People will forever remember Bryson DeChambeau's 72nd-hole bunker shot as clutch, but will it overshadow an otherwise brutal setup writes Gary Van Sickle.
I’m tired of Tour pros thinking the world owes them a living and that all courses be soft and pristine allowing them to be -20 or more. I attended the TPC @Sawgrass the first year it opened and listened to players including Nicklaus whining about how difficult the course was and how they couldn’t wait to get into their “courtesy car” and leave. Superintendent Fred Klauk and company succumbed to their baseless whims and softened the course. The tournament was never the same.
I say good for you Donald Ross. Make it hard. Toss in greens that can’t hold shots. Fill the course with waste areas and surround small greens with more sand than they have at Daytona Beach. Force players, God forbid to be creative in their shot making. Make four rounds at even par a great score. Make it Masterslike where players know they keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves or know they have made their last drive down Magnolia Lane.
For my money I loved every minute of the Open at Pinehurst #2 and can’t wait to see the tears shed at Oakmont.
Dear God, when did you promise me fair ? in life ? or love? Or golf ? When will we Americans stop our whining ? If only my father were alive so I could scold him for teaching me that bad breaks were part of the game that winners learned to overcome. What a dumb ass.
At the end of the day, Pinehurst proved to be a middle finger to the best players in the world. The fall off greens were not fair in addition to being way to fast especially on Sunday. How many 8-foot par putts can anyone make. DeChambeau was especially lucky benefiting from the bare spot on the so called rough particularly on Sunday. Now there is no excuse for Rory to have blown the tournament by the "Gary Sanders" putting exhibition on the final day. My 6-year-old grandson makes those putts on a regular basis. My guess is that Rory doesn't take the bull by the horns and have no fear.
If this had been a traditional US Open setup, with nasty, gnarly rough, DeChambeau would have shot 10 over on Sunday. Missing half the fairways and essentially paying no price for it makes a mockery of "identifying the best player." Because the "native areas" weren't slowing these guys down, they made the greens almost unplayable, watching ball after ball after ball roll off greens was boring.
The problem with trying to preserve "tradition" is that time marches on. The golf ball now is nuclear and clubs are made from titanium instead of protected rain-forest wood. We can't harken back to the good old days--not at Pinehurst #2 or even Augusta National, which has undergone more surgical reconstruction than any three of the Kardashians.
At the rate we're going, soon a course will be built with acrylic putting surfaces that will Stimp at infinity. And the USGA will "identify" its champion as the first guy to get his ball into the hole 18 times over a one-round, four-day tournament.
I’m not a believer that a ‘tricked up’ course like Pimehurst #2 is a test of the best player. And why do we have a goofy links setup for the US Open… This looked like the British Open without the crappy weather…. Very Bad!!!
It was an exciting and dramatic end of the tournament and did end with 2 outstanding players fighting it out. But the overall set-up lends itself to luck playing a significant part of the result. Most of the stats were pretty close but in fairways hit DeChambeau hit 57% and McIlroy hit 82%. But Bryson was fortunate that he only had a couple of chip outs in the final round. If he had not been fortunate to avoid the wire grass most of the time he would not have won. But the final shot will carry the day and people will believe the course was spectacular and appropriately set-up. The history of Open winners there will continue - 1 great player who made it a climax to his career and several capable veterans who had the week of their careers.
I think the US Open set-ups are always borderline to the point where they bring in the term "gimmicky" into the conversation. But they don't back away from their position so I admire their resolve. It was great drama and I loved it.
Booing missed putts is just base, shame on those that did.
I’m tired of Tour pros thinking the world owes them a living and that all courses be soft and pristine allowing them to be -20 or more. I attended the TPC @Sawgrass the first year it opened and listened to players including Nicklaus whining about how difficult the course was and how they couldn’t wait to get into their “courtesy car” and leave. Superintendent Fred Klauk and company succumbed to their baseless whims and softened the course. The tournament was never the same.
I say good for you Donald Ross. Make it hard. Toss in greens that can’t hold shots. Fill the course with waste areas and surround small greens with more sand than they have at Daytona Beach. Force players, God forbid to be creative in their shot making. Make four rounds at even par a great score. Make it Masterslike where players know they keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves or know they have made their last drive down Magnolia Lane.
For my money I loved every minute of the Open at Pinehurst #2 and can’t wait to see the tears shed at Oakmont.
Dear God, when did you promise me fair ? in life ? or love? Or golf ? When will we Americans stop our whining ? If only my father were alive so I could scold him for teaching me that bad breaks were part of the game that winners learned to overcome. What a dumb ass.
At the end of the day, Pinehurst proved to be a middle finger to the best players in the world. The fall off greens were not fair in addition to being way to fast especially on Sunday. How many 8-foot par putts can anyone make. DeChambeau was especially lucky benefiting from the bare spot on the so called rough particularly on Sunday. Now there is no excuse for Rory to have blown the tournament by the "Gary Sanders" putting exhibition on the final day. My 6-year-old grandson makes those putts on a regular basis. My guess is that Rory doesn't take the bull by the horns and have no fear.
If this had been a traditional US Open setup, with nasty, gnarly rough, DeChambeau would have shot 10 over on Sunday. Missing half the fairways and essentially paying no price for it makes a mockery of "identifying the best player." Because the "native areas" weren't slowing these guys down, they made the greens almost unplayable, watching ball after ball after ball roll off greens was boring.
I don’t think you can measure their true talent with this putting layout - this looks like “gooney golf “ -
Agree on #2. Here is what I wrote on the week. https://open.substack.com/pub/jayskelton7/p/parting-shots-from-usopen?r=n0nyw&utm_medium=ios
The problem with trying to preserve "tradition" is that time marches on. The golf ball now is nuclear and clubs are made from titanium instead of protected rain-forest wood. We can't harken back to the good old days--not at Pinehurst #2 or even Augusta National, which has undergone more surgical reconstruction than any three of the Kardashians.
At the rate we're going, soon a course will be built with acrylic putting surfaces that will Stimp at infinity. And the USGA will "identify" its champion as the first guy to get his ball into the hole 18 times over a one-round, four-day tournament.
Why does US Open have 156 players in field?.
And they couldn't invite LIV players Reed, Osterhoius, Neumann & Gooch.
Field should be only 120!
I’m not a believer that a ‘tricked up’ course like Pimehurst #2 is a test of the best player. And why do we have a goofy links setup for the US Open… This looked like the British Open without the crappy weather…. Very Bad!!!
Was gonna say your comment was genius but…!
Agreed. Leave the ryder cup us v them at home.
Well said bill.!
It was an exciting and dramatic end of the tournament and did end with 2 outstanding players fighting it out. But the overall set-up lends itself to luck playing a significant part of the result. Most of the stats were pretty close but in fairways hit DeChambeau hit 57% and McIlroy hit 82%. But Bryson was fortunate that he only had a couple of chip outs in the final round. If he had not been fortunate to avoid the wire grass most of the time he would not have won. But the final shot will carry the day and people will believe the course was spectacular and appropriately set-up. The history of Open winners there will continue - 1 great player who made it a climax to his career and several capable veterans who had the week of their careers.
I think the US Open set-ups are always borderline to the point where they bring in the term "gimmicky" into the conversation. But they don't back away from their position so I admire their resolve. It was great drama and I loved it.
Booing missed putts is just base, shame on those that did.
Got tired early on in the week of hearing the word genius used so much. The word used to mean something. Not anymore.
l couldn't agree with you more, Gary