Wednesday's Open Clippings: Phil's Wrist

Thankfully no one hurt themselves Tuesday, but the boys sure had plenty to say about the course and setup.

John Huggan shares thoughts on the setup and several player reactions.

Has Oakmont, almost universally feared and revered as the toughest, most brutal and most unforgiving track on the US Open rota, been prepared in a way that will allow the best to prosper? Or has the USGA blindly done what it normally does and eliminated any semblance of strategy and flair in a misguided effort to make America's national championship 'fair,' while at the same time producing a winning score some way north of par?

Sadly, the initial signs are that the latter policy has yet again reared its tedious head.  

Monty tabs a local Oakmont looper to suffer for four days with him (well...assuming he doesn't fire him too).

Josh Massoud talks to Adam Scott, who has some interesting thoughts on the setup.

But Scott said the experts had confused greatness for toughness.

"That's not what the game is about. It's got to be fair in every area. I think everyone is so hung up with par; there's an obsession with par. If you put the world's best players on a golf course, they should be able to break par."

Rick Starr looks at the 12 amateurs in the field.

This AP story summarizes Johnny Miller's Tuesday press conference remarks.

Furman Bisher says things have never been better at the USGA under Walter Driver, and cites the Shinnecock Hills U.S. Open under Driver's Championship Committee watch as evidence of how Driver gets an unfair rap.

Driver was chairman of the USGA’s competition committee, which means the responsibility of setting up the course was his. “His arid setup,” as Golf World phrases it, “was an embarrassment,” a term to be questioned.

“Arid” refers to the rain which was forecast, but didn’t fall, and the winds which dried out the greens. Curses to the competition chairman.

Wow, I guess Google hasn't made it to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Rain in the forecast? Oy...

And finally, back on the planet earth, Craig Dolch blogs about the day's interviews and the demise of the scrum.

And finally, the USA Today's Joe Saraceno writes one of those so-over-the-top-it's-funny columns about Tiger's impending fatherhood.

A Few More Tuesday Clippings

The John and Sherrie Daly matter is getting downright ugly.

In lighter news, Steve Elling looks at Oakmont's 8th and wonders if the USGA's 288-yard setup is within reason.

At 7,230 yards, the course isn't punitively long by modern standards, but the crazy eighth should generate a cacophony of complaints. From the back tee, the 288-yard par 3 is the longest in U.S. Open history -- funny how that general theme is repeated each June in some respect -- and stands an attention-getting round-wrecker.

Moreover, if the USGA set-up sadists put the flagstick on the back of the green, the hole can measure an intimidating 300 yards. Mind you, technology gains or not, the average driving distance on the PGA Tour is 285.1 yards.

In other words, this hole, as they used to say in the mills hereabouts, will separate the steel from the slag. Pittsburgh has morphed into Titanium Town.

And this from Phil Mickelson...

 "I love the hole because, in architecture -- and I've been slowly getting into architecture -- the longest par 3 you ever see is about 240 or 250 yards, and the shortest par 4 is about 330," Phil Mickelson said. "There's 80 or 90 yards there, where you don't know what to call them." 

Scott Michaux weighs in on the tree removal with this.

Ford says that the greatest irony of it all is the fact that the same course architect who oversaw the conclusion of Oakmont's deforestation project is the same one resembling Johnny Appleseed with mature trees cropping up all over Augusta National Golf Club.

"It's very coincidental that Tom Fazio is our architect who help cut them all down and he's the architect at Augusta National and they're planting trees," Ford said. "It's pretty wild, isn't it?"

It's quite a lark considering that Augusta National played the defining role in Oakmont's shaded canopy era to begin with.

"If it weren't for Augusta, we never would have planted the trees in the first place," said Ford.

Mike Dudurich explores some of the wild and weird occurrences on the wonderful short 17th. He also has this interesting playing strategy from Phil Mickelson, who you may recall, bungled Riviera's 10th earlier this year with a similarly peculiar approach.

It looks like the majority will play aggressively on the 17th. At least that's what the No. 2 player in the world, Phil Mickelson, is thinking.

"You drive it up the left of the 17th fairway and then we'll see how thick that rough is," Mickelson said. "I had a tough time hitting the green with a wedge out of there. But it's still the play, hitting it over there because it takes bogey out of play. If you don't hit a driver, you're risking a five. I'll be trying to hit it in the left rough if the pin's in the back right or in the "Big Mouth" bunker if it's front left." 

Rory Sabbatini's philosophy is even more confusing:

"Take out the driver and go for the green," the South African said without hesitation. "The rough front left of the green is the thickest on the golf course. I think you only make things more difficult on yourself if you lay up in the fairway."

Ok! Whatever floats your boat.

Questions For Walter Driver

Scribblers: food for thought for Wednesday's sitdown with USGA President Walter Driver and Executive Director David Fay. Naturally, it quick read of Chris Millard's Golf World cover story would be wise preparation for the news conference (though my press room sources noted that it was conspicously absent from the toilet reading giveaway table).

• In the recent Golf World profile, you stated that one of the roadblocks to a COR rollback would have been the formulation of some sort of compensation program for golfers who owned to-be-illegal clubs that had been manufactured and purchased in good faith. Yet on the issue of square grooves, the same good faith manufacture and purchase was the case, yet the USGA plans to change the rules on grooves without any announced form of rebate or return program. Will you be looking at some sort of compensation program for golfers to replace their illegal clubs purchased in good faith?
  

• Five years ago the USGA was annually depositing $10-15 million in reserve accounts, but last year the organization added two corporate sponsors and lost $6 million. In light of the R&A making an announcement yesterday that they netted nearly $18 million (US) in 2006, what specifically in the last five years has led to such a drastic change in the financial picture?
  

• Follow up: why did the USGA championships cost an additional $32 million to operate in 2006?
  

• The R&A, since becoming independent of the golf club, now makes an annual announcement about its financial condition. Why doesn't the USGA do the same thing?
  

• Regarding your use of a private jet which you defended by saying it was suggested by the past presidents, you responded to those saying it was inappropriate that you and future presidents won't do "those things." Could you elaborate on "those things" and why they are important to the game. And perhaps you could also give some specific examples of trips on the jet to help us better understand "those things"?
  

• In Tod Leonard's story on the dual role that Executive Committee members Cameron Jay Rains plays in serving on the committee while personally profiting from the 2008 U.S. Open head of the Friends of Torrey Pines, you responded to conflict of interest questions by saying, "Doesn't work that way."  Could you elaborate on why this is the case when the story reveals that Mr. Rains will actually be the direct beneficiary of a payment from the USGA?
  
  
• With apologies to Colbert...Golf World, a great golf publication, or the greatest golf publication?
  

Tuesday Open Clippings: Another Wrist Injury

David Howell, making his comeback at the U.S. Open after a back injury "hurt his wrist practising and confirmed today that he won't play."

Meanwhile the first high-profile Oakmont casualty is not hitting many balls, according to Gerry Dulac on the Post-Gazette blog: 

It's beginning to look as though Phil Mickelson's wrist injury might be more bothersome than indicated. At the very least, it appears it could jeopardize his chance to be a serious contender in the 107th U.S. Open.

The world's No. 2 player, who has withdrawn from the past two PGA Tour events, did not play a practice round yesterday on the first day for spectators at Oakmont Country Club -- the third day in a row he has failed to play because of an injury to his left wrist.

Mickelson hit approximately 30 balls on the practice range and spent nearly 45 minutes on the putting green. But he never hit a full shot on the range -- he hit his driver once -- and never went on the course.

Mike Dudurich talks to Tommy Roy and the NBC point man likes the look of Oakmont.

"The final four holes at Winged Foot were long, hard par-4s that nobody could distinguish one from another," Roy said after a production meeting before the start of The Players Championship in May. "At Oakmont, there are some drastically different holes. There are holes that are very recognizable, I think."

And for those of you betting that Johnny will sob when NBC does the inevitable 63 feature, think again.

Roy said NBC won't be doing any major coverage about Miller's history at Oakmont, including his record 63 in the final round in 1973.

"We've pretty much made the decision that I think Johnny is going to get so much attention by newspapers, TV stations and magazines, the Internet -- you name it -- we're not going to do a big blowout feature on him, because I don't think it's going to be necessary," Roy said.

According to Julian Taylor, Sandy Lyle thinks Monty's got a great chance. Hey, if he doesn't hurt his wrist, I might be inclined to agree.

Monty's future biographer, John Huggan, recalls his red and chubby cheeks in 1994 (Monty's, not Huggies!).

While Alistair Tait says Monty's pretty much lost his mind after firing his caddy following a poor showing at the Austrian Open. That's the Monty we know and love!

Jason Sobel at ESPN.com looks at the correlation between high scoring at majors and the governing bodies who run them while also having done a lousy job regulating distance. It's interesting to see this connection made more often than ever.

Everywhere, that is, except at golf's four majors, where demanding, devious, deceitful course setups have never been more en vogue.

"I think the people who set the courses up use that technology debate as their reasoning for making the courses harder," said 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton. "Their reasoning is, 'Well, you guys are hitting shorter clubs in, so we can make the greens harder and faster.'"

And this... 

Even Woods, whose four most recent major victories have all seen numbers under par into the double-digits -- 2006 PGA (18-under); 2006 British (18-under); 2005 British (14-under); and 2005 Masters (12-under) -- acknowledges that red numbers shouldn't be so tough to come by in the four biggies.

Finally, Ron Green Jr. confirms reports that Pinehurst is getting the 2014.

Questions for David Fay

To those scribblers choosing to attend the USGA's annual Wednesday press conference (and please ladies and gents, no emails that you forgot to go like last year!), here are a few questions you might consider for USGA Executive Director David Fay.  I'm sure readers will chime in with a few (please, no bowtie jokes).

• You were very involved in making sure that the Bethpage U.S. Open benefitted the state of New York with minimal cost increase to the regular Bethpage golfer, and that was viewed as a tremendous success in virtually all regards (well, there is Rees's bungling of the 18th hole...). In light of Tod Leonard's San Diego Union Tribune story detailing losses that the city of San Diego will incur and the inconvenience to local municipal golfers, do you feel that San Diego and its golfers have been treated fairly?
  

• After USGA staff benefit cuts were announced, you recommended that staff members personally write to the Executive Committee to voice their displeasure. Did you voice concerns internally about these cuts, and why did you recommend the staff members do this, possibly risking alienation or retaliation?
  

• As a follow up, do you believe these cuts will strengthen the USGA's chances of attracting quality staff members in the future, as Mr. Driver suggested in his annual meeting address?

• What exactly does lobbyist Powell-Tate do for the USGA and the game of golf?
  
  
• Why has the USGA ball study taken 5 years to this point and when do you think it will be concluded?
  

• And with apologies to Colbert, Brian Cashman, great GM or the greatest GM?
  

Stuck On 63

My Links Magazine cover story is now posted online, and in light of the reports on the rough and predictions of a high winning score, this passage seems fairly relevant:

“The rough’s gotten so healthy in just the last few years,” he says. “You see footage of 1973 and Johnny Miller is hitting 6-irons out of the rough and onto the green from 170 yards. Not to put down Johnny Miller’s 63, because I’ve gotten to hear about it from Miller Barber, who played with him that day and it’s without a doubt the best round of all time, but it’s a lot tougher to recover from the rough on a lot of today’s major venues.”

Sometimes the conditions are too tough, and the prime examples are the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie. At Shinnecock the USGA set up the course too firm and fast for the final round; putts on the 7th hole were rolling off the green, which the grounds crew eventually had to water between groups.

Carnoustie’s fairways were so narrow that even Ben Hogan, who had won at the same course with a masterful display of driving accuracy, might have had trouble hitting them.

“It’s unfortunate that they set up courses to try and keep you from shooting a low score,” says Love. “The U.S. Open to me is getting over the top. Augusta is getting over the top. The Open Championship, other than Carnoustie in ’99, is by far the most fair and the one you look forward to playing the most.”

Oakmont Tours

If you're looking to get in the mood for Oakmont and's wonderful quirky character, GolfDigest.com's interactive flyovers and Ran Morrissett's recently updated course profile at GolfClubAtlas.com are your best bets.

The USGA's official site promised hole flyovers starting June 11, but so far, no luck.

Super Slow At Oakmont?

Now posted is my Los Angeles Times story on the potential for slow play problems at Oakmont.

I'm curious what you all think of the USGA's new slow play policy (reportedly working wonders at its other 12 championships), and what it will take to get it in place at the U.S. Open?

The consensus within the USGA (at least with those I talked to) seems to be that they will have a hard time implementing this policy at the Open without the PGA Tour adopting a similar policy at its events.

"Shinnecocked is a word that's been heard inside the walls of Golf House..."

Mike Dudurich in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the fine line between a great U.S. Open and a disaster:

Shinnecocked is a word that's been heard inside the walls of Golf House, the corporate headquarters of the United States Golf Association. It reverberates -- a constant reminder of a Sunday round that went horribly wrong.

"I'm sorry to say I have heard it, and I wish I hadn't," said Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director of championships and the man who will set up the course at Oakmont Country Club for the 2007 Open. "It's such a fine line between setting up a course very difficult and fair and having it go over the top."

Of course, we wouldn't expect them to use the more appropriate word coined by Joe Ogilvie...

"If it doesn't get 'USGAed' too bad, it should be a great course. That is a verb. Take a wonderful golf course and ruin it. That's the definition." 

"Nothing would have given me more pleasure than inflicting a touch of pain and suffering on the US Tour's unworthy wealthy."

Vintage Frank Hannigan, writing in The Scotsman on Europe's U.S. Open winless drought:

I'll tell you a secret. I held high office at the USGA in those days and we wanted a European to win. It would have emphasised the worldliness of our event and victories by Europeans would have seemed a put-down for the US PGA Tour. Nothing would have given me more pleasure than inflicting a touch of pain and suffering on the US Tour's unworthy wealthy.

But you let us down. And now your prospects are worse. In the world of golf gambling (illegal in the United States and therefore cited here only as hearsay) the lowest-priced Europeans are an uninviting 30-1, the numbers cited for Padraig Harrington, who comes close but always seems to make a six at least once during the final nine holes; Sergio Garcia, who has been "promising" for at least a decade and still misses three-foot putts; and the pretty swinging Luke Donald, who fancies himself as a genuine artist - on canvas at least. Trust me, Ben Hogan did not own a palette.

As for the Ryder Cup, a thought: it matters much more to your side than it does to ours. I don't think it means much at all to Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, who can tolerate, if barely, playing for nothing while big money is sucked in by the PGA of America. But what's intolerable is being forced to attend a string of the world's most boring dinner parties during the run-up to the event.

And he slips this in... 

Indeed, it saddens me to think that not nearly enough of you are going to see this new version of Oakmont. The United States Golf Association, in its infinite greed, sold the television rights to Rupert Murdoch's Sky operation so as to diminish the audience in the UK. The BBC, thank goodness, continues to own the rights to the Masters.

Official This Week: Pinehurst In 2014?

Newsday's Mark Herrmann looks at Shinnecock Hills' slim hopes of grabbing a U.S. Open hosting bid anytime soon, with this from the Club's GM Gregg Deger:

Deger acknowledged what USGA executive director David Fay said last year, that his group and the club are discussing another Open. But, Deger added, "It's not too intently. It hasn't been active."

Marty Parkes, senior director of media relations and communications for the USGA, said, "Conversations are still going on, but I don't know of anything imminent."

Time's a-wasting. The USGA has booked the Open for the next six years, including 2009 at Bethpage Black. Already, Shinnecock has missed its once-every-nine-years call (after 1986, 1995, 2004) because Merion has been awarded the 2013 event.

Fay probably will announce the 2014 site this week, with speculation leaning toward Pinehurst No. 2. The Journal-News of Westchester reported that Winged Foot, which was lauded for being tough but fair with a 5-over par winning score last year, has asked to host in 2015.

Oakmont's Design Evolution

Ron Whitten presents a detailed and fascinating account of Oakmont's design evolution and he attempts to figure who was most responsible for course's character. It may surprise you.

Much less inspiring or interesting is Tom Marzolf's description of the work he and Tom Fazio have done there in recent years.

"You can hit great, straight drives in the US Open and still miss the fairway."

John Huggan follows up on his Golf Digest interview with Geoff Ogilvy with a few more questions for the defending champion. Ogilvy touched on a similar notion about driving accuracy in the Q&A we did for Links (not online). I think he's onto something with regard to the effect of the 21-24 yard landing area...

JH: Ironically, the US Open isn't the one of the four your game would seem most suited to.

GO: No. I have thought a lot about that. I would have expected, for someone like me who is a little wayward off the tee even when playing well, that Augusta or the Open would be the best bet. But US Opens are so narrow that straight hitters almost lose their advantage. Everyone is in the rough. And I'm used to that and they are not.

You can hit great, straight drives in the US Open and still miss the fairway. So it almost works against those guys. I mean, I'm quite happy hitting seven shots out of the rough. I do that every day. They don't.

I'm not alone, though. Take a look at the leader board at Winged Foot.

Phil was up there and he isn't the straightest hitter. Everyone talks about how you have to hit it straight at the US Open. And I thought that too. But in hindsight I'm not so sure. No-one can hit it straight enough to hit every fairway in the US Open. It's so difficult, almost impossible really. You can be a great driver of the ball and still miss six fairways in a day. And you can drive badly and do that.

JH: What do you think of all the rough around the greens?

GO: I think some of the holes at Winged Foot would have been better served if balls were allowed to run away from the greens, rather than get stopped within a few feet.

JH: Which is what happened with your approach to the last green came up short.

GO: Exactly. That created quite an interesting shot.

Winged Foot is a stellar course though. I can't say anything bad about it because I won! I loved the fact that they had trimmed the trees so that you can see a lot of the course under the branches. That has been lost in a lot of places, but Winged Foot had that look about it.

It also has some of the coolest greens I have ever seen.

"I had a thing for Tiger when I was young. But not any more."

That's from a 16-year-old who is playing in this week's U.S. Open. Lorne Rubenstein has the story of Richard Lee, Canadian-born runner-up in last year's U.S. Junior Amateur and playing in his final event as an amateur.

Monty Again Ready To Almost Win U.S. Open

James Corrigan tells us way more than we ever wanted to know about Colin Montgomerie's close calls at the U.S. Open.