Whenever major championships get hit with extreme weather, tournament officials often face some of the hardest calls in sports. The stakes are enormous as course conditions keep getting unpredictable. Every decision in that situation gets scrutinized from every angle. The last time the US Open first round was delayed for fog was in 2021 at Torrey Pines, a course notorious for its June fog. That stoppage lasted 90 minutes. On Thursday at Shinnecock Hills, it has happened again, and this time it went longer and uglier, and fans are not happy with it.

On 18 June, even before the first tee was shot, a thick fog overtook the Shinnecock Hills and made the first hole nearly impossible to see from the players’ approach position. Officials had to blow three horns at 7:05 a.m. ET, suspending play for what was classified as non-dangerous conditions. 20 minutes later, the 126th U.S. Open was still in crisis mode.

The USGA was expecting another problem entirely. Heavy winds and possible storms were expected throughout the day, as gusts approached 40 mph. As reported by Golf Channel, the setup staff slowed green speeds and modified hole locations in anticipation of holes becoming unplayable later in the round.

Players were initially held in place on the course for 15 minutes in hopes that visibility would improve. When it didn’t, they were brought back to the clubhouse. The USGA first announced the delay at 7:05 a.m. ET and continued providing updates on X at 7:20 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 8:45 a.m. ET. Each update carried a similar message: Officials were still waiting for the conditions to improve. The delay eventually stretched beyond an hour with no immediate resolution in sight.

Play finally resumed at 9:05 a.m. after a two-hour delay. As players returned to the course, officials faced backlash from fans who felt the stoppage had lasted far longer than necessary.

Fans are not happy with the delay at the 2026 U.S. Open

One fan sharply called out the USGA as they wrote, “It’s not the fog, folks…they are delaying this until the early morning advantage has no statistical advantage over everyone else with the current wind forecast.”

Only 18 players in the 156-man field had teed off before the play was suspended, as reported by the PGA Tour. Eight of them were tied for the lead at even par when the game was suspended. Those early starters initially enjoyed the calmest conditions of the day at Shinnecock Hills. By the time the fog lifted, however, the wind began to pick up, creating a stark contrast to the relatively still conditions they faced earlier. Whether intentional or not, the delay effectively erased any advantage the early wave may have had.

Another commented, “Complete bu******. It’s fog. Let’s have a backbone. I thought this was the United States Open!!”

The U.S. Open has a reputation for being the toughest test in golf. Shinnecock Hills, in particular, plays to that identity. When Brooks Koepka won the 2018 U.S. Open on the very course, not a single player had finished under par for the tournament. The USGA’s whole brand is built on forcing players to grind. Pulling them off the course for fog felt to many fans like a contradiction of everything the major stands for.

Another called out, saying, “The fog isn’t even bad. I can literally see the announcer on the broadcast from 500 yards away. How is this ‘unplayable’?”

The USGA cited the reason as low visibility, but conditions were described by those on-site as heavy fog enough to limit sightlines across fairways, though it still left certain parts of the course partially visible on camera. But fans watching the broadcast saw enough to question whether the course was truly “unplayable.”

One said, “This is beyond soft. What has happened to the USGA?” and others supported by commenting, “This is the softest shit ever. The USGA has already lost the weather.”

At the 2016 U.S. Open, officials suspended the first round of play for 90 minutes because of poor weather conditions. When play had resumed, players were not given any additional warm-up time. Several players, like Jordan Spieth, had objected to the decision, arguing that a major championship should be treated differently. USGA, however, refused to budge. This time, many fans felt that the organization had gone far in the opposite direction.