SOUTHAMPTON (AFP) — Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy made final US Open preparations on Wednesday in the last practice session before a major showdown at Shinnecock.

A field of 156 players tees off Thursday at the 7,440-yard Long Island layout, where guesting winds combine with dense rough and fast greens to create one of golf’s toughest tests.

“This course demands so much patience and it can really lure you into taking on things that you probably shouldn’t,” McIlroy said.

“If everything is going the way everyone wants it in terms of weather, setup, I think it’s the best championship test in the country.”

Scheffler, trying to complete a career Grand Slam with a triumph this week, starts off the first tee Thursday at 8:14 a.m. alongside defending champion JJ Spaun and US Amateur champion Mason Howell.

“Would it be a dream to win the US Open? Of course,” Scheffler said.

“But at the end of the day, the Grand Slam has never been a motivating factor for me. I always just wanted to be the best version of myself and that got me this far.”

The US Golf Association announced plans to water greens between the morning and afternoon waves on Thursday and Friday and just before Saturday’s start to keep greens with reduced speed levels playable due to expected high wind.

The USGA also revealed a purse of $22.5 million and a winner’s prize of $4.5 million, up from $21.5 million and $4.3 million for last year’s tournament.

McIlroy, who won his sixth major title at the Masters in April, also has an early start, going off the 10th tee at 7:52 a.m. with England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.

“It tests all aspects of the game: driving, iron play, you need to have your wits about you on the greens,” McIlroy said of Shinnecock. “It’s a lot of strategy, thoughtfulness.”

It’s also a course that can go from on the edge to over the top in terms of fairness, players mindful of claims the US Golf Association “lost the course” at Shinnecock in the 2004 and 2018 US Opens.

Groundskeepers were watering the greens between groups in hopes of keeping them playable those years as balls rolled off wind-swept greens.

“You’re on a knife’s edge, so if the weather turned, which is very hard to predict, it becomes unplayable in certain spots,” said Adam Scott, who makes his 100th consecutive major start.

“We’ve seen what’s happened here the last two US Opens. It doesn’t need to get that fast to play incredibly difficult and challenging,” McIlroy said.

“You get a day with a lot of wind and dry, clear conditions and we’re just going to have to be mindful of that.”

McIlroy will be cautious as crosswinds shrink proper landing spots on wide fairways and greens require a delicate touch.

“Looks like we’re going to get some pretty heavy wind,” he said. “If you can get your ball to the middle of the greens and just putt to the corners wherever the flags are going to be, that’s never going to be a bad strategy.”

McIlroy was the US Open runner-up in 2022 and 2023, capping a run of six straight top-10 efforts before sharing 19th last year.

For Scheffler, finding fairways in the brisk winds is paramount.

“Driving accuracy is extremely important,” Scheffler said. “You put a 20-mph wind out there, these fairways with how firm they are, are not going to play super wide.”

“When you look at your poor tee shots hitting it into in the rough in this fescue, it’s going to be virtually impossible to get the ball on the green.”