When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
So Pinckney waited for McIlroy to register on Monday. And waited. And waited. He said he kept going to the registration desk, asking, “Has Rory registered yet?”
Soon after, they met by chance on a clubhouse elevator. The scene smacked of something out of a sappy movie.
That night, they went to dinner, with Pinckney’s father joining. The next morning, they went to a shopping mall together, just the two of them. They had coffee there. They shopped. Pinckney said he bought some underwear briefs. McIlroy, who looks like he doesn’t need to shave, bought shaving cream.
“He hasn’t changed,” Pinckney said. “He’s completely down to earth. It was like nothing had changed, like we were best of friends.”
Obvious question of the day: can Rory hang on this time?
We can't possibly know how much pressure the 22-year-old is feeling, but looking at Congressional's architecture and setup this week, the early speed horse has an advantage over the late chargers even if the Championship Committee follows through with their expected late-charge-friendly Sunday setup. (Something I explain more about in this Golf World Daily prognostication.)
In other words, the combination of soft greens and the Rees Jones pre-vent design makes this course much easier to hold a lead on than Augusta National.
An unbylined AP story on how the White House sees some of the particulars playing out for Saturday's Obama-Boehner buddies trip golf outting.
Presidential spokesman Jay Carney says he anticipates that Obama and Boehner will find time to discuss important issues such as budget negotiations.
But the outing is mostly about giving them a chance to socialize. Carney says that gives it “great value beyond the game.”
Carney isn’t saying whether the White House will disclose what the golfers shot on their round. The Ohio lawmaker is known to be a much better golfer than Obama.
Carney says reporters and photographers will get a chance to see something of the action. The White House hasn’t said what course they’ll play.
A president has never played a round of golf with the leader of the opposing party who was also considered a near-lock to win the match (the closest thing was a round L. B. J. played with Dwight D. Eisenhower in February 1968 at Seven Lakes Country Club in Palm Springs, Calif.; Ike won in a breeze). So, perhaps Mr. Obama deserves to be spotted a few free strokes for sporting courage.
More important, the timing of the “golf summit” is curious (and not just because it coincides with the United States Open at nearby Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.). Two wars (three, if you count health care; four, if you count Libya), a stubborn economic downturn and partisan rancor combine to make the president’s decision to play with Mr. Boehner a surprise and one that appears to offer more downside than upside to the White House.
AP's Joseph White on bureacracy gone awry just outside the gates of Congressional.
Children from two families put up the stand on private property—a neighbor’s yard that just happens to be on a corner across from a spectator entrance to Congressional. During Thursday’s first round, they received three visits from county officials, twice with a warning. The third time, a citation was issued for operating the stand without a permit. It carried a fine of up to $500 and required a court appearance.
“Does every kid now that sells lemonade have to register with the county?” Carrie Marriott, whose children were selling the drinks, asked a county official in an exchange caught on video by WUSA-TV.
Someone figured out this was not going to look good...
Since fining kids over a lemonade stand can be a public relations nightmare, a deal was worked out. On Friday, the stand was moved down the street and the citation was rescinded. The county also waived the need for a permit, which would have cost about $38.
A homemade sign at the old location announced: “Grand Reopening: 25 Feet Down.”
The course is softer and the forecast not great, but let's hope we see as much golf possible. Rory's off to a great start though!
Davis putts on the 18th Friday morning. Click to enlarge.I watched the back nine setup team of Mike Davis and Tom O'Toole prepare a few Congressional holes for today's second round and picked up a few things worth adding on top of my Golf World Daily item about why the putting surfaces look the way they do.
Thursday felt like a survival day for all of the rookies and the course setup team. It appeared that several undesirable hole locations were used because of their proximity to stress areas, while the back tees were used on the three par-5s in likely effort to keep play moving. Rory McIlroy's opening 6-under 65 stole the show at a Congressional vulnerable to a low round in the morning and less so by the afternoon when greens got bumpy and the wind gusted, meaning his afternoon round was all that much more impressive.
Maybe it is all of that and the fact that in this age of self-entitled, overpaid underachievers in sports he holds out the promise of being the real deal with the added value of being a nice guy in the process. Here is a young man who may not only live up to the hype, but also not allow his genuine goodness to be altered by his success.
Steve Elling writes that Rees Jones wasn't surprised his patient was vulnerable.
Noted golf architect Rees Jones had been hanging around the 111th U.S. Open premises all day, and like many others, he figured that somebody was sure to light up the scoreboard at Congressional Country Club.
The conditions were right, the world's best players were on the grounds and the greens were running slower than traffic on the traffic-choked Beltline, compared to the Open's baked-out norm. Hours passed.
History has shown that when mega-low scores crop at major championships, it's frequently in the first round, before the pressure builds. Jones assumed somebody would make a wicked run at Congressional, maybe even threaten the Grand Slam scoring record of 63. Then absolutely nothing happened.
Late in the afternoon, Jones, who redesigned Congressional in advance of the Open, looked up as Ulsterman Rory McIlroy was making yet another birdie.
"All day we've been waiting, and now it looks like he might do it," Jones said.
Bob Harig looks at Rory's recent run at the last four majors.
He shot a major championship record-tying 63 at St. Andrews last summer to hold the first-round lead in the British Open, only to be undone by a gale-induced 80 in the second round. He still finished third.
At the PGA Championship, he was tied for the lead on the back nine and had a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have put him in a playoff. He tied for third.
The Masters, of course, became legendary for his Sunday meltdown. Tied for the lead on the 10th tee, he shot 43 on the way to an 80 and finished 10 strokes behind winner Charl Schwartzel.
And here he is again, contending at his fourth straight major.
Robert Lusetich explains how Rory is feeding off supportive comments received from Jack Nicklaus.
“It’s a nice pressure to have knowing that the greatest player ever at the minute thinks that you’re going to do pretty good.”
McIlroy will do well to heed Jack’s advice.
“He emphasized so much to me about not making mistakes. That was his big thing.
“He said people lost a lot more majors and gave them to him than he actually won. It was a good piece of advice to have.”
John Paul Newport ran the numbers and the verdict is in: some Americans just love their Rees Jones rees-do work. Thanks reader JB for this.
An American Advantage?
Since 2007, the golfers in this U.S. Open with the lowest averages on courses completely remodeled by golf architect Rees Jones (min. 25 rounds).
GOLFER/COUNTRY ROUNDS ROUND AVERAGE
Jim Furyk USA 44 69.12Camilo Villegas COL 34 69.41
Anthony Kim USA 32 69.66
K.J. Choi KOR 32 69.69
Hunter Mahan USA 44 69.90
Phil Mickelson USA 34 70.00
Steve Stricker USA 40 70.18
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
