Guide: 2014 U.S. Open Third Round This And That

I tore my self away from the excellent media dining--a few drips of heavy cream explains the sheer brilliance of the scrambled eggs and I believe I'm the first to report based on conversations with the chef--to walk Pinehurst this morning.

The setup team of Mike Davis, Jeff Hall, John Bodenheimer and championship committee chair Dan Burton were kind enough to share a few thoughts on what figures to be a lively day. The wind has shifted to a north wind, opposite of the southeast zephyr of the first two days. The par-4 7th tee is up 48 yards with a front right hole location supported by a backstop. That means drives on the left side or those driving almost past the green can wedge back to a pretty easy location. It's a 315-yard shot to the flag from the tee. The hole yardage is 371.

The par-5 tenth tee is also up significantly and again, downwind, so look for the course to give them fits early in the round and the birdie opportunities to arise starting around the 7th. The greens have plenty of moisture to make it through the forecasted winds and overall the course looks absolutely stunning. While it may look browned out on TV, I'm confident the women will get to play a comparable course next week (with a few more divots and ballmarks than normal).

Your third round starting times are here. Leader Martin Kaymer goes at, gulp, 3:25.

Do note the extremes pairing at 3:14 as pointed out by reader Lloyd: speedster Brandt Snedeker and slowster Kevin Na.

TV and Radio times here and don't forget the feature group and other digital options online.

Leaderboard.

Hole locations. Note the 7th.

Update on 2014-06-14 16:25 by Geoff

**Course Setup Notes For Saturday's third round:

Weather Conditions Affecting Course Setup: We luckily avoided showers last evening, so with less humidity today and a light breeze out of the northeast (opposite of prevailing southwest wind), the course should see firmness similar to Round One. If northeast breeze continues, the long par 4s (2, 4, 12 and 16) will play into the wind, while the 7th hole (drivable) and two par 5s (5th and 10th) will be downwind.    

Green Speeds – Today’s green speeds are averaging 12½ feet on the USGA Stimpmeter.

Total Course Yardage for Saturday (tee marker settings to flagstick) = 3,665 yards out; 3,757 yards in = 7,422 total yards

Hole-by-Hole Information:

Hole 1 – 411 yards; the hole location is in the back-left portion of the green; putts from the middle of the green will be fast; shots missed over the green will be a relatively easy up and in.

Hole 2 – 515 yards; the hole location is in the back portion of the green.

Hole 3 – 394 yards; tee markers have been placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location is on the top-right back portion of the green.  

Hole 4 – 542 yards; tee markers have been placed on the back teeing ground; the hole is located in the back-center portion of the green; the hole should play into the northeast wind.  

Hole 5 – 530 yards; tee markers are placed on the front of the three back teeing grounds; the hole is placed in the dangerous front-left portion of the green, bringing the severe left fall-off into play.  

Hole 6 – 224 yards; tee markers have been placed on the middle teeing ground; the hole location is in the back-left portion of the green.  

Hole 7 – 371 yards (315 yards tee markers to flagstick); tee markers have been moved up 48 paces; the challenging front-left hole location is just above the bunker on a plateau; players will have a few options off the teeing ground: (1) lay up in the normal drive zone, but be faced with a tough second shot into the tucked hole location, (2) cut the right corner and play short and left of the green to give a better angle into the hole location, or (3) attempt to drive the green.

Hole 8 – 480 yards; the hole location is on the front-left portion of the green, bringing the severe fall-off on the left of the green into play.

Hole 9 – 198 yards; tee markers are placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location is in the back center of the upper left half of the green.  

Hole 10 – 589 yards; tee markers have been moved forward 30 paces; playing downwind, the hole should be reachable in two shots for some players; the hole location is up on a plateau just over the front-left bunker.

Hole 11 – 486 yards; the hole location is placed up against the right undulation; putts from the back portion of the green will be affected by this mound.

Hole 12 – 489 yards; tee markers are on the back teeing ground; the hole will play into the wind; the hole location is in the back-left portion of the green; most putts will have a right-to-left break.

Hole 13 – 362 yards; the hole is placed in the narrow front-right portion of the green; putts from the center of the green will be very tricky and will be affected by a pronounced undulation that ties into the back-right bunker.  

Hole 14 – 479 yards; the hole is positioned in the far back-center of the green bringing the fall-off behind and to the left and right into play.

Hole 15 – 199 yards; tee markers have been placed on the back teeing ground; the hole is placed on the flat plateau several paces over the false front.

Hole 16 – 531 yards; the hole should play into the breeze; the hole is located in the far back center of the green.

Hole 17 – 186 yards; the tee markers are placed on the middle-left teeing ground; the hole location is halfway back on the far right side of the green.

Hole 18 – 436 yards; the hole is placed about a third of the way into the green on the left side, where the green subtly falls away toward the center trough.

With This Absurdly Good First 36 Holes, Martin Kaymer...

...from the USGA media notes...

• Kaymer’s 36-hole total of 130 is the lowest score for the first 36 holes in a U.S. Open. The previous record was held by Rory McIlroy, who shot 131 in 2011 at Congressional.

• His six-stroke lead tied the largest 36-hole lead in U.S. Open history. Tiger Woods (2000, Pebble Beach) and Rory McIlroy (2011, Congressional) also had six-stroke leads.

• He became the sixth player in U.S. Open history to reach double digits under par. He joins Gil Morgan (1992), Tiger Woods (2000), Jim Furyk (2003), Ricky Barnes (2009) and Rory McIlroy (2011).

• Kaymer joins Rory McIlroy (2011) as the only players to be double digits under par through 36 holes at a U.S. Open.

• He reached double digits under par in 32 holes – the second-fastest in U.S. Open history. Rory McIlroy reached double digits under par in 26 holes in 2011 at Congressional.

• Kaymer is the first player to open a major championship with consecutive rounds of 65 or better.

• He ranks in the top five in all three major statistical categories: Fairways Hit (T-2, 25/28), Greens in Regulation (T-5, 26/36), and Total Putts (T-4, 54).

• Kaymer has held a 36-hole lead on seven occasions. He has gone on to win four times, including the 2014 Players Championship.

Dave Kindred wrote about Kaymer's incredible start and post round comments and surmised...

This U.S. Open is his. Three players ever have led the Open by five shots or more after 36 holes. Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Willie Anderson all won the tournament. Kaymer leads this Open by six shots.

A snippet of Kaymer's post-round comments:

Corrections And Amplifications, WSJ And Phil Edition

Thanks to reader John for noticing the Wall Street Journal's very minor "Corrections & Addendums" to their original story from two weeks ago on Phil Mickelson and the federal investigation of insider trading.

Corrections & Amplifications

Golfer Phil Mickelson didn't trade Clorox securities, according to his lawyer. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Mr. Mickelson's trading in Clorox was under scrutiny.

While the New York Times was criticized for almost entirely retracting their reporting on Mickelson, the paper at least did so in fairly high-profile fashion. It appears the Journal is not ready to do so yet.

Video: Ken Duke's Ultimate Par Save At Pinehurst

In case you missed it, early into Friday's second round at Pinehurst Ken Duke's ball nestled against a wiregrass bush on the par 3 ninth. Rather than hit a risky shot, Duke used the putter to nudge the ball in the bunker, then holed out the bunker shot to make three.

The video:

Members Still Have To Vote On Royal Portrush Open Invite

Brian Keogh reports and posts a letter that went out to Royal Portrush members assuaging concerns about a possible Open Championship (or more) by reminding them that they will get to vote before the R&A is told it's a go. The R&A has scheduled a news conference Monday to announce a future Open Championship without committing to a date.

And considering the absolutely perfect record of club membership votes, why not! What could possibly go wrong, especially as they have to build two no Martin Hawtree holes to permanently shove aside two H.S. Colt holes, including one with an iconic bunker? Who wouldn't vote for that?

There is frustration and irritation amongst many of the older members about the secrecy surrounding the negotiations between the club, The R&A and the Northern Ireland Executive. Few have seen drawings of the proposed changes and many are loathe to lose the 17th and 18th holes;

In theory, they could indeed say, 'Thanks, but no thanks' to two proposed new holes and other changes required for a potential 2019 staging.

New York Times (Grudgingly) Admits They Misfired On Phil Mickelson's Part In Insider Trading Story

The Matthew Goldstein and Ben Protess story which, while still suggesting Phil Mickelson may have issues related to his Dean Foods trades that netted him $1 million (to Billy Walters' $15 million), includes this:

“The new details, provided in the interviews with the people briefed on the matter, indicate that Mr. Mickelson’s ties to the investigation are weaker than previously reported.”

My analysis at GolfDigest.com's The Loop.