Last year, my Winged Foot thread barely sputtered along to a second page (mostly fueled in the end by Phil Mickelson’s complete breakdown on the 72nd hole), and I know that there isn’t the greatest interest in watching golf on these boards, but I don’t care.
Yesterday began the 2007 US Open at Oakmont CC, outside Pittsburgh. It certainly seems that, of all the tournaments the PGA has a hand in, they are trying to give at least one per year in the US Open that will not only test the players, but will outright beat them.
Similar to last year, this year’s first round yielded only two rounds under par (and unlike last year having Monty with the lone round under, this year we get a nobody (Nick Dougherty) and a decent international golfer but American golf also-ran (Angel Cabrera)). Many of the big names in the field clustered between one over and two or three over (Woods ended the first day at plus 1, Furyk (my early prediction to win it) at plus 1, Singh at plus 2, Els at plus 3. An injured Mickelson managed to hold on to a plus 4). A lot of young guns are holding strong in the middle of that pack, too (Ogilvy and Rose are both plus 1; Baddeley plus 2; Poulter, Sabbatini (who has been on fire this year) and Villegas at plus 3).
Again, the course is punishing the players, but doing it in a very unique way (for US courses, anyway): There are no trees. The rough, hilly farmland of northwest PA is exposed to all of the sun and the wind that wants to beat down onto the course. The greens redefine undulating and fast (the Stimpmeter, used to measure green speeds, was created after witnessing a round of disastrous putting by the entire field at the 1935 US Open, also at Oakmont, but the greens are now so fast and so contoured that it is difficult to find a level surface on some greens to test for speed). There are unique lateral hazards with drainage ditches, often located just a yard or two off of the fairway on many holes.
It a strangely satisfying sense of schadenfreude that makes Open golf stand out. I may never break 80 on an easy Muni course after a lifetime of play, but thankfully there are still tests out there that will humble the pros just as much.
I watched a little yesterday. Some of those greens are really funky-- they are basically square. US Open golf is always exciting, but it’s hard to get too into it until the weekend.
I agree with John - hard to get too into it until the weekend, both because of work, and prior to the cut.
Watched a little recap on the Golf Channel last night, tho. They were consistently saying that yesterday was as easy as the course can play, due to a downpour on Wed., and reasonably forgiving pin placements. Could be brutal over the next 3 days. Is it really possible that the greens are slower than they usually run for members? What kind of masochist would want to belong to such a course?
Was painful seeing the Mick hack out of the rough, letting go with his trailing hand.
And light blue is not a good color for Tiger.
Amazing how Olazabal so often rises to the top in majors.
This monrning I read that one player, twice when he was in the rough he was not even able to see his ball as he addressed it.
That’s about all I’ve got.
Last weekend I played a course up in N. Wisc. with some of the tallest rough I’ve ever seen, and did I ever get tired of trying to hack out of it. I was unfamiliar with the course, so several times I simply drove through a fairway, or across a dogleg. On the back nine, I simply called an unplayable lie and took a stroke.
Not only that, the there’s no out-of-bounds. There’s progressive rough. Oh, you can double cross your tee-shot 45 yards off to the left and hit it again, but you’ll be teat-deep in rough.
I’d love to play it. I’d love to shoot a hundred billion and cry by the 4th hole. They’ve got a 10 foot deep bunker there, I hear. If I played it, I’d have to drop a few balls in it just to give it a shot.
Also, a sidenote about PGA-OK pin placements: a 3 foot area around any pin placement has to be flat. That means that about 90% of the courses you play, the pin placements wouldn’t even be legal there. (Also, they’ve got to be about a flagstick from the fringe, so with those guidelines, it might not even be POSSIBLE for your course to hold a tournament).
I played Olympia Fields when they were setting it up for the Open. I have never seen bunkers that deep before or since. Seriously, you couldn’t climb in or out of them from the side nearest the putting surface. It would have required a ladder! And the way I was playing my irons that day, I didn’t need to intentionally drop a few balls in them to experience them.
My buddy was on the club’s tournament committee, and said deepening the bunkers was one of many changes they made for the Open.
Lefty’s having a rough day.
Thru 6 he was -2 for the day, but is now +5 thru 15 for a total of +9.
Course must be playing a bear. I see one guy - Paul Casey - at -4 thru 17, and Aaron Baddely and some guy named Eric Axely are even on the back nine.
Most of the leaders have not teed off yet, tho.
Will be interesting to see where the cut ends up. Right now they are projecting +7.
Casey’s will likely be the round of the day. I definitely like seeing a course showing its teeth.
One thing that bugs me on coverage for the first two days: ESPN keeps giving work to Chris Berman. Does anybody actually like Chris Berman? His puns are horrendous (never mind that nearly all puns are horrendous). Today I’ve heard him refer to Joe Durant as “Durant Durant, Hungry Like the Wolf,” and after a bad shot from Ian Poulter, “Poulter the geist!,” which doesn’t make a lick of sense.
At present, no one under par. 3 tied for the lead at even, but none of them are more than 6 holes in.
I agree, I like to see a week when the pros have a lot of trouble with a course. But I’m not sure I can easily tell the difference between a tough but fair test, and a course that has been “tricked up” to be penal. Given different pin and tee placements, maintenance choices, and weather, quite a few courses can be made to play just about as easily or as difficult as desired.
Mick finished +11. Likely to watch the weekend on TV. Hope his wrist is OK.
Woods is at +1. Would be tough to bet on anyone else.
He’s always a safe bet but judging by how they have played thus far, Cabrera or Toms would probably be a pretty safe bet as well. Heck, maybe even Stephen Ames.
At the moment only 11 rounds of par or better today, of which only 2 are complete. Wow!
I’m not a big fan of Mick either, other than that I desparately want there to be SOMEONE who can regularly challenge Tiger, and for the past couple of years he and Veej have been the only folks anywhere near the running.
It’s almost getting so that I prefer watching the tourneys that Tiger skips.
I enjoy checking out the stats over at USOpen.com, to see how many fairways and greens the various players hit, and putts per hole. Shows there are plenty of ways to skin a cat.
Mick hit only 36% of fairways and 47% of greens. Must have been tough on his wrist.
In shooting -4, Casey hit 93 of fairways, but only 67% of greens, recovering with only 26 putts.
Noticed an apparent anomaly on USOpen.com’s leaderboards. The leaderboards currently list Cabrera as the leader at -1. But when I went to his individual scorecard, it didn’t add up.
He had a 69 yesterday, -1.
Today through 5 holes he was +1 (2 bogeys, 2 pars, 1 bird). So he should be E, no?
I’m in a weird situation right now where I’m hitting the ball better than ever, but scoring horribly. I trust/hope the scoring will come around any day now. In the meantime, I have to be judicious choosing my opponents and my wagers! 7 a.m tee time tomorrow a.m.
