It's Go Time

This is a course where good putters worry about their second putts before they hit the first one.

LEW WORSHAM on Oakmont

There are two pressing issues that need to be addressed as we approach the early morning tee times at Oakmont:

1. Heavy rains hit Oakmont last night and had greens puddling within minutes.  We won't know the effects until we see balls hitting greens, but there's more rain (plus some lightning) in today's forecast.  It will dry out by the weekend, but based on the current meteorological conditions, I'm liking the guys in the morning wave today;
2. What's up with Patrick Reed's pants?  There's no call for that, unless you're John Daly's love child.  Scariest part is that it perfectly matches the jacket that Shack is wearing on Morning Drive...  Just sayin'....

In no particular order. we'll start with Cam Morfitt and that guy going for the career slam this week:

“My career is built on failure,” Mickelson said, eliciting laughter. A long-awaited

success this week “would mean the world,” he added, since it would complete the career grand slam. He said he’s playing well and putting well after finishing tied for second at the FedEx St. Jude last weekend, his fifth top-five finish this year. He said he hopes the USGA will make Oakmont fast and fiery, since he has the experience to handle it. 

“I would like to see it go over that edge,” Mickelson said, “because I feel like I've learned how to play that style of golf.”

Shall we join in a chorus of Happy Birthday for Phil?  He woke up at age 46 this morning...

I like the self-awareness in that first'graph, but do we believe the premise in the second?  I don't remember him faring all that well on the Shinnecock greens, and he was a much younger man then.

But he seems to have an endless supply of lipstick for this pig:

On Wednesday, Mickelson faced more inquiries about a Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading investigation in which gambler and friend Billy Walters was indicted and led to Mickelson agreeing to repay the SEC more than $1 million that he profited from an inside stock tip. 

“I've actually known for months what was going to happen, and I'm just glad that it finally is out and over with and behind me,” Mickelson said. “So it might have something to do with the fact that it's behind me that I've played well the last two weeks, and I feel like I'm playing stress-free and much better golf. That might have something to do with it. I don't know.

But this is the part I like best:

“AS I SAID IN THE PAST, I'VE GOT TO BE MORE CAREFUL IN MY ASSOCIATIONS GOING FORWARD AND SO FORTH," HE SAID.

Yes, Phil, you've been very good about the saying it part.  The doing it part?  Not so much...

Next up, Van Cynical goes to the mailbag (most of which seems to be from other golf writers) and deals with this existential query:

Hey Van Cynical, Does a tough examination equal finding the best player? And is the Oakmont example actually good for golf?—Lionel Mandrake via Twitter 

Check the list of Oakmont Open winners and you’ve got your answer. Nicklaus. Hogan. Miller. Els. Armour. Pretty stout. But should any sane golf course grow deep rough, put ski slopes on the greens and get them to 14 on the Stimpmemer? No. Somehow, it works at Oakmont. With expert caddies, the members are able to maintain a great pace of play. Maybe great caddies, not just teenaged bag-toters, are the real solution to slow play.

And with the Spawn of Van Cynical in the field, you're no doubt curious:

Hey Van Cynical, How's Mike (Van Sickle) hitting it?—Alan Shipnuck via Twitter 

Nice. Opened Wednesday’s practice round on the back nine by jarring it from fairway at 10 and narrowly missing ace at 11, which he noted on Twitter, Shipmate. His quote: “Not today!!” Gotta save those. But he’s ready, if anyone can ever be ready for Oakmont. Rough was cut Wednesday night, sharply down, and greens kind of receptive Wednesday. There will be some low scores Thursday, pending hellacious downpours.

I'm tellin' ya, that Thursday morning group is the place to be.... Sorry, Phil....

Is this guy a member?  

At the Masters, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship, there's nothing like the echo of a Sunday crowd reacting to an approach shot stopping inches from the cup. But at the U.S. Open, thunderous ovations aren't quite as popular. It's a better tournament when the groan replaces the roar as its defining sound.

That's why I want Oakmont -- maybe the most penal golf course in America -- to bring this field to its quivering knees. As much as I want to see a winner at the other three majors, I want to see a survivor at the U.S. Open, panting and begging for a cup of water.

I feel like he'd fit right in....here's another in the endless series on the masochism required of membership in this exclusive club:

“A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost,” said William C. Fownes, son of club founder Henry Fownes. 

Always will. 

“Once you become a member here, you just kind of go along with the train,” says Bob Ford, Oakmont’s head professional since 1979. “The train is going down the road. We want it hard. We want it fast. We want it impossible, and we’re not in favor of low scores.” 

Plenty of courses can be toughened prior to a tournament by pinching in the fairways, growing the rough and speeding up the greens. That is a time-tested formula. What makes Oakmont stand apart -- particularly when there is a lot of chatter about making golf easier to be more welcoming to newcomers -- is that it is difficult all the time.

But Martin Dempster might need a bit for fiber in his diet, as I think this is off-base:

It’s that silly week in the golf season. The one where the United States Golf Association seems to go out of its way to try to make the game’s leading players look daft rather than letting them showcase their talents to a global audience. 

The US Open, surely, should be a stage where skill is allowed to shine, not stifled. Yet, time and time again, the USGA, with executive director Mike Davis the chief culprit, apparently, seem intent on it being the focal point of the week rather than the competitors.

Wow, where to start?  Martin's been around for a while, so I wonder if he ever spewed that kind of vitriol over the dreadful Tom Meeks set-ups?

First and foremost, Mike Davis is one of the good guys, rescuing the U.S. Open from the era of 5" rough that allowed nothing more ambitious than hacking back to the fairway with a sand wedge.  Mike has brought us plenty of innovations, things like graduated rough and moving tees up and back to change the playing characteristics of holes.  He's allowed players to make birdies in Opens, while retaining their status as stern tests for the players.

Now, can we criticize the USGA for their failure to control distance?  Absolutely, though I'd prefer to do so while fairly recognizing what a terribly difficult issue it is....  But can we at least acknowledge the fiddiculty of staging these events for guys that are hitting the ball inconceivable distances?  Oakmont has a notoriously difficult opening hole, for instance, and yet last night the guys on Golf Channel were talking about it being reachable in the right conditions.....

Davis is actually liked by the players (perhaps not Billy Horchel, but he's a bit of a diva who never actually gets around to winning anything), because he's accessible and takes the heat when it goes bad.  In general I'm supportive of his attempts to widen the range of venues, though that doesn't mean I don't question some of those choices (cough*ErinHills?cough*).  But what choice does the man have?  

OK, I don't know about you, but I feel better....  Now, who will win the damn thing?  The SI/Golf Magazine crew takes that on here, and the results of the primary question, i.e., pick the winner, they're dreadfully predictable.  Rory runs away with it (have they not seen his wedge play?), with a predictable level of support for Jason Day and a couple of votes for Adam Scott.  One lonely sould is in Spieth's corner... I don't particularly like Spieth, but he's on the right side of the draw.

More interesting are the dark-horse picks, though I'm concerned that the phrase is intrinsically racist.  We can quickly dispense with this pick:

VAN SICKLE: Long-shot has to be Pittsburgh resident and local favorite Mike Van Sickle, who's got some local knowledge after winning a junior tournament at Oakmont and nearly winning a Pennsylvania Open here. Also, I know him.

How do you know him, Gary?  But does anyone like this pick?

MORFIT: Bubba Watson was in the mix at the 2007 U.S. Open here, before he'd won anything, so the course must suit his eye. He's my dark horse, if you can use that term for a two-time Masters winner.

Ick!  I'll concede that he's less unlikely than Cabrera was, but still...

Other names include Shane Lowry (a mudder), Sneds, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth, but of course I'm calling BS on that last one...

But before we move on, keep your eye on this guy:

Andrew "Beef" Johnston: If I win U.S. Open, I'll be drunk for a week

If he wins, I'll be drunk for a week, and I'm a two-beers-per-year drinker....