OT: U.S. Open scoreboard link

[Blakeon18]

Leader Board - 2018 U.S. Open Championship | USGA

Going to be beautiful weather...a bit of a breeze...great course. Hopefully we will have a Boneyarder or two posting things we can't see.


Coming to our little corner of the world....2022...US Open is at The Country Club in Brookline Ma.
Tremendous history...Francis Ouimet won there over a century ago. Boros beat Palmer and some other guy in a playoff in 1963...Boros had some kind of Ct. connection. Ryder C up brouhaha in 1999...my sense is that the Euros still think the Americans trampled the line of a putt on 17 after Justin Leonard holed a long one.

BTW: Tom Brady and his wife built a mansion adjoining the course a few years ago. They didn't get membership until much later..I read that some member said that we want your name in the paper twice...when you were born and when you die. I guess Giselle's presence around the pool changed a few minds.

BTW#2: how many superstars in our major sports make much, much less than their wives? I think Tom is around 14m...Giselle around 45m.

 

[Blakeon18]

BTW: TV coverage

Thursday FoxSports 1 9:30-4:30
4:30-7:30 Fox

Friday: almost identical

Sat. Fox 11-7
Sunday Fox 10-7.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Milford will be there later today and tomorrow. It’s hard to get to but worth it. Reportedly, the USGA has widened the fairways to take the course back to the original design. I would like that if I were playing it, but I don’t like it for a U.S. Open. It’s becoming more like the PGA. Other than players putting into the bunker on #7, I liked the 2004 set-up.

 

[Blakeon18]

Just heard on a radio report that the mild breeze that I read about has turned into a nasty wind.

Hard to get to? Not for Tiger...residing just off the coast in his 50 yard long 'dinghy'.

Chambers Bay and Erin Hills were not good Open courses...I think this one will be when Sunday night arrives.

 

[Orangutan]

Just heard on a radio report that the mild breeze that I read about has turned into a nasty wind.

Hard to get to? Not for Tiger...residing just off the coast in his 50 yard long 'dinghy'.

Chambers Bay and Erin Hills were not good Open courses...I think this one will be when Sunday night arrives.

I still think Chambers Bay was secretly kind of great. Or maybe it just worked out great. The greens were atrocious but the scoring was about right (hard but not impossible, winner -5) and it came down to two great players in Johnson and Spieth.

Anyway, looking forward to Shinnecock. Hopefully, the setup is on point. If I recall correctly, the last time they were at Shinnecock one of the greens was so firm they had to water it mid-round because it was actually impossible to hold the green with an approach shot.

Looks like Rory and Jordan will have plenty of time for sightseeing this weekend. Spieth +5 through 5 and McIlroy +6 through 5.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I thought Erin Hills was attractive but too easy. I thought the natural look at Chambers Bay was a disaster. Shinnecock is a good test. The geeens and wind are the primary defenses, now that the fairways are wider. Greens will harden in the wind and sun.

 

[Orangutan]

Scoring absolutely brutal so far. Only two under par, Piercy at Poulter, both -1.

Spieth is holding the line at +5, which doesn't even look that horrible anymore. Jason Day is +9. McIlroy also +9.

+3 or better is looking like a real nice score.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I spent about 7 hours on the course today. It's a beautiful place. The weather was sunny, 77, and breezy. The breeze kept things cool for the patrons but really challenged the golfers. The set-up with wider fairways made the course look easier than in 2004, but still not easy. The primary defense was the wind and the greens. Players have to be in the right spot on the greens, and the wind makes that difficult. Some of the greens now have large collection areas near them, so missing the green by a little meant missing it by 20-40 yards and chipping substantially uphill.

Some lowlights I witnessed:

While leading the tourney at -2, Matt Kuchar left the ball in a front bunker on the par-3 11th, playing only 159 yards--but uphill into a 20 mph wind. (The bunkers were popular, because over the green was the worst place to be.) He had a bad lie, took 2 to get out, and made 5. On his very next swing, he drove out of bounds on #12.

Tiger hit a nice 4-iron off the 1st tee and then took 6 more shots to go about 130 yards. He missed long--the worst place possible--on his approach shot. Two chips later he was almost on the green. Then he putted from just off the edge, missed the follow-up, and made a triple-bogey. Several fans there had never seen Tiger in person. They were disappointed and shocked at the poor display.

I saw all the players in one group miss the 12th fairway on the right--due to the cross-wind--and fail to make par. A group or two later, I saw one young guy putt the ball off the same green and make triple-bogey.

A few highlights:

Sergio Garcia hit a nice short iron to #8, made a putt of 6-8', and walked off with a birdie.

Later, Dustin Johnson holed out from the bunker for birdie on the same hole.

Toward the end of the day, two players in the same group birdied the 616-yard par-5 #16. Later, Tony Finau had a 15-20' putt for eagle, but left it short. Considering the pin placement in the middle of the green and relatively few contours, that looked like th only birdie hole I saw all day--despite the 600+ yards.

Though I didn't see it, someone holed out for eagle on #18, which elected a big roar. The best way to deal with difficult greens is to chip in or hole out from the fairway.

I'll be back tomorrow. I won't be there for the weekend, but neither will some of the top golfers in the world.

Pebble Beach next year!

 

[MilfordHusky]

The course has gone from hard to unplayable.

 

[uconnfan68]

The course has gone from hard to unplayable.

USGA just doesn’t learn. Great tournaments spoiled by stupid setups.

 

[Alydar]

It's a great course. I know a couple of people that have played it. The problem is that the USGA has a love affair with par. Par is supposed to be what a scratch player would score on an average round but a scratch player couldn't break 80 on the course today and likely couldn't break 90. The greens simply aren't designed to play at 14-15 on the stimp meter.

Aside: Phil should have been disqualified for his intentional rules violation today. The pin on that hole was in an impossible location from where he was playing and his frustration was understandable but his stunt was an insult to the game. If Tiger had dome it there would have been calls for his banishment. But Phil is the the golden child and stock fraud and money laundering in off-shore gambling accounts are ignored so why not this. The rules allow for disqualification for extreme violations of this rule and the USGA decided this didn't rise to that level. My question back to their spokesman today would have been for an example of what WOULD result in disqualification. The Fox shills kept their mouths shut.

 

[The X Man]

Aside: Phil should have been disqualified for his intentional rules violation today. The pin on that hole was in an impossible location from where he was playing and his frustration was understandable but his stunt was an insult to the game. If Tiger had dome it there would have been calls for his banishment. But Phil is the the golden child and stock fraud and money laundering in off-shore gambling accounts are ignored so why not this. The rules allow for disqualification for extreme violations of this rule and the USGA decided this didn't rise to that level. My question back to their spokesman today would have been for an example of what WOULD result in disqualification. The Fox shills kept their mouths shut.

FOX shills? Really? Joe Buck wouldn’t shut up about and was basically calling for his dq.

 

[eebmg]

It's a great course. I know a couple of people that have played it. The problem is that the USGA has a love affair with par. Par is supposed to be what a scratch player would score on an average round but a scratch player couldn't break 80 on the course today and likely couldn't break 90. The greens simply aren't designed to play at 14-15 on the stimp meter.

Aside: Phil should have been disqualified for his intentional rules violation today. The pin on that hole was in an impossible location from where he was playing and his frustration was understandable but his stunt was an insult to the game. If Tiger had dome it there would have been calls for his banishment. But Phil is the the golden child and stock fraud and money laundering in off-shore gambling accounts are ignored so why not this. The rules allow for disqualification for extreme violations of this rule and the USGA decided this didn't rise to that level. My question back to their spokesman today would have been for an example of what WOULD result in disqualification. The Fox shills kept their mouths shut.

The way the course was playing, disqualification would have been a reward.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Interestingly, Brooks Koepka persisted and came away with his second consecutive U.S. Open Championship. He started slowly in shooting 75-66-72-68.

In the "Small World" category, Brooks is dating actress Jena Sims, a former Miss Junior National Teenager. She is from Winder, Georgia, and is a graduate of Winder-Barrow High School, the alma mater of Olivia Nelson-Ododa.

 

[Blakeon18]

Fantastic factoid about Jena! Let's face it....UConn women hoops is everywhere!

Do you think Phil should have been DQ'ed?
I do.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Fantastic factoid about Jena! Let's face it....UConn women hoops is everywhere!

Do you think Phil should have been DQ'ed?
I do.

For someone of his stature, with his experience, it was a very immature and unprofessional act.

 

[Biff]

Fantastic factoid about Jena! Let's face it....UConn women hoops is everywhere!

Do you think Phil should have been DQ'ed?
I do.

I think he would look a lot better today if he had slept on it, realized his behavior was unacceptable for someone like him, admitted such and DQ'd himself. Now he can be compared with John Daly in conversation forever.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The way the course was playing, disqualification would have been a reward.

The USGA truly did lose the course, and thereby robbed the viewing public and the players. It was all but unwatchable.

 

[Blakeon18]

BTW: Phil's post-round media scrum on Saturday had him praising his own knowledge of the rules which inspired his jog....he went on to say that he had been thinking about such a move for a long time. He also said that he apologized to anyone who thought his move inappropriate but added that they need to 'toughen up'.

The next day I read several reports that neutral types near him after his jog and stroke said that he told the rules official he had no idea what his score was...and that the scorer should give him whatever he wanted and he didn't care what that score was.

That conflicts with what Phil said had happened.

I don't know for sure what some HOF'ers had to say about what Phil did but I would bet many did have a problem with it. I look forward to Phil going up to...say...a Jack Nicklaus or an Annika Sorenstam or anyone of that stature [if they spoke in criticism of his move]...and telling them to their face that they need to 'toughen up'.

Given the spur-of-the-moment nature of it, Phil should have slept on it....and even if it was just for PR purposes...should have taken Biff's wisdom to heart.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Phil and the rest of the players should “toughen up.” Even though the USGA admitted they had lost the course, seeing a bunch of millionaires whine was disappointing.