"What we're saying is, 'Guys, you've got to lay back of this cliff because you won't have any rough to stop your ball if you hit it too long.'"

We've heard a lot about the elimination of turf buffers along the cliffs at Pebble Beach but haven't seen much in the way of images. The look of turf right into the cliffs is sensational, though I can already hear the bitching by players!

Brett Avery reports on some additional last minute tweaks to the U.S. Open setup and provides some images of the changes. The work on No. 8 seems sure to make players a little less aggressive with their tee shot lay-ups.

The aiming rock was removed and the fairway shifted dramatically to the right, toward the cliff, long ago in preparation for the event. But only a few days ago the mowers removed all rough at the end of the fairway, too.

Update on 2010-05-18 00:05 by Geoff

Rob Matre offers some perspective on how the buffer between golf course and cliff looked at Pebble Beach prior to this change.

Should Tom Watson Receive A U.S. Open Exemption?

I say absolutely. Second place in the previous year's Open Championship should do it, no?

Doug Ferguson brought it up in his AP notes column today and Golfweek's Adam Schupak notes this for the reason the USGA may not have announced it at this point:

Decisions regarding special exemptions generally are made around the time of the Masters, according to USGA spokesperson Rand Jerris. Some insiders tell me it’s a done deal and the USGA just waited for the end of Jim Vernon’s reign as president to avoid any implication of favoritism, because Vernon and Watson are old fraternity brothers.

USGA Tweaks Pebble's 14th

Mike Davis kindly reported back about the troublesome 14th at Pebble Beach and the extreme chipping area that led to AT&T final round dramatics.

After studying the 14th green situation for about 45 minutes today, we decided to bring the rough up on the left side about half-way.  I think that will, on balance, provide the fairest outcome.  It will allow balls just left of the green to roll down about 5 paces and then be caught by rough.  The player would have an uphill shot that could be played with a bump and run or a high-lofted pitch.  It will give the player under the tree down on the flat area a play (which he never had before with thick rough) – hit a low pitch out of the rough onto the closely mown area and run it up the hill.  I think this scenario will challenge the players from all four sides of the green … try to get their ball up onto what might be the smallest (effective) green for any major competition (that I know of). 

Once again, great to see Davis and the committee unafraid of making adjustments this close to the tournament in the name of common sense. Not that the 14th still won't keep Davis and championship committee chair Tom O'Toole up at night, but this modification should cut down on some extreme goofiness. Though the front hole location will still be a beast.