2007 US Open at Oakmont. Anybody?

Cafe Society
41

WHEN, and only when, Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Campbell, Jim Furyk win a second, NON-U.S. OPEN major championship, we can consider them “the best.” The U.S. Open is littered with people who managed only to win that major twice (the aforementioned Andy North, Lee Janzen, Retief Goosen, etc.). They may well have been very fine golfers (and I would argue that Jim Furyk’s record is quite a bit better than Lee Janzen’s was, for example), but, in what most of us hard-core golfers consider the ultimate determiner of true excellence, they have so far failed to succeed (multiple, different majors).

If the USGA accomplished its goal with how the course was set up, then you would not be seeing only 5 of the top 25 golfers in the rankings (assuming, of course, which I don’t, that those world golf rankings actually are a good measure of relative ability at any given point in time) within “striking distance” of the leader. The Masters, for example, had 8 of the final 12 from that same category.

Hyperbole. I am, of course, as you know, talking about Phil Mickelson. :rolleyes:

42

You’re not going to acually blame the course for Mickelson screwing up his wrist, are you? Lefty is the one who decided to start swinging at weeds during a practice round. I think players are responsible for their own shot selections and for not taking shots which put them at risk for injury – especially during practice rounds.

It’s not like anybody else besides Mickelson has been injured this weekend so the setup can’t be that dangerous. The “carnage” he was predicting has not materialized.

43

It turns out that it’s one of those unwritten rules. The PGA likes to have those flat spots and tries to maintain them, but it’s not written gospel. A buddy of mine went to a golf academy and studied this crap.

44

You could say the same thing about the British Open, and especially about the PGA championship. (though your point may be that these tourneys don’t trick up the course to find the “best” player).

The Master’s tournament does turn out the highest quality of winners and the most top-heavy leaderboard, but it’s an invitational, and the field is stacked to bring in only those players with top reputations already.

45

Michael Campbell’s a footnote; Ogilvy is young, but he’s good and will prove himself in years to come.

But I can’t get behind labeling Furyk as an also-ran, or second tier. He was #2 money in 2006 (with two wins and a total of nine top-three finishes in 24 events), #4 money in 2005 (with one win and five top-two finishes in 26 events), #4 money in 2003 (with two wins, one of them the US Open, and four top-three finishes in 27 events). He’s been consistently at the top of the pack year after year (2004 was an off-year because of surgery). He consistently makes cuts, gets top tens, and occasionally rises up for a win. He’s one of “the best” playing today, but next to Tiger, who’s going to notice a steady, non-flashy performer like Furyk?

Majors are great to win, but there’s more to the pros than four tourneys per year.

46

BTW, this is a fairly short list. Major winners since 1990 who’ve won multiple, separate majors:

Tiger (all 4)
Mickelson (PGA and Masters)
Vijay Singh (PGA and Masters)
Ernie Els (US Open and Open Championship)
Payne Stewart (US Open and PGA)
Mark O’Meara (Masters and Open Championship)
Nick Faldo (Masters and Open Championship)
John Daly (PGA and Open Championship)
Nick Price (PGA and Open Championship)

The PGA and Brit Open produce the most winners of other majors, but also have a reputation for fluke victories by “who’s that again?”

47

So out of all those golfers, you don’t think at least one other has tweaked his wrist in the rough?

48

I watched some of the round yesterday, my first golf watching in years.

I’ll probably watch today, too, for some inexplicable reason.

My god. I’m turning into my dad.

49

As long as you don’t get his beer belly or moustache (or beard or sideburns).

50

Okay, did anybody else get a weird interruption in Open coverage just now? I just saw about 20 seconds of MSNBC that looked like video that was being edited for a story or something. Very strange.

51

I’ll say this, and then get the heck out of this thread.

The US Open coming here is a great thing, and is projected to punch a lot of dough into the economy.

HOWEVER…

On Friday, I had some off time, and headed for the Pittsburgh Mills Mall. Almost no parking, whatsoever, because it was ALL being used by people parking there to get on a bus and go to the Open.

Bleh.

And traffic is all screwed up, according to my wife, but I don’t see much of that. Thank goodness.

52

I’m doing a bit of writing as we speak here and I’ve caught the last hour or so of the US Open final round. As of his fifth hole, Stephen Ames could legitimately be -5. He’s playing pretty well right now.

53

This is really exciting. Great golf. We may be looking at 18 holes tomorrow, though…

54

This is really good stuff. Tiger has three holes left and needs to go -1 to tie Cabrera. Furyk needs to birdie 18 and just striped a drive down the middle of the fairway.

Cabrera smoked a carton of cigarettes on the back nine.

I hope he checks his scorecard before he signs it. (Golf geeks will get that).

55

I can’t believe Tiger never made a putt. In his prime that 4 footer at 14 would have been dead center no doubt about it.

56

Nah. It even happens to Tiger. He IS human, after all. That’s refreshing to see. Hell, in the past 4 majors, he was 1st, 1st, 2nd, and 2nd.

That’s “human”.

57

Hell of a tournament, lived up to the billing, and, like any major worth its salt, it came down to the very last shot. (Didn’t see the finish…it was so damn close, I was too nervous to look.)

A feel-good story. The first ever Argentinian to win the US Open, the only one in the entire field with two under-par rounds, came out of nowhere…and doesn’t speak a word of English. Incredible. I would’ve been seriously ticked if Cabrera didn’t win it.

How many times has Tiger Woods finished second in a major? I thought for sure that Jack Nicklaus’ record of 37 major “quinellas” (1st or 2nd…horse racing reference) was completely unassailable, but Woods doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere anytime soon. He made some bad mistakes, never looked completely in rhythm, and still finished just one shot behind the champion. Say what you will about him, but it’s going to continue to be a huge struggle keeping him out of the top 2, much less the top 5 or top 10.

58

Agreed. Tiger is just on a different level. He can, and quite often, does win. He has a strong chance to win any given tournament just by entering.
The announcers were almost pulling for Cabrera to blow up. He was visibly nervous. His hand was shaking when he was marking his ball on the 18th, in addition to the other things the announcers pointed out.

59

I can’t believe how much golf I watched over the weekend, but after baking on the course myself both days in 90+ degree morning heat, combined with Dad’s Day, I put in about a month’s worth of couch time.

First off, very glad Tiger did not win. Hate to hold it against him, but he is just so heavily marketed I find myself pulling against him. Couldn’t believe Bob Costas had to give a special report on “What Tiger had done so far” for “Those who have just recently joined us,” and promised a subequent showing of “every shot by Tiger.” He truly must be nearly superhuman, tho, to stand up to such incredible publicity. Um, now that he is 30, and almost a dad, I think he can wear a slightly looser shirt, and not worry about showing of the bod so much…

Where did they have Angel while he was awaiting the finish? Looked like a bathroom. I swear there was a sink behind him, and looked like a urinal over his shoulder. Did they take one look at him and figure he must be a groundskeeper or kitchen staff, and deny him admission to the clubhouse? Or was that the only designated smoking area? Guy hit a couple of incredible drives down the stretch. Made me envious, as my driver - normally my favorite club - has recently deserted me.

What do you say? Should Furyk have gone for 17? I’m thinking the best way to play that hole would be with 2 X 150 yard shots. And whatever you do, you need to miss it right.

And Tiger made a couple of clutch putts yesterday. Unfortunately for him, they were to save par on the final holes.

Have you EVER seen a worse start by a leader than Baddeley on #1. I fully admit I am a jerk in this respect, but I’m always a little happy to see that happen to someone who is so eager to thank God for their successes.

And Bubba really tossed it away on - what was it - 7 or 8? He looked like me, getting pissed after a bad shot, and then tossing away another 2-3 right after it.

Tough course, but IMO ugly. Didn’t have the raw beauty of a traditional links course, and I personally like the appearance of at least some water and trees.

Mickelson is quite the crybaby. Really makes it tough to cheer for him.

60

I confess I had the same evil thought yesterday. I don’t think I could have stomached both him and Zach Johnson giving props to the almighty after every sentence in the same year. I have no beef with religion, by the way - I just don’t think witnessing is appropriate in that setting.

The headlines about Tiger today are real head-scratchers. Phrases like “Tiger Flops” and “Tiger Wilts Down the Stretch” are everywhere. Ok, the guy didn’t manage a birdie to tie on the last 3 holes…but come on…he hardly wilted. He made par after par on a course where +14 was only 20th place, and managed second place in the year’s hardest championship while placing 60th in putts per round! If that isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is.

He isn’t over-hyped. When he isn’t fully on his game he finishes second. When he is, he runs away from the field. He isn’t my favorite human being on the planet, but he fully deserves his reputation as a transcendant golfer.

On the notion of “fluke winners” at the U.S. Open: I don’t get it. Each major is different, and U.S. Open is probably the one tournament each year that is least like a regular PGA tournament. It’s not surprising that the usual suspects don’t always win. I think it’s insulting to the winners to claim that after they made clutch put after clutch put for 4 straight days in the hardest golfing conditions of the year, that somehow their victory is a result of something other than excellence. Maybe they’ll never win another tournament, but who cares?

Seeing Cabrera win made me feel good. He was obviously excited, and it was fun to see a player showing emotion in the midst of the last few holes. I get a bit tired of the “game face” approach adopted by 99% of the PGA players. It certainly works for them, but it was refreshing to see the “holy crap - I’m about to win the U. S. Open” look on Cabrera even as he striped a huge drive down the last fairway.