Ok, the inevitable US Open thread. At an all time classic course at Pinehurst #2 course.
Sadly Jon Rahm out with a foot infection. It will be interesting to see what happens with the "bombers" this week as Pinehurst green are notoriously hard to hold and if groomed to ridiculous US Open standards will probably run 13+ on the Stimp meter while being small and crowned to begin with.
I do expect DeChambeau to challenge Scheffler. As always if Rory's putter is working he will be there. Expect Schauffele and Morikawa to be close. Koepka has been inconsistent when playing the combined events but with two Open wins he is dangerous...Hovland has been better as his wedge play has improved. Aberg has the right type of game for Pinehurst.
Have to admit this is my least favorite Major as the USGA always seems to over trick up the course. Instead of the supreme test of golf, it is often a contest of lucky breaks and bounces. They have been less tricky the last few years, but I still don't want to see well struck balls land in the center of the green trundle off to some horrendous lie.
Should have IV stations set up...!
Exactly
Yes if you like tragedies..!
I am looking forward to the open because of #2.
The fairways are relatively generous, but miss them by a yard and you're at the mercy of the wire grass gods. The greens are upside down saucers and the surrounds are incredibly tight bermuda. Someone on the USO telecast said that this is a 3rd shot course meaning you need to know where to miss your 2nd shot. I agree.
I'm not sure if the winds will be a factor this week but the conditions will get crispier. It should be fun.
In the past they have let the greens get too baked at times which clearly is wrong
1 time a year where par is not a bad score is fine
For those that play, what do you think you'd shoot at Pinehurst in benign conditions from the tournament tees of 7550 yards...? I am currently a 9 index and think I'd be lucky to break 100.
Why can't an Other occasional pro?
JINX
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cant recall rory putting like this in major on a sunday with such a stacked group. rory up 1 on 16 green with a look at birdie.
JINX
Holy hell!
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cant recall rory putting like this in major on a sunday with such a stacked group. rory up 1 on 16 green with a look at birdie.
JINX
Seriously, you owe this poor man an apology.
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In comment 16537941 Eric on Li said:
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cant recall rory putting like this in major on a sunday with such a stacked group. rory up 1 on 16 green with a look at birdie.
JINX
Seriously, you owe this poor man an apology.
well now we know why i couldnt recall him putting this well on a sunday.
amazing finish from bryson. im not a fan but he earned it. very nearly hit the putts on 16/17 too. took the bad lie in stride and hit a world class bunker shot.
Probably shot of the tournament.
Pinehurst #2 was a great test without being tricked up!!!!
Bryson a very popular winner.
Golf would be do much better if all the golfers played together
Brandel Chamblee should not have been allowed to call that tournament. The disappointment in Rory not closing it out from both him and Faxon was way over the top.
Great win for Bryson. He's great for the game and moves the needle.
Well he rebounded enough to win Jack's tourny last week. Jack warned the PGA not to put a big tourny before a major.
He was just wiped out this for the Open
i know it seems like rory lost it more than bryson won it and while both happened i think bryson did more to win it. a downhill putt on that course that breaks that much is several levels of difficulty harder than an average 4 foot putt.
no big deal, bryson being widely disliked predated liv and was an entirely self created problem.
i know it seems like rory lost it more than bryson won it and while both happened i think bryson did more to win it. a downhill putt on that course that breaks that much is several levels of difficulty harder than an average 4 foot putt.
I'm in the Rory lost it camp. If you're worried about a downhill putt, don't hit your approach past the hole. Butt he's still gotta make that putt. That's what guys who win Majors do
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he played the ball outside the hole and it broke all the way across. he pulled the putt on 16 but that one wasnt terrible either.
i know it seems like rory lost it more than bryson won it and while both happened i think bryson did more to win it. a downhill putt on that course that breaks that much is several levels of difficulty harder than an average 4 foot putt.
I'm in the Rory lost it camp. If you're worried about a downhill putt, don't hit your approach past the hole. Butt he's still gotta make that putt. That's what guys who win Majors do
100% agree. Bryson's 2nd shot dealing with the tree/root and resulting sand shot were just as hard, but he got the par and he won. that's why i look at the difficulty of the hole and how he executed and see that as bryson winning it more than rory losing it on a difficult up/down.
also if rory hits the putt he doesn't win, he's in a playoff with bryson. rory was -1 today, bryson was +1 but he executed a difficult up and down when rory didnt.
bryson bogied 15 missing a putt under 4 feet. started the day with a 3 shot lead and went +1 almost giving it away. just a couple of multi-major winning weekend hacks battling it out for the open on what is probably the hardest course anyone has played in 2 years.
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He bogey'd 3 of the last 4, and missed 2 putts under 4 ft. He was basically playing like every weekend hack
bryson bogied 15 missing a putt under 4 feet. started the day with a 3 shot lead and went +1 almost giving it away. just a couple of multi-major winning weekend hacks battling it out for the open on what is probably the hardest course anyone has played in 2 years.
Yeah that course looked brutally hard. Crispy greens and severe pressure. Many times these are won by the player that makes the fewest mistakes.
Rory is just not as adept inside 125 yards as he should be. Jack always said to hang on and let the other guy lose it.
Rory is just not as adept inside 125 yards as he should be. Jack always said to hang on and let the other guy lose it.
that's what was notable prior to my jinxing him, he not only hit a bunch of 20+ footers after mediocre irons in, but he also got himself up and down a bunch of times with 7-10 footers on a real tough course, including the sand save on 17. his wedges were very good and before the miss on 16 he was like 49 for his last 49 inside 4 feet.
that was a bad miss, the one on 18 i think was about as hard as any 4 footer can be. i know u know this but what makes short putts easy is being able to hit them hard to the cup to take the break out, cant do that downhill with more than a cup of break. when he set up on that putt it looked like he was lined up way too far left and it still missed right.
if they put the top 10 finishers on that same putt, i think at least 3 or 4 also miss it.
The pressure was just to much for Rory to handle...he simply choked it away
I love watching the back 9 of a major
You can cut the drama with a knife
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Rory is just not as adept inside 125 yards as he should be. Jack always said to hang on and let the other guy lose it.
that's what was notable prior to my jinxing him, he not only hit a bunch of 20+ footers after mediocre irons in, but he also got himself up and down a bunch of times with 7-10 footers on a real tough course, including the sand save on 17. his wedges were very good and before the miss on 16 he was like 49 for his last 49 inside 4 feet.
that was a bad miss, the one on 18 i think was about as hard as any 4 footer can be. i know u know this but what makes short putts easy is being able to hit them hard to the cup to take the break out, cant do that downhill with more than a cup of break. when he set up on that putt it looked like he was lined up way too far left and it still missed right.
if they put the top 10 finishers on that same putt, i think at least 3 or 4 also miss it.
He got on that run, was it 9 or 10 when he made birdies on 3 out of 4? Thought he had it.
When I say he is not good inside 125 yds, think how many times he was using gap or sand wedge in and left it 25 to 35 feet away(or more) - Cantlay was doing the same. Those guys can put it to 10 feet with a wedge most times. And yes I know with that course you cannot always attack the pin. But the pro announcers kept saying he was missing his wedges. But that is Rory's M.O.. If he is having a good wedge week and putting, nobody touches him. But most times he just is not accurate.
Nothing scarier than a downhill, left to right slider on 13+ greens. You can't bang it in. You cannot even impart a proper stroke on the ball or you have 8 feet going the other way. All you can do is nudge it and hope.
The pressure was just to much for Rory to handle...he simply choked it away
I love watching the back 9 of a major
You can cut the drama with a knife
DeChambeau won this one the same way he won Winged Foot. He hit it as far as he could and then dealt with the lie. At Winged Foot it was 6 inches of thick rough. At Pinehurst it was sandy, slop and wire grass. Eventually his body will not be able to mash it out of these lies for 72 holes - tear ligaments in his wrist or shoulder. But for now he can overpower the course.
No doubt DeChambeau won it. He made the least amount of mistakes. And when he had to, he got up and down to save par more times than anyone else. It wasn't pretty golf, but that was not what the course called for.
Dechambeau shot 1 over par on Sunday
Rory missed 2 championship level winning puts on the last 3 holes....
With the difficulty of that course, I do think he missed a good opportunity to win. I do not think it was "blowing it". He was under par for the day. Most players were over par. A quick look shows about 6/8 under par and most over.
I am not dismissing his "missed" putts. But it is his usual M.O. He is simply not an upper level short game player - perhaps inconsistent is a better term. We saw what happened to Scheffler. He could not make a single putt even with great chances and he wasn't even in the hunt.
I like Rory and wish he could win more. But like Vijay Singh, he is mediocre in the short game - for that level of play.
everyone expects pros to be good putters but some of them just arent good at that (or else they would win more because they are all time strikers).
bryson stepped up.
rory stepped up through 16 then reverted to his norm.
the way he stepped up through 16 was what was surprising.
even the sand save on 17.
on 18 he left himself too difficult of a putt in that situation.
Spieth is on a similar trajectory, won 3 of the 4 majors early in his career and has struggled to win another. I would love to see him get a 4th major and complete the grand slam.
If Rory leaves himself 4 feet, below the hole, he makes the putt and we are watching a playoff today. Give Bryson credit, no one had gotten up and down from that bunker all week and to put it within 4 feet was a 1.7% chance
US golfers have won the last 6 gold majors