9x4=Hole Locations Four And Under

Saturday's hole locations seemed to be the most varied between accessible and difficult, with nine that were four paces or less.

Live Blog-Saturday

7:10: Final group completes play, twosomes of the best players in the world spaced 10 minutes apart taking 4 hours and 10 minutes to play. Lovely.

7:00: NBC stays on the air past sign off time even as one more group remains on 18. Mickelson joins Costas in the booth. Really needs a haircut.

6:48: Padraig triples 18 to go from +3 to +6 and out of a likely second-to-last-group pairing.

6:39: Thank God for TiVo, so I could rewind and relive Padraig's one-step cold-top. How bad that lie must have been! 

6:36: Phil hits "stock wedge" into 18 from 135, but rams birdie putt by, giving us hope for a close finish tomorrow. 

6:12: Gary Koch tries to set up the Mickelson-Bones chat where a soundman has worked hard to get the dialogue. Naturally, Johnny talks over part of it. Mark Rolfing, whose microphone hasn't worked all day, points out that it's pretty amazing Phil's "stock 8" is used from 176 yards.

6:00: NBC gives us a worm cam view of Ferrie's par putt on 14 and wow was it a bumpy ride. 

5:57: The first grain reference comes from Bob Murphy, taking Johnny off the hook.  

5:46: NBC needs a worm cam because Ogilvy's par putt on 13 just looked in the hole and wiggled right. Brutal.  

5:40: USGA is using recently restored front left hole on 18, Ian Poulter tries to get cute with it and makes double.

5:28: Interesting debate between Ogilvy and his caddie Squirrel on 12 fairway, but Johnny talked over the first part and it was tough to figure out what exactly they were debating.  Ogilvy makes par. NBC seems to think they are mad at each other but I'm not so sure that's just not Ogilvy's way. Hopefully the scribblers will get it cleared up after the round.

5:25: So is that Lincoln Financial Group interruption along with the way-too-long Stanley Cup video package designed to be a bathroom break for the crew? It seems like we do this every Open, and always at the worst time. 

5:15: Have you notice that Dottie Pepper is starting to give Judy Rankin a run as best on-course reporter in golf? 

5:05: Johnny somehow ties Geoff Ogilvy's birdie on 10 into the overall player mindset that things are going to be much easier without Tiger in the field. Okay.

5:00: Seth Davis reports in his SI blog that the writers who aren't watching soccer are officially worried now about writing stories with this leaderboard. But Ogilvy is hanging in, and the ones who know better are rooting hard for the Aussie.  

4:51: Ferrie bogies No. 9, no one is under par for the event. That loud cheer from clubhouse is not from Executive Committee members, but soccer fans rejoicing over U.S. goal in World Cup.

4:29: Johnny pronounces Harrington "right on plane" after 9 tee shot and before we see ball flying into left trees. 

4:16: Johnny makes "Ferrie Tale" joke, both he and Hicks at least act embarrassed (unlike Berman). 

4:05: Phil bombs it into the trees on 8, Callaway smells driver sales taking a hit. Lots going on today, but I'm still feeling a nap coming on.

3:53: Johnny (Callaway man) notes Phil's cool new U.S.Open bag (Callaway). Will it be on sale Monday if Phil wins? I know, so cynical. Johnny then compares Kenneth Ferrie to golfers who camp out in their cars at Bethpage.

3:50: Monty starts bogey-bogey-doublebogey-bogey, Scottish writers mourn in press tent because they have to file before they can interview their boy. 

3:49: Mickelson intentionally drives into No. 6 bunker, explodes out close, showing that the hazard is a better place to be than the 7 inch rough around hole. Birdie 3 for Phil.

3:44: First "signature hole" reference to No. 6, Dan Hicks is guilty as charged.

3:42: Johnny says that the rough has not been cut all week on the last 90 yards of No. 6.  Think they're a little paranoid about birdies being made?

3:27: Graphic points out that Winged Foot's greens are 4,750 sq. feet, compared second smallest in last seven Opens. Hicks reads Tilly quote about large greens breeding slovenly play and notes that Tilly was an "intellectual type." 

3:18: Sun is out, wind is starting to blow, Dottie Pepper makes reference to bumpiness starting to be a concern. 

3:10: Boy, the birds sure are chirping a lot more at Winged Foot than they were at Westchester last week. Huh. 

3:05: NBC stat notes that there has been 1 ace on No. 3, no birdies. Later stat says only 22.8% of field has hit the green today.

3:04: Phil scoops under lob shot on 3, stuggles to make bogey, NBC execs wondering why they didn't buy World Cup rights instead of golf. 

2:48: Phil in rough on 2, hits ugly chop shot out. Then to hay where the Havercamps are working as marshals. Hits great wedge out and makes par.

2:45: Johnny wonders what's going on with all of the Euro and International players playing so well, So far the American showing is pretty poor. 

2:42: After Stenson birdie on 9, Hicks notes that we've seen more highlights in first few moments of third round than first two days. Amazing what happens when you let the players play a little golf.

2:39: Bunker cam debuts on No. 6.  Cut to Phil doing the impossible, leaving it short on a downhill put on No. 1. McDowell makes only 12th birdie on No. 1 all week.

2:33: Phil's drive is in center of first fairway. No one seems to know how it got there! 

2:30: Mickelson pulls first drive into right trees, NBC execs let out first audible moan. 

2:20: Villegas wearing all black with yellow shoes he bought at Liberace estate sale. 

2:08: Oh no, they're here too! That's right, our first "The Villages" ad, and it's the older, really embarrassing one! 

2:06: Hedlbom makes eagle on 5, second in three holes. 

2:00: Contractually obligated USGA puff segment. USGA nurturing game of golf. Fay interviewed, needs comb. Says they put "as much effort into U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur as the U.S. Open," with a straight face. Jimmy joined now by Fay, mentions Merion getting 2013 Open, Jimmy says issues with Merion, "would it provide an adequate test of golf." Fay: "we told Merion not that many years ago that the Open as outgrown Merion. Course was too short, facilities were too small. the members didn't take that answer well. They set to work, they thought creatively, so what they've done is lengthen those great long holes at Merion. You still have the great short holes. A lot of the holes on Merion are under 400 yards. They've cleared away a lot of trees. I would say our operations people have looked at Merion more comprehensively than any U.S. Open site. This will work."  Fay says the Open will be same size as Winged Foot.

1:55: Back to the range too, Smith is to the left of Phil, Pelz behind him. I think they've got him covered. 

1:50: Mickelson sees Smith as he's leaving the range tee, microphone picks up him saying to Smith: "is there a microphone you just don't love." 

1:47: Rick Smith wins, get NBC interview. Says he'd love to see Phil hit more fairways. The revelations! 

1:39: Els drives 6, Johnny says he could get closer approaching from 100 yards out after ball ends up in rough with stance in bunker. Els knocks it tight, Johnny concedes maybe he couldn't get it inside that. Els makes 3.

1:37: Maltbie asks Kenneth Ferrie for diet tips. Seriously. Hicks says Ferrie went from 280 to 225!

1:27: Peter Hedblom makes hole in one on No. 3, amazing shot. Throws ball into crowd. Is he nuts!? Wow, they replay it again, what a beautiful swing.

1:21: Hicks mentions championship "perhaps" ending on Father's Day, guys in truck groan at possible dreaded Monday playoff. 

1:20: Tim Rosaforte joins Bob Costas, plugs the David Duval Golf Digest interview in May issue.

1:01: Roger Maltbie asks Ogilvy if he's had a eupiphany after all of his great recent play in majors. 

1:00: Johnny: It's a heckuva hole; Dan: It's a heckuva golf course. Blame W.

12:58: Hole flyovers, Johnny notes beauty of striped tee cut, causing supers around the country to grown.

12:42: First inevitable reference to Johnny's 63 at Oakmont today, but this one by Dan Hicks. Johnny says "great trees" at Winged Foot. Tilly would be proud. NBC does a good job of explaining tiered rough Johnny brings out ruler and clump of rough for display, not Karl Ravech's rug. 

12:41: Koch reports watering last night and today. Greens look greener, but maybe it's the cloudy day.

12:40: NBC wide shot of 11 fairway. Stomach churning here. Sad to see such neat contours hidden in rough.

12:38: We see Monty arrive in a gas guzzler, Dan Hicks says he's in a jovial mood. Cut to Mickelson with Pelz and Smith vying to see who can jockey for closer position to their man.

U.S. Open Reads: Late Saturday Edition

The greens (maybe a bit unfairly) have become the player's focus while other elements of the setup have gone unmentioned (except Ogilvy's comments in the post below).

And before I forget, the fairway contours are the handy work of Tom Meeks, leftovers from the 2004 U.S. Amateur. Just wanted to clarify in case someone wanted to point the blame at Mike Davis, Jim Hyler or Tim Moraghan for that element of the setup. They did tweak a few, but the basic parameters were already set. 

Josh Thomson talks to Davis about the state of the greens, which was one of the main themes in Saturday's early coverage. It's still not entirely clear if the complaints center around small bumps created by spikes and Softspike craters, or by the areas dying out (while others are green). I'm guessing the latter, which is never fun.

Andrew Both reports on a "out of position" warning that Scott Hend wasn't too happy about (rightfully so) and also quotes several Aussie players about the greens.

Dan Daly makes fun of the player whining.

Stan Awtrey wonders if the greens will survive the weekend.

Darren Clarke says the greens are the worst he's ever seen in this AP story.

Ed Sherman offers his first 36-holes birdies and bogies.

And Matthew Futterman talks to NBC producer David Neal about the weekend coverage and with some fans who won't be watching now that Tiger is out.  But at least this spokesman is honest about how the ratings play out: "It's a factor of a great story and if the program goes into prime time," said Mike McClary, a spokesman for NBC Sports.

So that's why they tee off so late! 

Fire Up The Hoses!

From Brad Klein, filing a notes column for Golfweek.com:

You know the USGA has learned from the Shinnecock Hills fiasco of 2004. With the weather report for the weekend calling for 15-20 mph winds and gusts up to 26 mph, USGA officials will selectively water the greens and fairways to make sure the turf at Winged Foot doesn't dry out. They'll also move planned hole locations around if the wind makes some exposed spots on the greens too precarious.

Huggan Talks To Ogilvy About Setup, State Of Game

John Huggan chats with Geoff Ogilvy after his second round 70 left him two shots back, and asks him what no one thought to ask in his press conference: how is a fan of classic architecture dealing with the shallow USGA setup.

First, Huggan wins for best lead of the week:

A measure of the relative blandness inherent in so many professional golfers during the early part of the 21st century is that Ian Poulter, by doing little more than wearing colourful trousers, is looked upon by many as a bit of character.
In a sport that has, over the past 150 years or so, produced more great literature than any other, and no shortage of diverse and entertaining personalities, this is a sad state of affairs

Still, amid this sea of blandness it remains possible to find the odd free thinker. One such man is Geoff Ogilvy...

Here's what Ogilvy had to say:

"It's almost offensive where they have cut the fairways out there, but I'm trying to enjoy it. It isn't easy, though. This tournament is all about grinding. You could play well here and still feel like you played badly. All it takes is a couple of bad breaks or missing a fairway by a couple of feet in the wrong place and you are shooting 80-odd. But I guess a major is supposed to be like that, in a way."

"Two important aspects of modern golf have gone in completely the wrong direction," he maintains. "Most things are fine. Greens are generally better, for example. But the whole point of the game has been lost. Ben Hogan said it best. His thing was that you don't measure a good drive by how far it goes, you analyse its quality by its position relative to the next target. That doesn't exist in golf any more.

"The angle of attack and the shape of the shot mean nothing nowadays. It is 'Can you hit it through the goalposts?' on every hole. And so the game becomes a one-dimensional test of execution, time after time after time." Still, for all its basic tedium, Ogilvy has so far done a more than fair job of quelling his misgivings about golf, US Open-style.

"It's a different mindset you've got to set yourself," he continued. "If you get yourself in the right mindset, anyone can do it out here when it's tough. You've just got to adjust where your brain is. You've just got to be able to read what is a good score and not a good score. This week you can be as much as four over par after nine holes and not be in bad shape. That's a big adjustment from the courses and events we normally play."

U.S. Open Reads: Early Saturday Edition

Lawrence Donegan with his always entertaining perspective, even if it's filed at about 2 p.m. EST.

Seth Davis blogs that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel picked the wrong week to stop sending their respected beat writer to a tournament.

Saturday's tee times are posted in case you were wondering how they have positioned things for NBC's strong prime-time lead in.

Hey if you're looking for a reason to root against David Duval Saturday, check out his latest Golf Digest interview where he talks about his putting on all that weight and what a bad guy Ben Crenshaw is for writing a book after the Ryder Cup. Gosh it's great to have him back.

Mark Soltau offers a great anecdote on Sergio Garcia and a driver he planned to dispose of before a USGA official had a better idea.

Stats of the day can be viewed by going to the USGA's stats link and then clicking from there (direct links USGA...they work). Friday's eye-openers:

The field's averaged 50% on fairways hit and 50.8% of their greens in regulation in round 2

Cost of rough was just under .5 for round two (better convene a championship committee meeting Saturday morning!). 

The average tee shot distance climbed to 292.1 in round 2

Of the toughest "cost of rough" holes, the non-tiered rough holes took a toll Friday, with Nos. 5, 6, and 11 all ranking over .5.

Moving the tee up 70 or so yards on No. 12 brought the scoring average down to 5.239 from 5.404 in round 1.

The fairway hit % on the horribly contoured 15th: 36.5% in round 1, 40.0% in round two. (That's a flawed setup when you are talking about the best players in the world playing to a soft fairway with the best equipment in the history of the game.)

Less silly but just as unfairly contoured (yes, I used the dreaded unfair word...deal with it!), is No. 8. 53.8% hit the fairway in round 1, 43.9% in round 2.

Finally, Jim McCabe writes about The Country Club's interest in the 2013 U.S. Amateur and floats this thought on Merion receiving the 2013 U.S. Open: 

So why isn't the 100th anniversary of Ouimet's win going to be celebrated at the place where it took place? Merion hasn't had a US Open since 1981. The knock was that Merion, at roughly 6,900 yards, was too short and with the ball going too far and classic layouts being obsolete, some believe David Fay, the executive director of the USGA, and his colleagues wanted to prove you could bring a competitive US Open there.

In other words, to show they haven't lost the battle on equipment. Gee, I can't imagine they'd ever do such a thing. Just look at the fairways this week.

The First 36

Okay, I'm bored. Time to head to the beach. (It's 78 with a light breeze and no smog here in the home of the homeless).

With Winged Foot playing the players instead of the players playing the course, I'm going to take in some some sun.

I know this whole humiliating the players instead of identifying them is the USGA way, and I kow it makes bad golfers feel good about themselves. But this is deadly.

Your thoughts on the first two rounds? 

The Latest From The Press Tent

Err, media center.

Seth Davis blogs on the foul mood of the assembled inkslingers, Nikon v. Canon experts and other assorted moochers lounging around the media hub.

And not because half just of the writers had to scrap maudlin, pre-prepared, GWAA award-worthy, father-son column based on a Tiger Woods run at the title.

No, it seems their wireless is iffy and that they aren't too excited about the leaderboard. Can't blame 'em.

Ogilvy's Post Round 2 Comments

From ASAP:

Q. How was the course playing today compared to yesterday?

GEOFF OGILVY: To be fair, I think at first the first few holes were probably easier than they were yesterday afternoon, then it progressively got harder. Every green you got on was a little browner than the one before and a bit faster and glassier and it starts bouncing. By the end of the day there were some pretty big bounces on the greens. I'm glad I'm finished. This afternoon it's going to be pretty hard work for them.

And...

Q. You have a pretty good record in majors. Any part of the learning process or something that you're taking out there?

GEOFF OGILVY: I mean, a 20 something last year at Pinehurst, I was like, I could probably do all right. Before that I didn't think I could do any good in a U.S. Open because I don't drive it very straight. I would have said it's the least likely of the four for me to do well in.

After last year, I thought, you know, there must be something in there that allows me to get there in a U.S. Open. Then I played great at St. Andrews, great at Baltusrol, and Baltusrol was similar to a U.S. Open setup. I think I get in a better frame of mind in majors than I maybe get in regular tournaments.

This is fun...

Q. Would you go through your birdies and bogeys starting with 11.

Finish why you do well in the majors.

Oops, someone didn't like that attempt at a rally kill!

GEOFF OGILVY: Because you have to be. You have to finish well, otherwise you're going home early, and you only gets four chances a year at it maybe. For some reason, I seem to handle adversity better in a major. I seem to have been, anyway. If I'm 2 over after 5 in a regular Tour event, I'm probably not the most cheerful guy in the world, but I was quite fine today. I was not stressing at all because that's kind of what you do.

I don't know, I think four times a year you've got to have your best you've got to bring your brain and your patience, and if you don't, you're not going to do any good. You've got a choice, and I'm trying to have a better one.

And...

Q. Are you surprised that the defending champ, looks like he's out of the tournament?

GEOFF OGILVY: No, you can play well here and get a few bad breaks and shoot 80 before you know it. I played with David Howell and Bo Van Pelt and did nothing wrong, and a couple holes in a row, they hit a couple bad shots and they're done for. It's pretty brutal out there. You've got to try and avoid the train wrecks. If you hit a bad shot, try and get a bogey and get away. You're only one bad swing away from a big number out there.

Q. Is it a different player who excels in a tournament where par is a real good score as opposed to 7 under?

GEOFF OGILVY: I don't know, it's hard to say. It's a different mindset you've got to set yourself. If you get yourself in the right mindset, anyone can do it out here when it's tough. You've just got to adjust where your brain is. Normally if you're going over par on the courses that we play regularly, you're really not going very well. But you can be 4 over through nine holes here and not be in bad shape. You've just got to tell yourself, you've really got to be able to read what is a good score and not a good score.

At a regular Tour event it's hard to read what a good score is. Sometimes you shoot 4 over and there's eight guys that shot 8 under.

That's why I think it helps to watch the leaderboard, because you have two or three bogeys, and you're like, everyone else is doing this, so it's got to be pretty hard out here.

No questions about the setup for the one player who has shown and ability to offer articulate thoughts on the subject?? 

Tiger's Struggle

Brett Avery summed up Tiger's second round 76 best in his on-site, hole-by-hole blog:

Woods' tee shot barely stays out of the fairway on the left and his second checks up short of the green. His shoulders are slumped as he walks to the green and the gallery barley musters a saluting round of applause. It is hard to believe his second came up short of the green, especially factoring in the downwind conditions, but this has been a hard-to-believe two days. The reigning U.S. Open and Amateur champions and arguably the greatest player in the games' history are all double-digits over par. Woods' third skips past the hole and he misses for par. That puts him 12 over for 36 holes. When he holes out he is tied for 118th place. His statistics are nothing short of deplorable: Seven fairways, 18 greens, 63 putts, 3 birdies, 21 pars, nine bogeys and three double bogeys.

Tiger was up front after the round:

Q. Tell us what your emotional state is right now.

TIGER WOODS: Pissed. That pretty much sums it up right there. I thought I was playing well enough to shoot an under par round today, and I didn't do that.

Q. Was it rust?

TIGER WOODS: No, not rust. Unfortunately I just didn't put it together at the right time. I just didn't execute properly, and consequently, I shot 6 over.

Q. Was there a moment today where (inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: No.

Q. You thought as you kept grinding, you still thought you were going to turn it around?

TIGER WOODS: You've always got to feel that way. I felt like if I just kept going, kept plodding along, I could have turned it around any time with one putt or one shot. And I made two good saves there on 18 and 1 and thought that that would be pretty good. Then made a good par there on 3. All in all, I thought I could have turned it around there.

Q. This is kind of a tough tournament and a tough venue to come back. Talk about that.

TIGER WOODS: It is. It's playing really hard. The golf course is very difficult. The wind is up now, just like it was yesterday afternoon. Marginal shots are just going to get killed here; it's just the nature of this golf course. Any U.S. Open, but more so on this golf course, but any U.S. Open venue that we play, any marginal shot here just gets penalized more so than any other Open.

Q. You've never missed a cut in a major. Can you talk about that?

TIGER WOODS: It's not something you want to have happen. I've gone, I guess, a while without missing one. Unfortunately I missed this one, and hopefully I can win the British.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I knew if I made one birdie coming in and a couple pars, the ten shot rule would get me in.

Q. 20/20 hindsight, would you have (inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: No, I was not ready to play golf.

Q. What's next?

TIGER WOODS: Practice.

Q. Will you play before the British?

TIGER WOODS: Probably the Western.

10 x 4 (Or Less) Today

Only 10 hole locations today within 4 or less paces of the edge.

It is great that they are using the recently restored hole location on 18, as we wondered about early in the week, where you can see a photo showing where the old green boundary was.

U.S. Open Reads: Late Friday Edition

The Journal News keeps up their fine coverage, first with Andrew Gross focusing on 12th hole play.

And Sam Weinman looks at the difficulty of the course, with "Massacre" comparisons already being made.

Ed Sherman also writes about the course and has this from Fred Funk:  "If [Open officials] want 7 or 8 over to win, they have proven they can do that," Furyk added. "They did it a long time ago. It would be all in the setup."

You mean, they would make it all about themselves? No, not the USGA!

Jim Salisbury warns that Tiger should be careful what he wishes for with the greens, and predicts faster surfaces for today's round.

David Barrett followed the Villegas, Hend, Holmes pairing and reports that they were kept in check by the setup, except on the 6th hole.

And from Ray Fager's Baltimore Sun column: "During Wednesday's conference call about the U.S. Open, host Dan Hicks mentioned how Phil Mickelson might have four drivers in use during the tournament and then said about his analyst partner: 'Johnny Miller has four different makeup packs.'"

U.S. Open Reads: Early Friday Edition

Andrew Weiss has the Aussie perspective, focusing on Geoff Ogilvy's play in this story, and on Ogilvy and Tiger's thoughts on the greens in this sidebar.
 
John Hopkins of the Times writes about...who else, but Monty, while Lawrence Donegan does the same only in more entertaining fashion.

Doug Ferguson has the American perspective on round one, while John Huggan looks at Phil Mickelson's round and talks to his masseur swing coach, Rick Smith.

Golfonline has first round audio analysis from Peter Kostis and Dave Pelz. They also offer some notes on the opening round.

For course stats, you have to go to the USGA's scoring page and then click on the Course Summary link to salivate over those cost of rough stats, which are new this year and speak such volumes about the state of the game. Eye-openers:

Averages putts per GIR on No. 1:  2.10 (only hole over 2)
Round one scoring average: 75.984
Driving distance: 289.2
Cost of rough on No. 14:  0.784
Cost of rough on non-tiered rough holes: .571 (5), .348 (6), .536 (11)

Boy I'm glad they didn't tier it on No. 6, more birdies would have been made and the USGA would have looked silly! Perish the thought! 

Finally Seth Davis has several entertaining blog posts about the media center antics over at SI.com, though someone needs to het him a New York Post after this post:

-- There's a rumor going around the press tent that Tiger Woods is staying not at a local hotel but on his yacht, which is presumably parked somewhere either on Long Island Sound or the Hudson River. If I were a real journalist, I would try to chase down that glistening nugget before passing it along to my readers, but since I am blogging I can put it out there and ask you all to chase it down for me. Any takers?

The New York Post story is here in case Davis wants to read it.

Tiger's First Round Comments

He has issues with the greens being too slow.

TIGER WOODS: I know the greens will be a little bit quicker. The guys were saying that it's -- we're not used to it in the U.S. Open. We just need to make the adjustment. We have plenty of time to on the putting green.

Q. Mike Davis a couple days ago said that you asked him, "When are you going to make these greens faster." Would you like to see them faster?

TIGER WOODS: You're used to playing U.S. Opens with fast greens; these aren't. With the pitch on these greens, you have to keep it on the slower side; we're just not used to being in the U.S. Open with greens this slow. If anything, the greens should have been slower last year. You have to make the adjustment. We're all playing the same golf course. You just have to understand that they're just a little bit slower than we're used to.

Q. (Inaudible) low score that could be had out there tomorrow?

TIGER WOODS: The greens are soft on some holes. Some holes are spongy and stringy. You can throw the ball in there and have it stop virtually where it landed. But in the wind hole, after three, I wasn't very happy.

Poor Mike Davis

According to a trusted eyewitnesses, USGA course setup man Mike Davis was seen several times in his cart today at Winged Foot accompanied NOT by the sitting Championship Committee Chair Jim Hyler (as is custom), but by USGA President and Citation jet man Walter Driver.

Poor Mike couldn't even enjoy his first day at the Open in charge.