4 things to watch at the 122nd U.S. Open

The golfing world again takes center stage this week in Massachusetts as the 122nd U.S. Open takes place at The Country Club in Brookline.

It's been an eventful few weeks with the big-name defections from the PGA TOUR to LIV Golf and the rival circuit's inaugural event last week. However, all the top names are now in the same spot for the season's third major.

Here are four things to watch this week just outside of Boston.

Reception for LIV Golf participants

It's not quite a heavyweight boxing rivalry, but there's certainly a new turf war in professional golf thanks to the LIV Golf circuit's emergence.

Names like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Patrick Reed opted for the guaranteed sums of cash from the Saudi-backed outfit. Media and fans have criticized those decisions, with Mickelson bearing the brunt in Monday's press conference.

While none of the LIV Golf members come to Brookline in top form, players like Johnson and DeChambeau possess the talent to make a run at the title. How the notoriously boisterous Boston crowd receives them this week might be even more intriguing than their play.

Rory and JT continue to plant the TOUR flag

It felt like the lifeless final round Saturday from the first LIV Golf event in London was a different sport entirely than the electric Sunday duel between Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas at the Canadian Open.

Arguably the two biggest stars in the game right now have also been the staunchest supporters of the PGA TOUR in the face of the LIV Golf threat. They've also backed up their words with terrific play lately.

Thomas is just a month removed from his incredible finish at Southern Hills to claim the PGA Championship. McIlroy roasted St. George's with a closing 62 last weekend to outdo Thomas and Tony Finau for the title in Toronto.

McIlroy took a shot Sunday at LIV Golf boss Greg Norman by noting he now has one more PGA TOUR win than the Australian, while Thomas was particularly pleased by the star-studded leaderboard.

With both players in top form and playing with some added incentive to defend the PGA TOUR, expect big things in the season's third major for the explosive pair.

The usual U.S. Open carnage

The U.S. Open fancies itself as the toughest test in golf every year. It should be no different this time around in The Country Club's testing conditions.

With treacherous pin positions and the thickest rough on TOUR, the annual set up by the USGA can drive the world's best golfers mad. There have been numerous instances of players snapping at the setup, including when Mickelson purposely hit a moving ball at Shinnecock Hills and Zach Johnson claiming at that same event that the USGA had "lost the golf course."

With virtually no rain in the forecast this week in Massachusetts, the course should be crispy by the weekend and could present some incredibly tough conditions.

Rahm's title defense

With all the drama in the professional golf world over the past couple of weeks, the defending champion Jon Rahm comes to Brookline somehow flying under the radar.

One of the best moments of last season came when Rahm snatched victory from Louis Oosthuizen with his absurd finish. The Spaniard is looking for similar theatrics to claim his second career major.

The 27-year-old has established himself as one of the best major players on the planet. Rahm's recorded an outrageous nine top-10 finishes in the biggest events since 2018.

That resume makes his 27th-place showing at the Masters and 48th-place finish at the PGA Championship look downright pedestrian. The world No. 2 will be looking to change that this week.