I Saw It On TV

I've no intention to live-blog the coverage of the first round, but will throw some early observations at you.  Reader beware, the musings may be even more random than usual...

The Boomer - It's hard to enjoy the U.S. Open when the first voice you hear is that of Chris "Boomer" Berman.  I'm always surprised that the USGA hasn't seen fit to make that a mandatory vacation week for Boomer, as his distinctive recipe of bombast and cutesy nicknames is utterly inappropriate for our game.

And of course I'm distressed to see David Toms off to  a good start, because the first citation of "Ground control to David Toms" invariably leads to the remote being tossed at the screen.

Conditions - The course looks absolutely spectacular, though I've been a little surprised at how well the greens are holding.  Especially No. 9, which has been on death watch, though they did finally get rain overnight.

Notice how many guys are using hybrids and/or fairway woods around the greens?  When you're just off the green, the grass always seems to be lying against you, making putter a tough call.  That's why scrambling is such a test, and you'll see all manner of clubs and shots.  That's also why, Ross's Dornoch roots notwithstanding, No. 2 is not and plays completely unlike a links.

Phil - A good start for everyone's fave, including with the flat stick.  His ball on No. 15 was a replica of my first tee shot on the hole, as I described a few days ago in introducing the BMIR* metric.  His first chip was scary bad, much like the worst of what we saw at Augusta, but the second chip was the Phil we know and love.  A good bogey if you will...

Strange Stats - Snedeker missed a short putt on No. 9 to shoot 30, which prompted the ESPN guys to tell us that the low nine-hole score in a U.S. Open is 29.  Once by Vijay, but amazingly twice by Neal Lancaster.  And it's not like he did it on a soft Congressional, but in '95 at Shinnecock and '96 at Oakland Hills.  And if like most you're wondering what became of the man known as Mr. 29, you can find an update here.

Homage Update - By now you may have heard that the TaylorMade players will have their father's names

on their bags on Sunday, because....well, you know.  Although some, including Jason Day and Darren Clarke, will have their children's names on the bag instead.

Was I away when Dash became a name?

And while Rickie Fowler's clothing is typically more notable than his play, I'll tip my cap for this gesture:

The memory of Payne Stewart is everywhere at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. From the statue behind the 18th green to the retrospectives of the 15th anniversary of his Open win to the first-round outfit of one of the youngest stars in the game.

For Thursday’s first round, Rickie Fowler will wear knickers with argyle socks to honor his late golfing idol.

But how is it possible that there's not a single picture of Rickie's get-up available on the web?

Sneds, We Hardly Knew Ye - Did Brandt Snedeker's pact with the devil lapse during his walk to the ninth green?

The guys is 4 under and puts his tee shot on the difficult ninth to about five feet?  He misses the putt badly, bogeys the Par 5 tenth, hits the front face of a fairway bunker and three putts for double from the front of the green on No. 11.  Thanks for playing, Brandt.

The Easy 14th - All three guys in the 8:57 a.m. group just birdied the 14th, which is a man-sized, difficult Par 4.  Included in the group is 17-year old Will Grimmer, who we noted earlier because he once shot 59 on Pinehurst No. 1.  

Will Grimmer is Eligible - Via Shackelford, the Thistle Dhu putting course built last year has been

designated a kids-only area this week.  A nice touch, and Shack is also a fan of the white horse farm fencing.

A nice touch by the USGA.