ERIN, Wis. -- You can seemingly see for miles in all directions across the vast Erin Hills landscape, and yet there isn't a major champion in sight. Peer at the leaderboard and you eventually find Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen, straining to keep in touch.
Barring something, shall we say, unforeseen, the U.S. Open is going to produce a seventh straight first-time major championship winner.
And he's likely going to have to do it in a manner that a majority of the past winners of the big trophy rarely would have considered -- by making birdies.