Day One

Well, that was a tad strange, no?  Almost seems like there's something in the water....  Well, actually there is.  But we'll make you wait a bit on that....

Rickie Don't Lose That Number - My friend Glenn, in mourning as usual because of the absence of 8" rough, e-mailed me at the open of business asking why no one was touting Rickie.  To me he had received an amount of coverage commensurate with his station, but problem solved:

ERIN, Wis. – For all the whining earlier in the week about the fearsome fescue that lines the fairways at Erin Hills, another f-word was on players lips' during the opening round

of the Phil Mickelson-less 117th U.S. Open. 

Fair. 

Soft greens, wide fairways, gettable pins, a pleasant but not particularly meddlesome breeze. It all added up to a decidedly un-U.S. Open-like setup Thursday that had the scoreboards bleeding Badger red and Rickie Fowler carving up Erin Hills like a side of grass-fed Wisconsin beef. 

On a day when a U.S Open first-round record 44 players broke par (two of whom were amateurs), Fowler la-de-da-ed his way to a bogey-free, seven-under 65, which tied the relative-to-par scoring record in the first round of a U.S. Open; Fowler joined Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf, both of whom carded seven-under 65s in the opening round of the 1980 Open at Baltusrol.

Tom Doak calls "Fair" the "F-Word", but he's in that kind of business....

And while this is true enough:

That the USGA's setup czars laid down their arms Thursday was unsurprising. With controversy marring the last two editions of this tournament, the blue coats desperately needed this Erin Hills Open to get off to a drama-free start. "I thought it was very, very fair," Brandt Snedeker said of the setup after posting a two-under 70. "More so than I was expecting for a U.S. Open." Said Charley Hoffman, who also shot 70, "If you're ever going to get a U.S. Open and be able to score, today was the day." 

Fowler wasn't the only player to go super-low. Paul Casey and Tour rookie Xander Schauffele, both in the afternoon wave, are just a shot behind Fowler after posting sporty six-under 66s. In an eclectic group at five under are 27-year-old bomber Brooks Koepka; pint-sized left-hander Brian Harman, who picked up his second Tour win at the Wells Fargo last month; and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

The show ponies had quite a tough go of it:

Rahm finished with a four-over 76 but he wasn't the only headliner to struggle; in fact, as 

many amateurs finished in red numbers as did top-10 players in the world. Defending champion and new father Dustin Johnson came in as the betting favorite but couldn't make a putt on his way to a 75. World No. 3 Jason Day made two triples (something he'd never done in a Tour event) and hung up a ghastly 79. Billy Horschel needed all of one hole to dash his title hopes, making a quad at the par-5 opener.

And then there was Rory McIlroy. Earlier in the week Rors woofed that the best players in the world should have no trouble hitting Erin Hills' 60-yard-wide fairways. On Thursday he hit a field-worst five fairways and shot a six-over 78.

I watched mostly the later coverage, and that Jason Day-Rory-Rose group reminded mostly of the Bataan Death March.   

Alan Shipnuck with the post-mortem:

What turned big, bad Erin Hills into such a pushover? For starters, it was designed to be played in strong, steady winds, but Thursday the breeze was quite mild, particularly in

the morning. The unprecedentedly wide fairways – "You could fit three fairways at Winged Foot into the 10th fairway [at Erin Hills]," says USGA executive director Mike Davis — played even wider after being rain-softened, and so the field could hit driver with impunity. Brian Harman (67) wielded the big stick on 13 of 14 non par-3s. So did Patrick Reed (68). 

"There's no hold back, no trying to choke something down and cut it and get it in the fairway," said Snedeker. "It's tee it high and hit it as hard as you can." What breeze there was came from the west, the opposite of Wednesday's zephyrs. That meant most of the toughest holes played downwind or with a right-to-left crosswind, meaning righthanded players could bank hard draws. The only two holes that played dead into the wind were the 10th, with its huge fairway, and the 2nd, a petite par-4 of only 330 yards.

So, will the course firm up?  Errr....that doesn't seem likely:

With thunderstorms forecast for Thursday night (and Saturday) it is unlikely Erin Hills will dry out enough to become a firm, fast, fiery test. Still, the players are under no illusion that Erin Hills will remain so user-friendly. "This morning was the best we're going to get all week," said Tommy Fleetwood (67). "It was quite receptive early on and you had to make the most of it." In this way the opening round evoked the first round at the 2015 U.S. Open, played on another unfamiliar venue in Chambers Bay. With a setup that erred on the benign side, 44 players finished under par at Erin Hills on Thursday.

So, what does the Magic 8-Ball say?

"I think today was an experiment for the USGA to get a better feel for the course," said Fleetwood. "They didn't want to beat us up too badly. Now that they know how the course plays and what the scoring is like they can start tightening the screws."

Is the screws or the players that tighten as the week progresses?

Erin Hills played at 7,845 yards on Thursday but it can be tipped out by another 300. Pin positions will almost certainly get tougher and the rough, irrigated by the rain, will grow longer and thicker. Fleetwood credited his round more to caution than bravado: "You still have to stay patient and play for par. I never once tried to make birdie today I just happened to get a few." 

Snedeker expects the leaders to back up, beginning Friday. "I'd be shocked if seven under wins this golf tournament," he said.

The fairways are so wide that the rough alone won't do it, and the greens should stay receptive.  No doubt they can hide some pins, but in the absence of wind it's hard to see how they can toughen the track significantly.

Josh Sens with five burning questions for Friday, though the burn is more seat-warmer than raging flames:

 DUSTIN THE WIND?

Pre-tournament favorite Dustin Johnson took a fair number of steps in the fescue Thursday on his way to a three-over 75. Though he never lost a ball, by the end of the day he was searching for his swing. Can he find it in time to get back in the mix?

DJ didn't play a lot leading up to the Open, and when he did play it was poorly, so perhaps we shouldn't be all that surprised.  He might well be the best player in the world, but he was also on a bit of a tear earlier this season....

A LOVE CONNECTION? 

As a player, Davis Love III never won a U.S. Open. We don't expect he'll win one as a caddie either. But Dru Love's sparkling first round play (a one-under 71 with his father, Davis on the bag) was so much fun to watch, we have to ask... no, check that... beg: can this Love story live on until the weekend, please?

Josh apparently has a mean streak, wishing for an old guy like Davis to have to walk this place for the whole week.  Seriously, this isn't a burning issue, it's a nice little story that we hope can go the distance, since the finish line happens to be, you know, on Father's Day.

As for Rory, I picked him up just after the halfway house, not realizing that he was two under after two.  He's one of the great drivers in the game when healthy and on form, neither of which presented yesterday:

 "I watched some of the coverage earlier on," McIlroy said following the round. "Seeing what Rickie did, and Brooks Koepka, some of those guys. I was trying to do that. I thought I was going to do that, two under through two."

From the 8th tee onward, he shifted into reverse. 

Rory's towering tee shot on the 490-yard 8th hooked left into knee-high fescue. He punched out—best that he could do, really—but failed to get up and down from 47 yards. That dropped him to even par. 

He drove it 330 yards into the fairway on 10, but missed the 11th far left, punching out again and making bogey. He drove it left on 12, right on 15, right again on 17 and right one last time on 18. It all added up to zero birdies, the lone eagle, and a first-round 78. Six over.

He was missing both ways.... Correction, he was missing badly both ways.  But it was that kind of bizzaro world day, on a golf course that let's the guys air out their drivers, the best drivers of the ball in the game, Rors, Day, Jon Rahm and DJ, had an awful time of it.....

Jaime Diaz warns that we shouldn't call Erin Hills a pushover just yet, though he sounds some strangely off-key notes.  After bemoaning the monochromatic nature of traditional U.S. Open set-ups, he gave us this:

Eventually, three courses, all architectural gems from the Golden Age, broke up the claustrophobic monotony. Pebble Beach, with its windswept seaside beauty, struck the first blow when it first hosted the U.S. Open in 1972. Shinnecock Hills followed with its first Open in 1986. Pinehurst No. 2 was so successful in its 1999 debut that it will hold its fourth in 2024. 

All three were considered significant departures from the norm. Most importantly, all three added space to the playing arena. Now, to golf’s great benefit, they are all U.S. Open mainstays. 

All this should be kept in mind when evaluating Erin Hills, making its U.S. Open debut this year. Its muscular Heartland layout—with its vast treeless landscape and huge Wisconsin sky—opens up more space than any course in the championship’s history. At a time when 3-woods and hybrids have been the go-to clubs off most U.S. Open courses, the driver is a mainstay at Erin Hills. And the flattish greens reward good ball-striking with the opportunity for an aggressive, rather than a defensive putt.

OK, where to begin?   Shinny predates the Golden Age, and Jack Neville as an iconic name in golf architecture?  Please, Jaime....Maybe most significantly, those first two Opens at No. 2 included as much claustrophobic 6" rough as Oakland Hills ever did.... 

But over time the USGA did, to their credit, consider a wider range of venues and challenges.  They also didn't always get it right...  Anyone remember the final round in '92?  

This is of course so amusingly true:

On Thursday, the first time the world’s best played Erin Hills with an official pencil, it seemed too easy. Too much space off the tee, greens with too much sprawl. “The U.S. Open is the U.S. Open,” I heard one veteran observer huff, “and this is not the U.S. Open.” The hunger for the Hogan template made me wonder if golf insiders can be happy if they aren’t complaining.

Well, the maddening game we play might have something to do with it....

But this is a most important point:

Most importantly for the most difficult major championship in the game, it presents interesting golf. The width allows for bolder and more imaginative shotmaking. On Thursday it seemed to play a touch easy—despite playing to a U.S. Open record length of 7,845 yards—giving up a gem of a 65 to Rickie Fowler and a record-tying six consecutive birdies by Adam Hadwin. But there were also a 75, 76, 78 and 79 from Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, respectively—long-hitting pre-tournament favorites all. 

And when the wind finally blows and the course gets firmer and faster, it will get plenty tough—and even more interesting. Everyone seems to understand, and embrace, this easy-to-hard cycle when it happens at St. Andrews or Troon.

But it may not...  Mike Davis may never get the conditions he wants, and that's the risk of this kind of venue....  I agree that it's much more interesting to watch the boys play, but others, have you met Glenn, differ...

So, seeing those great players make a mess of things, what exactly was in the water?

Evidence of E. coli bacteria has been found in a hydration station at Erin Hills golf course, site of the U.S. Open, health officials said Thursday. 

The Washington Ozaukee Health Department on Thursday identified the bacteria in a drinking water sample collected from the hydration station connected to a well near the 12th hole, according to a news release from the department. 

People who consume water containing E. coli bacteria may become sick with symptoms of gastrointestinal illness such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, nausea and abdominal cramps.

And death....  don't forget that rather minor symptom.  The USGA needs a controversy-free Open, as we've all heard:

Complimentary bottled water will be provided at all hydration stations for the duration of the tournament, which runs through Sunday, the USGA said. 

“The safety and security of our guests is of paramount importance to the USGA,” association spokesman Jeff Altstadter said in the statement.

From a PR standpoint, however, mass casualties would take the players' mind off the damn fescue....

Other strange occurrences?   Well, there was this:

ERIN – A blimp advertising for PenFed Credit Union deflated, burst into flames and crashed late Thursday morning near the U.S. Open at Erin Hills. 

The blimp went down about 11:15 a.m. near Highway 83 and Highway 167. The crash took place about a half mile from the Erin Hills golf course where thousands of people gathered for the first morning of competition. 

The pilot was transported by Flight for Life from the area of the crash just after noon. The blimp was operated by AirSign, an aerial advertising firm with operations across the country.

 There's video at the link, and how great is it that they got it on ProTracer?

Did they get the exit velocity?  I assume that to be a joke, but these days who knows?

Enjoy Day Two.