It's been surprising to this observer how many folks were moved by Sunday's chaotic U.S. Open final, and how satisfied they seemed with the outcome. Which, yanno, is kind of weird, because I had been reliably informed that golf viewers would only care about some six guys.... Of course, that assurance came from those six guys, so make of it what you will.
We'll Always Have Oakmont - Not going to tax myself too greatly, but Shack has all his Winners, Cut-Makers and Point-Misser posts up, so shall we see what fun we can have with them (or, at least, the non-paywalled content)?
Winners from Oakmont's tenth U.S. Open.
Can't imagine where he'll start, though this was an odd note:
Plenty of winners from a wet week in Pennsylvania…
Really? Because my own list is pretty damn short.
J.J. Spaun. The U.S. Open produces its share of journeyman winners and Spaun could be the latest. Or, he might vault to unforeseen places after closing in 32, driving the 17th green, and making a putt they’ll talk about as long as people play the game. The opening 40 appeared to be less about nerves and a morning run to pick up some Pepto for his daughter. “Today I was running to CVS in downtown because my daughter had a stomach bug and was vomiting all night long,” he said when asked about a final round start featuring five bogeys in six holes. “I was just like, okay, my wife was up at 3:00 a.m., and she's like, Violet is vomiting all over. She can't keep anything down. It was kind of a rough start to the morning. I'm not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mold of what was going on, the chaos.” Either way, it’s hard to look at the numbers and understand how he won. But that’s the beauty of this Open. Everyone’s numbers stunk. (But I’m still processing how he was second in Strokes Gained putting, going 26-33-32-32 on the greens, but guess that 401’6” goes a long way in the algo! Anyway, a great effort by Spaun, a stellar reaction to the final putt, and class interview responses salvaged Sunday’s weather-induced trainwreck. It’s always gratifying to watch someone to win the U.S. Open instead of falling into the trophy after following someone else's meltdown.
It's not like there was any shortage of meltdowns, including the winner's own to start the day. The result seemed driven as much by the timing of the rain delay as anything. This was the other guy on my own list:
Robert MacIntyre. Tommy Armour almost had company as a Scottish U.S. Open champion, butthe Silver Scot likely never applauded and smiled when the guy you needed to three-wack made a putt for the ages. A whopping 399 feet of putts made at Oakmont? A staggering feat and nearly closing a seven-stroke deficit Sunday in the worst of the weather was remarkable. MacIntyre joins the U.S. Open Lefty Runner-Up Club after Mickelson and Harman, while making it all but impossible for Luke Donald to pass him up should he fall from his current spot ranked fourth in Ryder Cup points. And your final round shirt even matched the weather.
C'mon, Geoff, who could Luke pick in place of the Scot? he was always going to be on the team, just now he quite obviously bolsters it.
From here on, we'll apparently be grading on the curve:
Viktor Hovland. The best smile in golf isn’t quite back, but it was sure nice to see less of the chippiness, neurotic tinkering and crazed energy. This translated into a third place finish and newfans after several engaging press conferences. Time spent debating with new coach Grant Waite on the range following the round still showed signs of the 2024 Hovland and could have been costly given that energy is so essential during a major week. (Tom Watson won eight of these things almost never practicing after a round). A week of getting up-and-down 5 of 18 times for Hovland somehow translated to first in Strokes Gained Around The Green (algorithms!). So take that victory for a sometimes-beleagured short game, swallow one or two chill pills a week, and head to Portrush as one of the favorites.
Hard not to like the Norwegian, though I don't know about that "favorite" bit.....
But I'm skeptical that either of these guys walked off Oakmont feeling like a Winner:
Sam Burns. Rough final day 78 and even rougher rules official verdicts on those watery lies. But in handling it with class after a valiant smoke-and-mirrors effort hitting just 31 fairways and 45 greens, Burns won some new fans and set himself in good shape with the Golf Gods who tend to find ways of rewarding attitude.Adam Scott. The persistence, hard work and calculated schedule built around majors nearly paid off with a win at 44.8 years young. Things unraveled Sunday because of the weather and chaos that claimed plenty of others. Yet the fan, locker room and media favorite still had a smile and remarkable attitude when seeing J.J. Spaun after the round. Pure class. As always.
Class shows, but I'm Thinking that Adam knew he squandered what might have been his last, best chance at a second major, and Burns might be thinking that he'll squander all future opportunities. Or maybe that's just your humble blogger projecting...
Mostly I'll agree with these:
Oakmont. The original design was filmed on nitrate and now it’s been largely restored andupdated in beautiful 4K. The rough? It’s like sitting through 8 previews, an unplanned intermission and a few commercials that even the backers might say was a bit much. And do we miss the occasional majestic tall woody friend like the one off 3 tee, profiled here by The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn? Sure. If nothing else, to give the occasional sense of place. We knew going in that excessive 5.25 inch barnacles would be all over the place and due to juiced equipment forces the founder hearkening efforts to go in places that might pervert even their stern vision of the game. One-under-par won. There’s joy in Mudville today. (No one tell them that had the ninth remained a par 5 that J.J. Spaun would have finished five under and nine-under under the old par 72.) Magnificent doesn’t begin to capture the conditioning effort and in a weird way, at least until things unraveled late Sunday, the rain prevented the from getting too fast for several of the fairways slopes Stimping faster than most greens.Michael McCormick and the grounds crew. While it might seem like a lot of hard work was negated by the weather, if it weren’t for the Loefflerlian efforts before and during the championship, the U.S. Open would have been finishing on Tuesday. Maybe.
Amazing how much water was absorbed yet the course remained playable.
As for Oakmont, it's a national treasure and of course should be firmly within the top tier of the USGA's rota. That said, let me repeat Geoff's comment from the Spaun bit above:
The U.S. Open produces its share of journeyman winners and Spaun could be the latest
We're all told that correlation isn't causation, excepting those instances when it is. I'll just leave you with an existential question, to wit, does 5 1/2" rough affect the likelihood of a journeyman winner? Because it had been a long time between mentions of Tom Meeks, but this Back To The Future U.S. Open set-up brings back a 1980's era vibe that wasn't great at the time. Of course, they now carry it 230 and there are even fewer options for keeping scoring under control, so we might want to think this through more fully.
Now one of those effortless segues into Geoff's Cut-Makers, where the curve upon which we're grading intensifies, starting immediately:
With Champions in the books, now time for those who had good weeks at Oakmont. With light to moderate quibbling…Carlos Ortiz. Forgotten since moving to LIV and losing to teammate Joaquin Niemann, he delivered an impressive T4 finish. It’s the best-ever major finish from a player from Mexico and featured the strongest tee-to-fringe effort of the top 5 finishers with only Sunday’s double at the 15th marring an otherwise standout week. Now back to anonymity.
Alas, Geoff, we don't do light quibbling here at Unplayable Lies, ours is always of the pedal-to-the-metal ilk. His first entry seems deserving only because of his disappearing act, so whatever.
But now the quibbles intensify:
Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy. The major winners and biggest names experienced both good and strange moments. Rahm’s final day 67 suggested hestill can be as good as any player in the world despite playing Oakmont’s par 4s +8. Scheffler hung around without his best game, but kept missing key opportunities like Sunday’s (ultra generous) 17th hole sprinkler head drop from a downhill lie in the Big Mouth hay, to a flat spot in the semi-cut. The usual club slams are one thing, but the range unraveling seemed odd. Schauffele, who maintained an incredible streak in the U.S. Open, seems to be relying too much on his caddie to tell him to what to do (at least based on featured group audio). The intense focus of last year has yet to return over four days but he still seems close to another win. (Maybe a little game self-ownership at Portrush?). McIlroy’s clear post-Masters fog/fatigue, combined with the condensed modern major schedule, has turned out to be a massive negative and he only has a few weeks before Portrush to catch his breath. At least he returned on Sunday in a good mood after Saturday’s bizarre press session. A final round 67 might be the homeland send-off he needs.
Given my Tuesday post about Rory, hard for me credit him much here. Does Scottie look like he's having a fun week in that photo? That Scottie could miss 42 putts within five fete and still end up in the top ten tells us something useful, but hard for me to like his week when it made him so cranky.
Obviously struggling to fill out this post, Geoff goes down some rabbit holes:
Phil Mickelson. The 55-year-old six-time runner-up, still-living-in-California, self-declared billionaire/reformed wagerer was in position to make the weekend. But two late double bogeys sent him Hy Flying back to his beloved social media crusading. Mickelson has had a terrific U.S. Open run without winning. But no exemptions are coming at this age and after playing hockey at Shinnecock where he was, somehow, not DQ’d for the ultimate breach. Of course, there is always hope for an invite since he had one in 2021 before winning the PGA. But he’s gone pretty cray-cray since so there’s always Final Qualifying. He can ask fellow LIVster GMac how that works since he, as a former champion no longer exempt, still admirably gives it a go every year.American Ryder Cup Hopes. With 13 birdies at Oakmont, the USA team must make room for Griffin (now 8th in the standings). The win by J.J. Spaun, and a resurgent performance from Cameron Young (now 15th in points), helped offset the dismal performances of Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau. Captain Keegan Bradley (T33) continues to show he’s hovering around good-enough form to be needed more for his game than his…whatever reason he was picked to be the 2025 captain.
Perhaps this is more of that over-quibbling, but a guy that had a chance to hang around for the weekend (at age 55), yet coughed it up with some incredibly sloppy play, is somehow a cut-maker? Maybe I'm too simple, but shouldn't your cut-makers actually make the cut?
The Ryder Cup is a subject that I want to get to, though may come up short on time, but does Geoff read his own posts? In his Winners post he was touting a certain Scot and a certain Norwegian, so I'm thinking Europe comes out ahead this week.
Those who had less than idyllic weeks at Oakmont.
If I could separate the top (Point) Misser from the rest? I would.
Good news, Geoff, LIV has already taken a gaggle of point-missers away.....
I wanted to blog this in my Rory post (think of his tee marker violence), but just never worked it in:
Wyndham Clark. Two straight majors. Acting like a DB. The 2023 U.S. Open champion arrivedoff a PGA Championship where he threw a club backwards and nearly hit a marshal. He apologized for damaging the sign and one of his sponsors thought it was cute. Still, one might assume Clark would be on better behavior at Oakmont. He was not. Privately circulated photos went public Sunday, with on-site sources confirming the damage to Wyndham Clark’s locker was the result of Wyndham Clark. He has not apologized nor denied this: after missing the cut by one stroke, Clark went all rock star on his locker along with the one next to his. Did he think he was Keith Moon? Or HOF room trasher Joe Walsh? At least Joe wrote Pretty Maids All In A Row which Dylan said “could be one of the best songs ever.” And he’s Joe Walsh. You’re Wyndham. Not a rock star. The latest bad behavior is even more embarrassing since these are not just any lockers. Check out Jon Cavalier’s Instagram deep dive into the details of the historic stalls dating to 1903. Or remember what the USGA’s Chief Championships Officer said last week about the locker room.” For those of you that haven't been in the locker room here, maybe it's not this week, but in the future, I'll leave you with something,” John Bodenhamer said. “It's an indelible image on my mind and always will be. Not only the lockers but the benches. The benches in that locker room are the same benches that were here when Jones played and Hogan played and Nicklaus and Palmer played. When you go in…those spike marks are from those players, Hagen, Sarazen, all those great players. Those are the ghosts that make this place special.” That Clark hasn’t apologized and offered to pay for the repairs only makes the tantrum worse. He’s exempt through 2033 when Oakmont next hosts so he might want to mop this one up ASAP.
To me, this is so much worse than the Quail Hollow incident or Rory's tee marker violence, but first let's revisit Wyndham's apology from the PGA:
"I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior yesterday on Hole 16," Clark posted to X on Monday. "As professionals, we are expected to remain professional even when frustrated and I unfortunately let my emotions get the best of me. My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on."I hold myself to a high standard, trying to always play for something bigger than myself, and yesterday I fell short of those standards. For that I am truly sorry. I promise to better the way I handle my frustrations on the course going forward, and hope you all can forgive me in due time."
Guess what time it is, Wyndham? Yup, it's "due time", and you might have come up just a wee bit short on that promise. To me this is so much worse because of the time separation between his poor play and the explosion.... He might have been reacting to the news that the cut line was official, but he had plenty of time to get a grip and yet was unable to do so.
Tyrrell Hatton. Another major contending and another impregnable quadrilateral championship where Hatton wasted gobs of energy whining, slamming clubs, and blaming others. This time, Hatton declared it bad luck when Sunday’s 17th hole tee shot finished in the jaws of Big Mouth. Note to Tyrrell: we label these short, strategic holes “risk/reward” because taking the aggressive route means that when you are offline, you should accept the risks involved. Sure, the layup area wasn’t as ample as it could have been but there is no rule requiring you to drive the green. Try taking responsibility for the outcome. Assuming you want to win a major some day.
Caddie Mark Carens. We understand the extenuating circumstances. It was raining (again) and your SoCal client J.J. Spaun doesn’t do rain (based on his words and the way he kept running for umbrella-cover when the skies opened up). We also realize that your man had just made one of the most amazing putts in golf history and you were “blacking out.” But Mark, buddy, you made a mess of the winning putt photos. The whole Fred Astaire thing? As if you’re rehearsing for a 21st century revival of Singin’ In The Rain? Not great. Particularly with another group yet to play the hole. Occasional friendly reminder: no one pays full admission to watch you carry luggage and scrub balls.
Quite the pop culture fail, no? Not only does the Singing In The Rain reference require an explanation for today's kids, but who will volunteer to tell Geoff that that's Gene Kelly, not Fred Astaire?
One last bit:
Kevin Kisner. Remember when NBC Sports President Rick Cordello and EVP of Ruining Production Sam Flood flew to Aiken in hopes of luring the journeyman pro away from the course to replace Paul Azinger as lead NBC analyst? As if they’d found out Bobby Jones was alive, well and hawking cashmere hoodies on YouTube. Look, people grow into jobs and sometimes execs spot something no one else could see. Next thing you know it, a trusted voice emerges. Kisner could grow in the job and he’s not offensive or absurdly egotistical like Greg Norman’s in his Fox years year. But Kisner did not seem very engaged in proceedings that were predictably zany. Maybe that’s his style and plays to the trying-too-hard bros NBC seems obsessed with reaching. Kisner didn’t sound that excited about working his first major and maybe his past hate of the USGA played a part in pretty relentlessly stating the obvious. Kisner was not helped by Sunday’s juxtaposition of his inanity with a replay featuring Johnny Miller’s 2008 U.S. Open work. It’s also possible that he’s a victim of the chaotic “four-wide” announce setup that’s a total free-for-all and which reduced the on-course reporters to bit players (in a week when on-the-ground views were essential to telling the story).
I don't disagree. NBC is quite the hot mess, though not sure how much of that should be blamed on Kiz
Gonna wrap things up here for the week. Have a great weekend and we'll wrap things on Monday morning.
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