Cameron Smith

18/1: Jordan Spieth, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay

20/1: Sam Burns, Shane Lowry, Will Zalatoris

Round 1 tee times (all times BST)

Starting at Hole 1

1145: Michael Thorbjornsen, Erik Barnes, Matt McCarty

1156: Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers, Travis Vick

1207: Troy Merritt, William Mouw, Andrew Putnam

1218: Collin Morikawa, James Piot, Jon Rahm

1229: Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Max Homa

1240: Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger

1251: Harold Varner III, Sebastian Munoz, Alex Noren

1302: Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris

1313: Adam Schenk, Stewart Hagestad, Grayson Murray

1324: Guido Migliozzi, Branden Grace, Mackenzie Hughes

1335: Beau Hossler, Kalle Samooja, Satoshi Kodaira

1346: Richard Mansell Tomoyasu Sugiyama, Roger Sloan

1357: Caleb Manuel, Keith Greene, Ben Silverman

1730: Kevin Chappell, Chase Seiffert, Andrew Novak

1741: Thorbjorn Olesen, Brian Stuard, Nick Hardy

1752: Sam Horsfield, Cameron Tringale, Shaun Norris

1803: Sungjae Im, Mito Pereira, Erik van Rooyen

1814: Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau

1825: Joohyung Kim, Seamus Power, Min Woo Lee

1836: Matt Fitzpatrick, Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson

1847: Phil Mickelson, Shane Lowry, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)

1858: Danny Lee, Keita Nakajima, Nick Taylor

1909: Jim Furyk, Nick Dunlap, Adam Hadwin

1920: Richard Bland, Rikuya Hoshino, Ryan Fox

1931: Jonas Blixt, Bo Hoag, Todd Sinnott

1942: Isaiah Salinda, Sean Jacklin Charles Reiter

Starting at Hole 10

1145: Fran Quinn, Callum Tarren, Hayden Buckley

1156: Kurt Kitayama, Denny McCarthy, Sam Bennett

1207: Wyndham Clark, Brandon Matthews, Wil Besseling

1218: David Lingmerth, Sepp Straka, Si Woo Kim

1229: Scott Stallings, Davis Riley, Victor Perez

1240: Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele

1251: Kevin Kisner, Russell Henley, Brian Harman

1302: Keegan Bradley, Marc Leishman, Aaron Wise

1313: Francesco Molinari, Laird Shepherd, Stewart Cink

1324: Marcel Schneider, Chan Kim, Joseph Bramlett

1335: Lanto Griffin, Joel Dahmen, Jinichiro Kozuma

1346: Chris Gotterup, Fred Biondi, Harry Hall

1357: Chris Naegel, Andrew Beckler, Luke Gannon

1730: Jed Morgan, Taylor Montgomery, Sean Crocker

1741: Maxwell Moldovan, Yannik Paul, MJ Daffue

1752: Talor Gooch, Adri Arnaus, Tom Hoge

1803: Kevin Na, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton

1814: Sam Burns, Abraham Ancer, Thomas Pieters

1825: Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Scottie Scheffler

1836: Luke List, Austin Greaser, Corey Conners

1847: Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau

1858: KH Lee, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed

1909: Jason Kokrak, Harris English, Lucas Herbert

1920: Sam Stevens, Ben Lorenz, Davis Shore

1931: Daijiro Izumida, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Sebastian Soderberg

1942: Ryan Gerard, Brady Calkins, Jesse Mueller

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