See, I like watching the pros struggle because they don't handle it well. They're used to just having their way with courses. Oakmont makes them look human.
yeah, i think that's pretty much the consensus from most fans on the US Open. and i agree to a point.
In any sport, I prefer to see the most aggressive player succeed. I don't know nearly enough about golf to understand how you set a course up to do that but that would be my preference.
yeah and im not sure how aggressive you want to be on a course where if you land in the rough, you are looking at bogey "at best". but again, im a weekend hacker so what the hell do i know about winning the US Open..
I am fairly indifferent on how the course is set up. Regardless of whether it is set up easy and the winner shoots -17 or insanely difficult and the winner is +7, the best players almost always end up on top of the leaderboard. Scottie, Rory, Bryson, Morikawa, Aberg, and the other top guys tend to play better than everyone else no matter how the course is set up. I do think a more difficult set up favors the mentally tougher players so I expect Scottie will end up in the top five (at worst) and it could be a long week for Rory who tends to get down on himself and compound mistakes. I also think Bryson might be able to do what he did a few years ago when the rough was insane at Winged Foot and just hit it far enough that he was hitting wedge in so being in the rough didn't matter much compared to the guys that were hitting 7 irons out of the rough.
Bryson and Rory can hit the ball a mile, but can also seemingly be allergic to hitting fairways at times. It's a tournament where you'd be willing to sacrifice a little distance to keep it out of the rough. Bryson played pretty well in 2016 for a 22 year old, while Rory missed the cut. All of this to say, there may be some surprises near the top of the leaderboard, but I think Scottie ultimately gets it done. Dude is playing at a level right now we haven't seen in a while.
well yes but you still have to get it out there a bit too. being accurate but sacrificing 20 yards off the tee will make you hit some longer irons into what could be ridiculously hard and fast greens. now they are expecting rain this week so the greens may not be as hard as expected..
Not saying they should keep their drivers in the bag, I just don't think Byrson should expect to win like he did last year if he only hits fairways at a 33% clip.
yeah, that's not gonna get it done.. So basically to win this, you need to be long off tee, accurate off tee, strong enough to hit iron thru rough, great around greens cause they are lighting fast..
Absolutely crazy. I'm praying the weekend rain holds off. I want it to be a blood bath out there.
in all seriousness, how did that old fat slob Cabrera win it at oakmont like 10 years ago? what a bad day for golf, that clown being the Open winner..
Seems like Scottie has been playing at this level for a fairly long while now.
More like 20 years ago for Cabrera. Time flies. It’s already 9 years since Dustin Johnson won the last US Open at Oakmont.
What happened to him? I (obviously) don’t follow golf closely, but I thought he had a place on the Tour? Did he peak at last year’s Masters?
What an awesome story… best of luck to him.
Probably in the same manner as his other 56 professional wins...more like 18 years ago at oakmont.
Being a greens keeper at Oakmont is just that. In fact the guy that was at South Park (formerly at Oakmont) took the job because it was less hours from what I’m told. Being at Oakmont took over his life. He’s since moved on from what I understand but Oakmont is Oakmont for a reason. It’s a commitment.
So....I mean to identify your ball when it is deep down like that, you are going to have to move some grass. Which inevitably may cause the ball to move. How many golf nerds watching on High Def TV's will be calling in to rules committee members saying "he made the golf ball move".
Growing up and living close to Oakmont, I have friends that worked there as both caddies and as part of the greenskeeper crews.
I have a lot of respect for the greenskeepers, they’re putting in a ton of work to get the course ready:
that dude has done wonders for south park's course. my neighbors son actually works right under this guy. started out in public works then moved over to the golf course full time, reporting to this oakmont guy.. tee boxes are much nicer, greens are in good shape and fairways and rough are light years better than i remember what south park course was for decades...
