Midweek Musings - U.S. Open Edition

It's getting wet out there....  Very, very wet....

In the matter of Na v. USGA - The USGA blinks:

ERIN, Wis. – Kevin Na fumed, Lee Westwood mocked and in an 11th-hour U.S. Open course setup decision, the U.S. Golf Association ordered a weedwacking of some of Erin

Hills’ densest native roughs. 

According to USGA officials, the fourth, 12th, 14th and 18th holes received a trimming in anticipation of forecasted storms that are expected to make certain strains of the native grasses lay down. The unplayability of those lies prompted the decision to send an army of maintenance staffers out for the emergency trimming, not early week player and media criticism. 

The USGA later released a statement: “Going into this week we knew that mowing certain parts of the fescue rough might be required should we have the combination of high winds and heavy rain. After 1.5 inches of rain fell overnight, we followed through with our plan to mow limited areas of fescue on holes 4, 12, 14 and 18.”

Where was Kevin when the 7th green at Shinnecock was unplayable?  And, as Geoff reminds us:

But I'm happy for the marshals who may have fewer lost ball scares on the holes effected. And it's not like the 4-inches of dense fescue left behind will be a cakewalk.

I'm OK with lost balls, just not two yards off the fairways....  Do give this amusing video from Billy Foster, Lee Westwood's caddie, a look.

The best part of this story might be the reaction of one of our elite players: 

When told of the fescue haircut taking place, an annoyed Rory McIlroy said the move

was unnecessary. 

“We have 60 yards from left line to right line. You’ve got 156 of the best players in the world here, if we can’t hit it within that avenue, you might as well pack your bags and go home,” he said during a Tuesday news conference. 

“I get that it’s thick and whatever, but it’s a hazard. If you put red lines just right along that people wouldn’t complain, it’s a hazard, and you’d go … It’s a U.S. Open, it’s supposed to be a tough test. And if guys can’t put it into play within a 50-yard zone I don’t think they’ve got much to complain about.”

But complain they will....

As long as we're discussing the man from Holywood, Jeff Ritter has today's Great Minds Think Alike moment:

ERIN, Wis. – Do you believe in Rory McIlroy? 

Thanks to a nagging rib injury, the 28-year-old has endured a disjointed season. But he enters this 117th U.S. Open feeling good and facing a course that caters to his strengths.

Erin Hills is stretched out and soggy. 

Cue McIlroy's theme music.

Is that John Sebastian I hear in the background?  But this is his case:

You can't blame him for seeking maximum punishment on wayward tee shots. Driver is Rors' best club, and it's poised to get a workout at a course set to play more than 7,600

yards. Even with Tuesday's surprise landscaping, Erin Hills is still taking on a shape that has historically been good to the Northern Irishman.

He's won each of his four majors on courses that were softened by tournament-week squalls, and after 1.49 inches of rain pounded the track Monday night, Erin Hills is already squishier than expected. "I wasn't crying when I saw that rain last night and this morning," McIlroy said. The extended forecast calls for more storms – a quick scan of the rural Wisconsin countryside on Tuesday afternoon revealed more gray skies.

My thoughts exactly, though I'd add that the winds are supposed to be on the light side.  Conditions are exactly as he'd prefer them, it's just that the lad hasn't played....  Oh, and the new putter.

The same putter used by Jason Day, with whom he will spend some quality time on Thursday and Friday....  Though this sounds a tad creepy:

Rory McIlroy and Jason Day will wear the same polo all week at the U.S. Open

One shirt for four days with two guys....  I know math is hard, but how does that work?

Anyone know which is which?

 So, if the fescue is gone.... A classic misdirection from the USGA:

Much of the talk – and criticism – about Erin Hills so far at this U.S. Open has dealt with 

the fescue. But the real problem areas for players this week could be the bunkers. 

Yes, Erin Hills’ bunkers aren’t like most bunkers on the PGA Tour. They are quite brash. They come in all shapes and sizes, some areas of sand just a couple of feet wide. The sand is gravelly with little pebbles potentially causing problems both in the bunker and on the greens.

Even just outside the bunker edges, many of which are rough and eroded rather than smooth and pristine, there are holes and other areas where balls can get stuck.

Yes, I've been surprised that there hasn't been more talk of this:

“They are very untraditional from that point of view, but they feel like hazards this week, for sure,” Justin Rose said. “Not every bunker is a green light. On Tour, often you think get it up in the bunker, that’s good. But the way the ball can react around the green and roll into a bunker this week, it’s not always a given that a bunker is a good play.” 

Said Adam Scott: “The bunkering is quite severe. Everything is. It’s quite a severe piece of land, there’s a lot of undulation, and therefore it probably would have been impossible to put bunkers in that weren’t severe. … There are chances of unlucky bounces, and because of the random shaping of the bunker edges there are some very precarious positions that the ball could end up. 

“So if you can avoid them, it’s a good idea.”

Click through for some good photos of the odd spots in which a golf ball can come to rest.  But Beef has us covered, check out his solution to the bunkers here.  I'm just confused as to how he met Schrager.....

King of the Pressers - As is usual, Phil ruled the Tuesday pressers with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Erin, such as this:

Q. Phil, you saw most of the course this morning. Does it suit your eye? Is this a course you can win on? 

PHIL MICKELSON: I love this golf course. Adore it. It's firm and fast and lo

ng. The fescue is tough in spots, but I don't expect to miss any fairways [grins], so that shouldn't be a problem for me. Michael, Dana and Ron did such a wonderful job. You know, this land was pushed around by glaciers many, many centuries ago. They call it Kettle Moraine, though the proper geological term is Kettle Interlobate Moraine. It was created when the Green Bay Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet collided with the Lake Michigan Lobe of that same glacier. The collision left a bunch of sediment here. The land is pocked with kettles caused by buried glacial ice that calved off the terminus of—

BETH MAJOR: Sorry, Phil, we're going to stop you there. Other questions? Yes, microphone 3. 

Q. Hey, Phil. How’s it going? Saw you were carrying five drivers today. Are you still deciding— 

PHIL MICKELSON: No, I'm going with five.

Q. Five drivers? As in five drivers in your bag at once? 

PHIL MICKELSON: As in five drivers in my bag at once [grins]. 

Q. Can you talk us through your thinking there? 

PHIL MICKELSON: Not much to explain. I've got my cut driver and my sweep-cut driver. I've got my straight-ball driver, then drivers for a draw and chasing-draw. This course gives you plenty of tests off the tee, and I just feel a five-driver strategy gives me the best opportunity to hit fairways. If I can pair the right driver with the direction of the fairway grain, the grass type, temperature, wind, altitude, moisture on the clubface – all these nuances will allow me to find more fairways. It's simple physics. I've never been more confident with a set makeup. Ever.

Fair enough, except for the minor detail of him not being in Wisconsin and Alan Bastable having made it all up....But it's all there, the toothy grins and relentless optimism about every little thing....

Now for a genuine Q&A, we have an Open-centric version of Ask Alan - It opens with this layup:

What would you do if your child was graduating on Thursday and you were a U.S. Open shy of a career slam? -@MarkTownsendNCG 

Last week my daughter gave a speech at her *elementary* school graduation and it would have killed me to miss it, so I fully understand Phil's decision. Fact is, he's had a quarter-century to win an Open and has failed spectacularly–what makes anyone think this would be the year Phil's luck changes?

At age 46, every one of the few remaining opportunities is precious.... Like Muirfield in '13, the conditions this week would seem to be favorable for him, as are those sixty-yard wide fairways.  Just sayin'....

Before leaving Phil, this is pretty comical:

Rank Phil's six 2nds at the Open from most painful to least painful to watch. -Geoffrey, @Grindstone9 

6. Bethpage ‘09 (least painful)

5. Bethpage ‘02

4. Shinnecock

3. Pinehurst

2. Merion

1. Winged Foot

Winged Foot is Number One with a bullet for sure.  I'd have ranked Pinehurst much lower, as between the beeper and his youth at that point, I don't think he has too many regrets from that week.

By far the most interesting bit from Alan is when he's asked for his least favorite major.  It's complicated and therefor long, but well worth the time:

Honestly, it depends who wins, and how. All I really care about is my story. The Masters is by far the hardest week of the year for reporters, owing to Augusta's Kremlin-like vibe. It's very difficult to get interviews done; with the absence of armbands and huge crowds it's tough to watch golf; the bizarre phobia of phones leaves us cut off from our readers and editors. But it's always an exciting tournament and, because of the overall sports calendar, the best chance to get golf on the cover of SI. And all of us scribes stay in the same rental house so it's a fun, collegial week in that regard. The U.S. Open is just a grind, with golf from sunrise to sunset. Everyone is grumpy all week long, beginning with the players. There are traditionally random leaders for the first round or two, muddying the waters. But it's our national championship and, as noted above, I love the brutality of the tournament. The British Open is great fun, with a loosey-goosey vibe and there is always great links golf to be played by marauding reporters, sometimes even after dinner. The time zone change makes deadlines more mellow. It's insanely fun to watch the best players in the world battle the weather and heaving earth. But other aspects are a challenge: jet-lag, obviously; crappy food, usually; Internet so slow it makes me pine for dial-up; moldy hotels; tragic water pressure in the shower; etc. I actually like the PGA Championship. The kinder setup allows for more fireworks and there have been some stellar leaderboards in recent years. After some epic screwups the PGA of America seems to be the best about convenient press parking, which is an underrated part of the experience. Of course, it's August and I often have swamp-ass. So, in summary, my answer is quite idiosyncratic, and changes every year based on the venues, host cities, the quality of my hotel and, oh yeah, the actual golf.

I remember my first Met. Golf Writers meeting at Knickerbocker Country Club, in which Dave Anderson is a member.  He spoke of how the Masters had become his least favorite event because they no longer let the press inside the ropes....  I know, a first-world problem for sure.

There was this as well:

Are you a fan of the 18-hole playoff or nah? -Ryan, @therealsneek1 

Oh, I love it. The whole world has gone soft but at least we still have a macho playoff to decide our national championship.

I think that's right, though they can, of course, be anticlimactic.  But it's an important distinction, and I remember that I found the sudden death playoff in April very unsatisfying.....

But this is by far the best bit to be found:

To what do you attribute your fantastic head of hair? #AskAlan -Dave, @CountDownDave 

Like U.S. Open rough, it must be cut, fertilized, and fluffed on a rigorous schedule, to be sure it peaks at just the right time. Hot, humid weather with strong crosswinds presents the toughest conditions but with an army of helpers standing by I'm hoping my hair has a good week.

We all have trouble in that left-to-right crosswind....

Merchandise Tent Redux -  Everyone is copying Shack and swiping their plastic:

After wading through the tee-shirts, baseball caps and pin flags, this is better than most:

13. Wisconsin pottery cont'd
We can't get enough of this state's homage to the U.S. Open's first visit here.

Ashley Mayo falls for some of same old nonsense, though some more interesting items are sprinkled in:

1. Seamus bottle opener ($90) It's a one-of-a-kind item that you can buy only at the U.S. Open merch tent. So if you know someone who's at Erin Hills, close your eyes and slip them a $100 bill. In five years, when you're poppin' bottles in style, you'll appreciate this bottle opener more than the cash.

It look cool for sure, but that's quite the price point for a bottle-opener....

And Shack informs that the USGA used Seamus for another item as well:

The USGA gave all 156 players a commemorative gift set from Seamus Golf.

A photo followed by a swell video posted the USGA on the "making of" process:

And that video, which is a bit more interesting than you might expect:

On the equipment front, this is something we don't see every day:

Daniel Chopra has a unique weapon of choice for the penalizing rough of Erin Hills: a

ladies 9-wood. 

That’s right, for more than a decade now, the Swede has kept a Ping G5 9-wood handy when things get extreme, like they often do at a U.S. Open. 

He can hit the 9-wood anywhere from 170 yards to 230, depending on the type of lie and type of grass. 

“If I open it up,” he said, right before taking a swing, “it can get through.”

 Apparently he's not the only one thinking outside the box:

There are several Ping players with 7-woods at Erin Hills, Pena said, but whether or not they use them will depend on the wind.

A ladies' nine-wood, I just love it.....

What'll It Take? -  Jordan predicts:

Most sportsbooks have a -220 figure for an under-par winning score, with the over/under hovering at -2.5. If you're seeking gambling advice, 2015 U.S. Open champ Jordan Spieth says bet on red, and lots of it. 

"I don't see par winning the tournament," the 23-year-old said on Tuesday. "I see closer to 5-to-10 under. Someone who has very good control of the ball off the tee will have plenty of opportunities to make birdies, given the conditions that we're expecting."

While this tournament has historically aspired to protect par, the winning mark has been four under or better in five of the last eight events. As Spieth alluded, the weather projections are calling for the second coming of Noah's Ark on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, conferring an aggressive approach usually unseen at the U.S. Open. Combined with Erin Hills' relatively tame greens (at least from an undulation viewpoint), envision a fair share of fireworks.

That seems logical, especially with a Par of 72 and only wee breezes.  I could even see it lower....

As for Phil?

There's lots of rain in the forecast, just none of it Thursday morning when he needs it.  Always hate to see a pun go unused:

Which is a shame, because I already penned the screenplay, "Getting On Plane" based on Phil dramatically showing up to the first tee Thursday night, only to realize he couldn't miss out on his daughter's graduation afterparty, hopping back on the private jet...and into our hearts. 

Hey, there's still hope.

So, you're saying there's a chance?  That's been a tad over-used this week for sure.

We'll go out with this Shack piece with a curious header:

U.S. Open 2017: The lookie loos guide to Erin Hills

Do you know what a lookie loo is?  Because I sure didn't...

A term for someone who looks at something with no intention of buying it. Predominantly used for people who go to open houses when they have no intention of buying any real estate.

OK, now that the term is define, can someone explain its use to me, because I sure don't get it... Here's Geoff's lede:

ERIN, Wis. – The U.S. Open awakens sadists who relish seeing the world’s best golfers suffer the game’s equivalent of a fender bender or Turn 3 crash. 

Welcome ogres to your dream venue, Erin Hills! 

Even after a few overnight thunderstorms, the site dubbed “Shinnecock on steroids” by the U.S. Golf Association’s Mike Davis still offers plenty of Shinnecockian opportunities for meltdowns. While the less-bloodthirsty will be parked at the risk-reward, par-4 second hole or the seventh green to soak up some par-5 shotmaking, course cannibals will be elsewhere.

Still don't get it... But he primes us for the four holes likely to claim scalps this week, including the finisher:

No. 18

PAR 5, 637 YARDS

At 637 yards, the Erin Hills finishing hole is surrounded by massive bleacher seating. The only thing missing will be tubs of popcorn for the horror show that will take place when the hole is downwind. To label the huge rear green fall-off and tightly-mown fairway a “chipping area” would ignore that a full swing recovery shot may be needed for those going long. If human suffering is your thing, pull up a bleacher seat and slap on some sunscreen. After all, the players facing this wacky finishing hole wouldn’t want you to get burned.

OK folks, it's almost time for golf.  Does anyone remember where FS1 is on your cable system?