Open and Shut

Two long posts yesterday and yet here I am again....  Do you folks know how good you have it?

We begin with Fescuegate.  Despite all reports to the contrary, this issue is not in Rover Mueller's scope....  Yet.

Erin Hills fescue: Just how difficult will it be?

It won't be the least bit difficult if they stay the heck out of it....

ERIN, Wisc. — The fescue at Erin Hills would always be a popular topic; this much we knew, as it covers the overwhelming majority of the 652 acres here in rural Wisconsin.

 

But before U.S. Open week even began, before fans could walk through the gates and traipse the hilly kettle moraine course, Kevin Na was out there sharing the scoop: THE FESCUE IS UNFAIR! You can check out his full rant below, where he went so far as to call for former U.S. Open champions to join together and present a better setup. (Sorry, that will never happen.) This came just a week after fellow pro Adam Scott made an early plea for the USGA to drop its yearly goal of an even-par champion.

OK, so there will be blood:

BRUTALITY AWAITS...

What Na showed off is definitely common at Erin Hills, but it was a patch of the thickest fescue the course will offer. Those patches exist on every hole, and while they don't dominate every fescue area, they are brutal enough to ruin a round.

Is there a "but" coming?

BUT IT VARIES!

Two-time U.S. Open champ Andy North said it best Monday during his press conference: "Kevin Na gave us insight on what the fescue is like in places." Those last two words should be kept close to mind: in places. The fescue is thick and then it is thin, and then it is thick again and then thin again.

From another report comes this reminder of the width of the fairways:

Because, in truth, the fairways are some of the widest runways in golf. 

Hell, Phil Mickelson could land his private jet on the No. 1 with room to spare come Thursday evening. As Na briefly alluded to, there's only 5-to-10 yards of rough between the short stuff and fescue, but it fails to convey this generous amount of landing strips before that comes in play. 

And while we're here, the rough itself is shockingly sparse in many spots. Not to say it's anything like your local muni. Conversely, compared to the Oakmonts and Merions of the Open rota, finding yourself in the rough is not a penalty at Erin Hills.

 That could save him fifteen minutes if he gets that 4-hour delay on Thursday...

But, back to our subject please:

However, you came here for the fescue, and dammit, we're going to give you fescue.

In many cases, Na was correct: your object would vanish just steps off the rough. At one point, I lost the freaking bottle on the left side of No. 2:

I cannot properly convey the embarrassment that comes in such a moment. Especially when I felt Jordan Spieth's caddie Michael Greller staring, wondering what the **** I was doing. 

So forget taking full swings or advancing your shot. Finding a ball when it departs into this green labyrinth counts as a victory.

But here's the kicker: all the fescue doesn't have this composition. It's mostly just the first six-to-eight yards. Once you travel past that barrier, it's a relative walk in the park.

I've long said that the key to this game is ensuring that your bad shots are really bad....  those moderately bad shots always end badly.

So, why is this always the case, that the worst lies are just off the fairway?  Anyone?  Bueller?  No Ferris, but we have Shack:

I can't fault Kevin Na entirely for his rant about the Erin Hills natives. The fescue grasses are beautifully managed throughout a property that is pretty stunningly maintained. The grasses are sparse where they'd naturally be thin and more dense where water collects. 

So to see the native grasses clearly receiving fairway irrigation overspray is not generally a shocker. We see it all too often on prairie courses. But the decision not to manage (trim) these crucial areas just off the primary cut is a risky one given how severe they are (to the point of the natives leaning over). A herd of goats or some refined thinning practices could have alienated what will be a potential lost ball issue.

That said, Na's suggestion that players should be handling setup is a frightening one!

I suppose overspray is an appropriate term, it just implies more culpability than I might.  Most fairways are slightly crowned to avoid the puddling of  water, so that irrigating the course naturally pushes fertilizer and pesticides into the area closest to the fairway.  

Lastly, on this subject, I completely missed that the Swede was being quite literal, an impressive feat in his second language:

Henrik Stenson's advice for U.S. Open: take your medicine

No, really:

From what he’s gathered so far, though, he knows he’ll need to take his medicine at this week’s U.S. Open – and in more ways than one. 

“This is hay fever heaven,” Stenson said during his U.S. Open press conference on Monday, “and I expect any local pharmacy to sell out of antihistamines. If you haven’t gotten yours, make sure you get them quickly. I will.” 

Stenson said he forgot to take his pills Monday morning and as a result sneezed “about 50 times” before he met with the media. He wasn’t alone. Many other players battled allergies on Monday.

Anyone know how we check the field for allergies? 

More Mike, as in Davis, this time with Mike Bamberger:

On U.S. Open qualifying, which this year whittled down 8,979 applicants to roughly 70 spots earned through local and sectional qualifying. 

Praying, Mike?  Praytell, for what?

"One of the neatest things about this time of year is the qualifying process for the U.S. Open. That Steve Stricker, at 50, from Wisconsin, is playing in the 36-hole sectional qualifier. [Stricker was the medalist in his section, in Memphis.] That Rich Tock, from Erin Hills, is. He's in his mid-60s. He's old enough to be a grandfather to some of the players he'll be playing with. We used to give the head pro of the host club an exemption right into the Open. Now you get an exemption into the sectional. This guy loves golf and has played at a high level." [Tock shot a first-round 80 and withdrew.]

OK, just don't get cocky....

On getting beyond Chambers Bay and Oakmont. 

"When you look back at those two, I get it. People came away upset. We're coming off two in a row where we got a little black-and-blue. But when you look back at the Chambers Bay Open, you had great drama. You had Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson. Then at Oakmont, you could not have had worse weather. For Dustin Johnson, for what he was put through and then for him to do what he did, that was awesome. We've learned from those events. And we've made changes to make sure nothing like that happens again.

"We really need a good U.S. Open. But that doesn't mean we're going to get it. Going to a new course, there's more risk. We don't have experience. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try."

I especially love that passive construction as relates to DJ....  Any chance we'll find the guys that did that to him?

This bear repeating as often as possible:

On the nature of Erin Hills. 

"It might look like a links, but it's not. Well, by definition it's not a links because it's not on the water. But it's not even links-like. It's an aerial course. Erin Hills has about 12 holes where you've got to fly the ball on the green.

"The fairways are wide. Much wider than what people are accustomed to seeing at a U.S. Open—40 to 60 yards. Sometimes wider than that. If somebody misses the 10th fairway, we ought to disqualify them, it's so wide. But you need wide fairways there in order to be fair to the players, because of the wind. 

"You get off the fairway, there's a transition area, with rough three, maybe four inches long. Beyond that you have the long fescue rough, which tends to be wispy. You're going to find your ball, but getting your clubhead through it will not be easy."

On that last bit, Kevin Na respectfully disagrees..... He didn't find his ball or his water bottle....

But the larger point, that it does not play like a links, is important.  The course will be played through the air, so pure ball-striking will be at a premium if there's any wind.

Anybody sporting new sticks?  Well, there was this:

Bubba Watson spotted with new Ping G400 driver at Erin Hills

They're up to 400?  Makes my still functional G30 a museum piece, no?  But the look of the new driver might not suit anyone not named Peter Parker:

How about flat sticks:

Rory McIlroy debuting new TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter at Erin Hills

If there's any top-level player that can seemingly benefit from changing to a mallet, it's our Rors... I've never seen a guy miss so many short putts so badly.

By the way, we've been so focused on Phil's travel plans that we missed another guy that will show up late, for an equally good reason:

DJ's going to be late, and with good reason

No, Dustin Johnson is not getting last-second work on his back. Dustin and his fiancée,

Paulina Gretzky, are expecting the birth of their second child late Sunday or early Monday. According to a source close to Johnson, he won't be at Erin Hills until Tuesday at the earliest. 

But unlike the Na betting sheets, keep your Johnson wagers intact. The reigning U.S. Open champ visited Erin Hills last week after the Memorial for a handful of practice rounds. 

“He really liked the course and feels like it sets up beautifully for his game,” David Winkle, Johnson’s agent, told Brian Wacker. “He feels good about the venue and the state of his game.” 

Got to admit, that trophy would make a kickass milk bottle for his newborn.

That "after the Memorial" is a bit of a howler, as his Memorial ended on Friday...  But that now looks like good planning.

The place should be perfect for him, though he hasn't shown much form after his Masters mishap.

Shack does his by now obligatory merchandise tent thing here, and perhaps the concept simply isn't ageing well, as this is about the most notable:

An epson salt Cheesehead Bubba Duck.  A steal at $14.

These Scotty Cameron headcovers are pretty cool, though they're not for civilains:

What?  You think I made that up?

Damn hypocrites!  How come they're not screaming about the evils of bifurcation here....

Now the meat-centric concession stand sounds like it's right up my alley:

Item No. 4: Bratwurst Burger 

I called my fiancée and told her, in case anything happens, I love her with all my heart, tears sliding down my cheek. Or perhaps that was the meat sweats. Frankly, I lost

sensory touch after the cheese curds. 

You got to tip your hat to the locals. Clearly the “Is a hot dog a sandwich?” debate struck a nerve and, deeming the brat under attack, Wisconsin defended its honor by constructing it in patty form. And, hand to God…it was delicious. (And yes, it had cheese on it.) Cheddar headgear aside, these people are an astute bunch. 

Unfortunately, I put myself on the opposite end of the intelligence spectrum, as it began to dawn that digesting such a feast in 90-degree heat might have adverse health effects. I don’t want to exaggerate and claim I was in a coma, but I’m pretty sure I saw my dead grandpa in a brief 30-second blackness.

However, I'd suggest you steer clear of the cheese curd burger..... Some things are just wrong.

Alex Myers also covers familiar turf, with his favorite prop bets, including this one that save me a trip to Accu-weather:

Phil Mickelson will play in the U.S. Open (10/1)

I didn't think there was any shot for Phil to make his first-round tee time after attending his daughter's high school graduation in Calif., but look at this updated weather forecast for Thursday:

Yeah, Alex, there's a chance....Just not much of one.

So, who do you like?  I'm the '62 Mets of fantasy golf (or should that be the 2017 Mets?), so I'll not burden you with my thoughts on the subject.

Shack shares his Top Ten players to watch, and it's mostly, you know, the top ten players....  About his only foray into the great unknown is this guy:

8. Billy Horschel 

OWGR: 48 

Best U.S. Open finish: T-4 (2013) 

Last three U.S. Opens: T-23, T-25, T-32 

This year: After four missed cuts, came out of nowhere to win the AT&T Byron Nelson in a playoff over Jason Day. 

Why he could win: An elite ballstriker when he’s on, Horschel sounds like he’s found something that could fuel one of his patented hot streaks. His wife, Brittany, went public with an alcoholism battle that has been a burden on the Horschel family, and the outpouring of support can only help. 

Holding him back: His recovery play around the greens. He’s barely in the top 200 on the PGA Tour, and if Erin Hills becomes a scrambling contest, he’s got no shot.

Hmmmm...perhaps this will come across as needlessly harsh, but the biggest thing holding back Billy Horschel is that he's, you know, Billy Horschel.  He's 48th in the world, after a win, for a reason....

 Golf Digest had a slideshow of Nine sneaky picks, though it starts with Rickie, the antithesis of sneaky in all regards.  It's hard to sneak up on folks in bright orange, after all.

The picks do get sneakier, though on the probability scale you might find them wanting:

Shane Lowry 

The Irishman’s T-2 finish last year at Oakmont was his second straight top-10 in the event. There was disappointment that he was unable to hold the 54-hole lead, but optimism that the learning experience will propel him the next time he’s in contention in a big event. It didn’t happen at Augusta (MC, one of just two in 11 PGA Tour starts this season), but that could change this coming week in Wisconsin.

He didn't play well on Sunday at Oakmont, but I could see him playing well on this track, especially if the wind is up.

This one is pretty funny, given subsequent events:

Kevin Na

Na, T-12 in 2014 at Pinehurst and T-7 a year ago at Oakmont, is another golfer with a tidy U.S. Open resume, having made the cut in his last four starts. He had to WD from the Players after two holes due to illness and hasn’t finished better than T-39 in a PGA Tour stroke-play event since February. If he can block out a few negative thoughts, though, Na’s development and maturity could make a difference.

Negative thoughts?  You mean like these?

All I can to this next one, is Egads!

Pat Perez 

It’s been since 2008 that Perez last played in the U.S. Open, a statistical oddity that is as intriguing as it is unusual. Two missed cuts in four previous starts won’t knock your socks off, but the 41-year-old is having his best ever season on tour, with just one missed cut (and one WD) in 18 starts, 11 top-25 finishes and five top-10s. We’ll take momentum over experience.

Not now, not ever.... 

Mike Davis At Length

Mike Davis spent a considerable amount of time with Jaime Diaz, and the result is worth its own post.  We'll no doubt go a little long here, so a fresh cup of coffee wouldn't be a bad idea....

I've always been a fan of Davis', largely because he saved the U.S. Open from itself, that being the dreadful Tom Meeks set-up era.  Even though perceptions have lagged, Mike has used innovations like graduated rough and multiple tee boxes to create more interesting tests for the players.  The one-dimensional days of protecting par at all costs are mercifully behind us, though we'll no doubt have a better insight into his strategy of moving to newer venues after this week.  That last bit aside, the upcoming venues most certainly skew towards the traditional....

The other aspect that I like about Mike is his love of the game and his appreciation of how it is played by mortals.  How can you not like a guy that does this?

‘I started playing when I was 8 with my dad at Chambersburg Country Club in south-central Pennsylvania, but growing up I played a number of small-town public courses in

the area. One was a nine-hole course that had sand greens, South Mountain. And there was another nine-holer that was almost laughed at around Chambersburg called Conocodell, where we played some junior events. It was really just a field to play. But it was fun. About eight years ago, I went in with my best friend from high school and bought about half of it. 

“It’s beautiful land, with a trout stream running through it. It had become a little overgrown, so we upgraded it a little, took out some trees. But the greens might be seven on the Stimpmeter, the bunkers are far from smooth, and the fairways are cut at an inch. I kept telling my friend, ‘I want this course to stay scruffy.’ It’s a throwback. Other than the cars in the parking lot, you’d think you were in the 1970s.

"Golf for everybody" he calls it, and good for him.  I'll take my shots at Mike when I think he's wrong, but I don't think we'll do much better than he in the most important position in the game.

Shall we get to some of the tougher issues?  Because Jaime covers most of the waterfront: 

NEW MISSION

‘We have absolutely changed. I’m going on my 28th year, and in-house there was always the principle that, whether there are five million golfers, 25 million golfers or 5,000 golfers, what we do is for the game. Just this abstract thing that we are all about the game. Well, about six years ago, we changed the mission. What we’re focused on now is that it’s still the game, but it’s also about those who enjoy playing the game. So it’s about golfers. So when people say, ‘Is the USGA trying to grow the game?’ then yes, we’re now at that point where we’re engaged in those things. We want to collaborate and use some of our monies to be a part of the focus on participation. But on the other hand, what’s dreadfully missing is the other part, which has become our central focus. Because if you’re trying to bring all these other groups into the game—juniors, women, pick your group—but it’s not enjoyable, and the golf courses can’t sustain themselves, it’s never going to work. You’re going to bring these people in, they’re going to try it, they’re not going to enjoy themselves, and they’re going to leave. I’ve asked my counterparts in the industry, ‘When you bring all these people in, and they’re not staying, why is that?’ 

“It starts with the golf course. What’s enjoyable? There’s no one answer. How I enjoy a golf experience, or how a beginner might, or someone who is an elite golfer, it’s going to be different. But there are certain things. People, by and large, want to play well. Some people want to be challenged more than others. Nobody likes looking for golf balls. So golf courses can present a setup where people are playing from the proper tees, there aren’t a lot of forced carries, the rough is not so high that we’re always looking for somebody’s ball.

On the one hand, it's pretty sad that this revelation comes so late, but it's also true that this is something that's perhaps more in the hands of local course operators.  But then he goes outside the box with scary implications:

“Speaking of balls, the rules say you can’t have anything electronic to help you find your ball. Well, why not? Just think about Topgolf, and the chips in those golf balls. 

“When it comes to pace of play, everybody wants to say that golfers are the problem. They’re part of the problem, but we find that the bigger problem is the golf course and how it’s managed.

OK, that second 'graph goes on to talk about sensible issues like tee time intervals, a place the USGA can and should have impact.   Chips in golf balls?  Please God, no.....

The USGA is a bit late to this party, though:

“A lot of innovations have made the game better, but there are some where you would say, ‘I’m not sure that’s really good for the game.’ Like the speed of greens. Today, people equate fast greens with good greens. But fast greens cost more to maintain. Fast greens are more susceptible to disease. Fast greens compromise some of the architectural integrity of great courses. Fast greens have absolutely caused more cases of the yips. And they’ve hurt pace of play. So there’s an innovation where we say, ‘OK, we’ve innovated with new grasses and new mowers, but has that really been innovation?’ It’s like over-seeding. It’s very expensive, and agronomically not good, and dormant Bermuda is a very good playing surface. I hope in the future we see a scenario where there is no over-seeding. Period. The notion that everything has to be perfectly maintained, it’s bad for the game, and bad for enjoyment.

Ya think?

Davis does deserve credit for embracing Pinehurst's return to its roots, but of course the USGA bears the burden of long rough and lightning fast greens, because that's all we saw at the Open for decades.

For instance, this:

“When I talk to architects, for about 40 years, hard equaled good. Now you’re definitely seeing that go in the other direction, where fun equals good.

And where did they get that idea?  

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE U.S. OPEN AND THE DJ RULING

“The irony at Oakmont is that some things went extremely well. You couldn’t have gotten much unluckier with the weather, but the course still performed beautifully. I can’t think of another golf course that could take that much water and still be that kind of test. We got a great champion. Dustin Johnson doesn’t get enough credit for how well he handled that. But we made mistakes and have learned from them. But it was also kind of a perfect storm. I’d guess that 99 percent of golf people still do not understand exactly what happened (see Golf Digest, September 2016). Tour players don’t understand what happened. DJ himself was operating under the old rule, telling the official that when his ball moved, he hadn’t addressed the ball, which is a term that didn’t exist in the new rule. So you had a player not understanding the rule, us getting incorrect information, then having the video evidence. I’m very comfortable that DJ should have gotten the one-stroke penalty, the way the rule was written. I hated the rule, but you have to apply what it said then. Thankfully we have since changed it.

Yes, but your new rule didn't work....  It took you two tries to get a simple concept correct, and that assumes that the latest tweak will be the last.

As for regrets, he has this one:

“If I had a mulligan on that one, once I found out what had gone on, I would have quickly gotten myself into the Fox booth and talked more about it. I wasn’t on the rules committee at Oakmont—we had some people who are better with the rules than I am—and they handled it. But that might have been one of those places where it would have been helpful to have the leader of the organization. In a moment of a crisis, you’ve got to step to the plate and deal with it. I learned from that.

I'd like a mulligan on his use of that term....  But he's even more clueless on Lexi:

THE LEXI RULING

‘There was a lot of reaction from the golf community when Lexi Thompson, in the middle of her final round at the ANA Inspiration, was assessed a four-stroke penalty for a rules breach that was brought to the attention of the LPGA by a television viewer from the previous day’s coverage. We were all affected by it, and nobody likes to see that happen. It’s cases like these that we have kept top of mind as we’ve worked to modernize the rules, to hopefully positively change those outcomes in the future. One of the proposed changes says, ‘The player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if later shown to be wrong by other information,’ and it will reduce the need for video review in certain circumstances. It’s our responsibility to thoughtfully evaluate the overall effects of video technology on the game, especially because we’ve seen the impact that these situations can have.”

Sheesh, we have a right to expect more.... Lexi did not receive a four-stroke penalty, she got nailed with two two-shot penalties each of which raises different issues.  Most important, there's a legitimate body of thought that the quickie rule modification would not have changed anything in the Lexi saga...  Putting the most favorable spin on it, it's hopelessly vague, so shouldn't we expect more clarity from our rule-making authority?

Now it gets even more interesting?

MOVING TO FOX, AND THE USGA WAR CHEST 

‘As far as the Fox television deal [a 12-year contract, announced in 2013, for $1.1 billion], there are different ways of looking at it. I watched us go from ABC to NBC [starting in 1995], and there were a lot of hurt feelings back then, the same way that there are a lot of hurt feelings with the transition from NBC/Golf Channel to Fox. On the other hand, getting another big network like Fox involved in golf probably has been a good thing, you could argue, for golf holistically. I would hope people would look at it as those are extra monies coming to the USGA, and we’re a nonprofit. Our monies must go back into the game. So rather than golfers saying, ‘They went for the big money,’ and almost looking at it negatively, you’d like to say, this is actually more money coming to the game of golf. We’re not somebody who would pocket that money.

So, we need a fourth network in our dying game?  My understanding is that Davis himself was not a big part of that process, but that to me is not terribly compelling.

More importantly, that bit that its money "must" go back into the game is pretty rich, given the salry levels in Far Hills and the travel budget.  

But this may be the high water mark in terms of non-answers:

“Having a war chest is hugely important. It’s somewhere around $320 million that the USGA has in its investment portfolio. People say, ‘Why can’t you take that $320 million and put it back into golf?’ Well, that money allows us to do a couple of things. One, it’s insurance for something that could happen in the future so that we can keep operating. That could be anything. What happens if the U.S. Open is not played for a few years? It’s happened six times since World War I. If 9-11 had been on 6-11 at Bethpage, we wouldn’t have played that U.S. Open. The other thing is having enough money to do what you think is the right thing in governance. That’s really important. Because there were times when the USGA didn’t act because it decided it couldn’t afford to lose a potential lawsuit. We want to do what’s right for the game, and if we get sued and we lose, so be it, but we’re going to stand by our principles. But having said that, we’re at that point where we think that level is very healthy.

That last bit meanders towards the truth, that the slush fund is needed for the coming battle with manufacturers, such as in the Ping groove case of a few years ago.  That said, they seem to have ducked every opportunity to reign in the equipment and ball, so when exactly does Armageddon arrive?

Mike as much as admits as much here:

DISTANCE DEBATE

‘When I look back at the USGA over the decades, my biggest regret would be what has happened with distance. It’s been the thing, probably more than any, that has been the most harmful to the game. Billions of dollars have been spent to alter golf courses—and for what? If I said in front of a thousand golfers, ‘Who would like to hit the ball shorter?’ would any hands be raised? They’d think I had lost my marbles. Nobody wants to hit the ball shorter. On the other hand, increased distance has had a profoundly negative effect on golf courses. They’ve had to expand, they’ve had to use more resources to maintain. It takes more time to play. It takes more land and construction costs for new golf courses. And in some cases, architectural integrity has been compromised. Are any of these things good?

Mike actually makes a compelling case for bifurcation, since the distance explosion has been mostly good for the game at the amateur level....  Yet that would no doubt trigger the war of which he speaks.

This was interesting, because I've not heard him on this subject previously:

HANDICAP INTEGRITY 

‘People wonder why we’re no longer allowing rounds by a player playing by himself to count for handicap purposes. As we’re embarking on this world handicapping system, one of the things inherent in The Rules of Golf is player integrity. It’s all about that. But if you look at handicapping on a worldwide basis, the United States and Canada were the only two places where a player could submit scores playing only by himself. As we went into this, we realized that the credibility of somebody’s handicap was really important, and in fairness, there are places in the United States and probably in Canada where we found that all of someone’s rounds alone got questioned, and we thought, Well, that’s not good. But this really came down to the way golf is played in Australia, Asia, Europe, South America. By the way, a person can still play alone with a caddie or a marker and have that round count. But this really came down to uniformity.”

I play golf alone a bit during the week, but would you play for money knowingly against a player whose posted scores were all alone?  I mean real money....

Handicapping has to be, at its core, a peer review system, so I had no problem with this change.  The fact that it's a game played by gentlemen doesn't mean that everyone that plays it deserves that honorific.  Even the U.S. Constitution isn't a suicide pact....

ANCHORING BAN 

‘We are exceptionally pleased with how it’s worked out, because change hasn’t been as hard as some people thought it would be. The whole goal was to ensure that the game long term was played with the player holding a club with a free-swinging motion, which we feel is part of the essence of the game. We had seen some troubling signs, like young players being coached to anchor, and even long wedges being stuck under the armpit. As for the projections that hundreds of thousands of people would leave the game, we haven’t seen any evidence of that. This was not about getting the long putter out of people’s hands. We even showed methods in which the putter could be used without anchoring, which is the method Bernhard Langer now uses. I only wish the USGA and R&A had done this a quarter-century before. I know it caused some hard feelings among people and hard feelings among some of the organizations, but thankfully we’ve gotten that behind us. It was no fun going through it, but it was the right thing for the game.”

Long wedges anchored?  I agree with him here, especially about the twenty-five years....  they screwed up in not taking it seriously until guys started winning majors, and good for him for admitting so.

 There's much more you can explore on your own, so have at it....  I just wonder who's waiting in the wings to take over.

Weekend Wrap

Not so much, as it turns out...  But it's a Monday tradition here at Unplayable Lies.  Just a couple of items from the weekend's play, and then we'll be looking forward....

All the Way from Memphis - I know there are guys that like playing with a pencil in their pocket the week before a major, but it's hard for me to see Memphis helping a guy prepare for Erin Hills....  For a high school commencement, sure.....

I did actually turn it on when I got home late yesterday, but this guy was already in the clubhouse:

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Daniel Berger shot a 4-under 66 to erase a three-shot deficit and win the St. Jude Classic for a second straight year. 

The 24-year-old is the fourth back-to-back winner at St. Jude and the first since David Toms did it in 2003 and ’04. 

Berger played a bogey-free round on Sunday, avoiding trouble on a fast, firm course at TPC Southwind. His 17-foot birdie putt on No. 15 put him ahead for good and he finished at 10-under 270. Now he’ll take quite a bit of momentum into next week’s U.S. Open.

Under that theory he must have taken quite a bit of momentum into Oakmont, where he finished T37.  

It's a dead zone on the schedule, so there's nothing requiring us to pay attention.  But it's telling that the most interesting thing to happen on the golf course all week involved a divot.... To be fair, that's not the optimal camera angle, but I'm reliably informed that it was his index finger that was extended....

This Story is a Week Old - The joke, of course, being that Ariya was supposed to have vaulted to the top of the world rankings last week, except when they ran the numbers she was fractions of a point behind Lydia:

Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand won the Manulife LPGA Classic on Sunday with a birdie

on the first playoff hole to beat American Lexi Thompson and South Korea's In Gee Chun.

Jutanugarn's drive found the long grass on the side of the par-4 No. 18, but she recovered with an approach shot that left her pin-high. She calmly made a 25-footer for the victory. 

Jutanugarn finished with a 3-under 69 in the final round and was tied with Thompson (72) and Chun (70) at 17-under 271.

I know, but at least the girls will have lots of media covering their U.S. Open....  OK, not covering the golf so much, but beggars and all....

Erin Go Ahhhh -  It's U.S. Open week, folks, so the Tour Confidential panel didn't waste any time looking into the rear-view mirror.  They open strong, with a pair of mirror-image questions about the venue:

1. We're all U.S. Open this week as the game's national championship heads to the state of Wisconsin for the first time. Erin Hills, a relatively new public track ($280 green fee!) is the host. What excites you most about Erin Hills

Alan Shipnuck: That Dustin Johnson hasn't slipped on any stairs. (Yet.) Can't wait to watch him tangle with this brute.

That's not scheduled until Wednesday, Alan.  But aren't you just a teensy bit worried about that MC at jack's place?  But this is the most substantive take:

John Wood: I'm anxious to see if different types of golfers can compete on this track. After spending the last two days walking around Erin Hills, there is no question it’s

beautiful, it's interesting, and it's in absolutely wonderful shape. To me a great golf course can be attacked by highly skilled players of all types. I think it'll be a fantastic test, it’s just so different than what most have always held in their heads as what a U.S. Open is. Tight fairways, heavy rough, etc. These have to be the widest fairways to have ever hosted a U.S. Open, and around the greens, at first glance, it doesn’t seem very penal. So that leaves the defense as wind, length, and green speed. I hope at the end of the week, we can say that at Erin Hills, the Steve Strickers of the world can compete with the Dustin Johnsons.

Just a reminder that Mr. Wood is employed by Matt Kuchar, who on a scale of Steve Stricker to Dustin Johnson is very much closer to the local boy.

But let's also remember that the ability to accurately wield one's driver is an important test of skill, in our game, and the player that can do so should enjoy an advantage.

And the yang?

2. USGA executive director Mike Davis is ever the optimist, but even he has reservations about Erin Hills. "We're going in with a lot of unknowns," Davis said recently. What concerns you most about the course?

Berhow: My primary concern is a small child eluding their parents and getting lost in the fescue, because it's really that long in places, but no, I'm not concerned about much. Players will have their issues, because a few are bound to find something that irks them, but, as Jack used to say, when a player complained it just meant that was one less person he had to beat.

That very much depends upon which small child, no?

But, and I've heard this from a number of guys that have played the place, it'll resemble nothing so much as the Bataan Death March:

Bamberger: Well, this course basically was built to host a U.S. Open. The HUGE nature of it, in width and length, is on a scale that is of no value to everyday, $50 green-fee golf. But for this one purpose, it should be grand. The rounds will be ABSURDLY slow. I’m guessing six hours by Friday afternoon. 

Wood: For those with a serious chance to contend, those that are playing very well, the fescue won't pose a problem. The fairways are very generous, and if a professional golfer in a U.S. Open is swinging well, he just won’t visit the fescue much. My main concern is with Michael. If the wind gets up to say, 20 mph, out of the west or southwest, which is prevailing and expected, I think the rounds could be absurdly long. If the green speeds get up to 13, 14 on the stimpmeter and we get wind, I’m not sure we can play golf with a 20-mph wind here with those green speeds. But yes, the rounds, especially the first two days, will be very very slow.

 So let's tag along with the guys as they move to other issues:

3. Adam Scott pleaded for a kinder, gentler course setup. Will the blue blazers oblige?

Is that what he was saying?  Because I'm still not sure....

Shipnuck: Four par-5s and wider than usual fairways should lead to lower scoring. Unless the USGA does something over the top. They wouldn't do that. Right?

Wood: I definitely think it is an easier setup in terms of fairway width and lack of penal rough around the greens. It all depends on how fast the greens get, how much the wind blows, and how firm they let the golf course get. I think the USGA will get it right this time, and the story come next Monday will be about the golf course and the winner, nothing else.

Let's please bear in mind that neither of the last two fiascoes were set-up issues as that term is understood.  yes, the greens at Oakmont were unconscionably fast, but that's Oakmont's DNA....  they actually played OK, the DJ issue just showed an organization unable to deal with their rule book and the implementation thereof.

But it's helpful in this case to think of Erin Hills as an inland links.  Mike Davis is smart enough to know that if the forecasted rain comes and the wind is down, the guys are gonna go low....

Good, atmospheric pieces on Erin Hills can be found first from Mike Bamberger:

Jim Furyk stood on the 18th tee, about 650 yards, downhill and then uphill, from where 

The photogenic Par-3 ninth.

he was putting his peg.

"I've played some good 600-yard par-5s," he said. "I've never played a great one." This one looks great. Whether or not it will play great, time will tell. For many players, it will be plain stuff: driver, hybrid, wedge, a putt or two or three. But for a Dustin Johnson, a Jon Rahm, a Rory McIlroy, a Jason Day, the hole can be reached in two. That doesn't mean they should try. There's a crazy swale to the left of the green leaving the most awkward sort of pitch or chip up the hill.

The course will reward length, for sure, and it will encourage players to hit a lot of drivers. "All courses reward length," Harman said. "But this one especially." That's because the fairways are wide—40 yards often and sometimes much more than that. They don't pinch in at the 300-yard mark. They don't particularly bend. You can hit driver, take a whack and breathe.

That's quite amusing from the guy that was so discombobulated when they moved the tee up on Olympic's 16th hole....  But he's not bitter.... This could be fun:

Mark Loomis, the producer of the Fox telecast, said the ball-in-the-air will be one of the pleasures of the telecast. Downwind, from the elevated tees? There will be Dustin Johnson drives that are in the air for five seconds or more. There will be Zach Johnson drives that are in the air for five seconds or more. And there will be ball searches in the long fescue rough that will go right to the five-minute limit. Enjoy the time while you can, fellas. When the new rulebook comes out in 2019, that limit will most likely be three.

I call downhill, elevated tee shots golf porn because...  well, you know why.

And from Travelin' Joe:

Erin Hills is an improbable monument to minimalism. Carved into wildly heaving Wisconsin farmland, the course is spread across a gargantuan 652 acres, three times the size of a typical 18-hole canvas. Founder Bob Lang and his three handpicked architects—Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten—initially intended Erin Hills to be the nation's greatest $50 public course. To keep costs down, little earth was moved in creating its holes. The routing is draped atop the southern end of Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine, where, with the coaxing of Lang and company, undulating vestiges of eons-ago glacier activity yielded chaotically rumpled fairways and dramatically contoured greens complexes. Minimalist, yes—but with a maximally thrilling variety of holes, lies and stances.

Nobody that's walked it will agree that it's minimalist, though originally very little earth was moved.  But there was there was a phase in it's development where Bob Lang ignored his architects and added more than 100 bunkers.... Even the definitions get tough:

Ridges, dunes, tawny fescue grasses, penal bunkers and 20 mph gusts lend an Irish links feel to Erin Hills, especially with almost no trees and with fairways that run firm and 

The raised green at the 370-yard 15th.

fast. Of course, no Emerald Isle track plays to 7,693 yards. As with four-time U.S. Open venue Shinnecock Hills, Erin Hills looks and plays like a links without being a links. 

So what is it? The architects call it a "heartland" course. It's an upper-Midwest, prairie-style layout with traits of both seaside links and parkland tracks. "We want to make that distinction," Hurdzan says. "It's not a links course."

It probably most resembles a heathland course, think of the Melbourne sand belt or Walton Heath and Sunningdale outside London.  the key is the sandy substrate, which allows for firm conditions in the absence of rain.  I'll let one of the architects have the last say:

Hurdzan sums up the vexing virtues of the full 18. "There's no O.B., no water, no true forced carries," he says. "The three elements that provide the challenge are, one, understanding what the slope of the land is going to do to your ball; two, coping with the most penal bunkers many of the pros will have ever seen; and three, dealing with the wind, which can and will change everything." 

Sounds like a tough test. Sounds like a U.S. Open.

Errr....not the type of tough test we're used to at a U.S. Open, and if the wind is down it won't look like a U.S. Open leaderboard.  Way too much red for that....

Shack takes a crack at the venue as well, both in written form:

I’ve heard much consternation about these non-traditional U.S. Open venues and the awarding of this championship to such relatively untested layouts for a variety of reasons. They all have some merit but also ignore the need to work in new venues too. Whether it’s their lack of history, architectural scale or minimalist brand name cache, the concern is understandable. But as we know, so many venues that once hosted U.S. Open's can no longer do so because today's players are linebackers, tri-athletes and overall mega-jocks armed with equipment that the USGA and R&A say hasn't done a thing for them over the last decade! 

I digress. 

There is also the legitimate concern that within the Grand Slam scheme of things, an Erin Hills or Chambers Bay skews things toward the creative links-lover and away from the U.S. Open’s test as one of supreme patience and precision.

I've made that last point as well in 2015, that it's a bit odd to play the U.S. national open on such an atypical U.S. golf course....  But it's also interesting that those venues that can no longer host an Open, Oak Hill, Southern Hills and the like, seem able to host a PGA.  

And in video form as well:

Pebble Beach a links but not a links?  There is nothing remotely linksy about Pebble, except for it's seaside location.

Had enough on Phil yet?  As always, Phil has a plan:

After his round on Sunday, CBS Sports' Amanda Balionis asked Mickelson what needs

to happen for him to make his tee time on Thursday, which is 3:20 p.m. EST. 

"I need a four-hour delay," Mickelson said. "I need a minimum four-hour delay most likely. That's the way I kind of mapped it out. I should get into the air right around my tee time or just prior, it's about a three-hour-and-twenty-minute flight, and by the time I get to the course I would need a four-hour delay. Last night there was a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms on Thursday; right now it's 20 percent. Who knows. … It's not looking good, but it's totally fine."

Mickelson, who hasn't seen or played Erin Hills, added that he plans to keep his game sharp the next few days just in case.

That's where the venue hurts his cause, built as it is on sand.  He needs water to pool on greens and in bunkers for a long enough delay, so it's likely that his plane never gets airborne.

This from the TC panel was a silly ask:

4. Six-time Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, who briefly had a share of the lead at FedEx St. Jude Classic before finishing ninth, has a Thursday afternoon tee time but has announced that he plans to attend his daughter's graduation. Will Phil, who needs an Open title to complete the career grand slam, have a last-minute change of heart?

Not after saying it out loud....  

This is the cutest story of the day:

ERIN, Wis. - Davis Love III is making his 24th appearance in the U.S. Open, with one big difference. 

He'll only have clubs in his hand to clean them, not hit any shots. And for the first time, he'll be wearing shorts at a major championship.

Role reversal...

Love is caddieing for his son. 

Davis Love IV, who just finished at Alabama and turned pro, qualified for his first U.S. Open as an alternate from the Georgia sectional qualifier. 

''I'm excited for him,'' Love said Sunday afternoon as he watched from some 300 yards away as his son, who goes by ''Dru,'' teed off during a practice round with Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk. ''I've played with a bunch of 19- and 20-year-olds. But it makes me feel old that he's playing.'' 

Dru Love won't officially be in the U.S. Open field until the world ranking is published. The USGA held back six spots for anyone who moved into the top 60 in the world ranking after this week. Chris Wood of England finished right at No. 60, meaning the other five spots are distributed to alternates. The Georgia section, where Love was first alternate, was No. 5 on the list. 

The son will have plenty of experience on the bag.

Not winning experience, of course.... Am I the only one old enough to remember Dad's God-awful 3-jack at Oakland Hills?  But why be uncharitable, as it would be a special Father's Day should they have a Sunday tee time.

Lastly, lots of discussion of the long fescue at Erin Hills, including this from Kevin Na:

Fescue is an often misused term, which Americans tend to call any long grass.  The geek in me wonder is it is actually a strain of fescue.  The good news is that it's far easier to get a club through fescue than Maram...  But, of course, first you have to find it.

OK, I lied.... The money bit from the TC panel, as they're asked for their win-place-show bets:

Shipnuck: Dustin four under, Day two under, Kuchar one under. 

Ritter: Spieth wins at eight under. Fowler and DJ two back. 

Sens: Rose five under, Spieth four under, Rahm even. 

Berhow: Dustin Johnson wins at five under, Justin Rose is the runner-up for the second straight major and Mr. Lee Westwood is third. 

Bamberger: Jon Rahm, Pat Perez, Paul Casey.

I've ignored Travelin' Joe, because he wrote a friggin' book....  Yanno, you just don't expect Pat Perez' name to come up in a U.S. Open....

I want to see a better weather forecast for the week before I give you my ill-considered thoughts, but you'd have to have the better drivers of the ball in the mix, no?  

As an aside, Rickie was their overwhelming candidate for sentimental winner, though nobody specifically cited this suck-up to the home town crowd.

We'll Always Have Paris - Big news for our game from the IOC:

In another decision regarding the Olympic programme, the Executive Board approved the overall composition of the sports programme for the Olympic Games 2024 to include all 28 sports on the programme of the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

2024 comes down to Paris v. Los Angeles, but the loser seems likely to get 2028 as a consolation prize.  Shack with this on venues:

The race is between Paris and Los Angeles, with Paris the frontrunner for 2024. Le Golf National will host in France while Riviera Country Club is scheduled to host the golf in Los Angeles.

 We'll get a look at the former at next year's Ryder Cup.  The bigger issue to me is how to increase the size of the field, which at it's current sixty player limit, with no more than thirty of those being worthy. is not a genuine test for 72 holes and makes it difficult to come up with a viable team concept.

Tory, Tory, Tory - Politics is risky business these days, but British politics is safe I think.  Theresa May called a snap election because it was "in the bag", but then campaigned like wanted to spend more time with her family....  This tweet from the grand old man of golf tickled my funny bone:

Heh.  Do we think the kids will understand either of those references?

Bonus Afternoon Content

A good morning for your humble correspondent, so let me be generous with my time...

Wasn't That A Time - Golf.com presents a comprehensive account of last year's USGA fiasco...  I'm sorry, I need to be more specific, the fiasco involving DJ at Oakmont.

This to me is one of the missed threads of the sorry spectacle:

DAVID FAY (former USGA executive director and rules analyst for Fox Sports): On Sunday morning, I was watching from the booth, and [French golfer] Romain Wattel's

ball moved on the 2nd green. It looked like he caused the ball to move and there was going to be a penalty. It appeared that it was going to be an issue. But the official with that group, Lew Blakey, is one of the best there is. And he was right on the case and he gave a decision right away. He said something to the effect of, "Well, the wind was blowing in such and such a direction and with the slope of the green … there was no way he was going to assess a penalty." I remember saying after that, "Well, fellas, now at least you have template for how this should be handled in the unlikely event that anything like this happens later in the day."

What are the chances of that?  But not only did Blakey handle it the way we'd like (whether it was in accordance with the rewritten rule is a whole 'nother thing), but Mark Newell, the rules official called in by DJ did as well.

After the ball move, this is the conversation as recounted:

"I didn't address it," Johnson says to Austin and Westwood as he backs off. 

Seconds later, Newell approaches. 

"My ball, before my putter was in the air—it was inside the ball and rolled that much," Johnson says, raising his left arm and gesturing toward the hole. Newell listens intently, hands on hips. The shadows of the two men stretch toward the cup. (A microphone at the bottom of the cup picks up the conversation.) 

"O.K., you hadn't, you didn't draw the club or anything?" Newell asks. 

"Nope," Johnson replies. 

"It just moved?" 

"Yep." 

"O.K., you just play it from where it lies then," Newell says. "O.K.?" 

"Thank you."

Of course, the rules official had not seen the video.  My recollection is that Dustin did rest his putter on the ground, but to the side of the ball, which is not considered grounding the putter.

Not only was the USGA completely unprepared for the need to review video, but that rule had recently been rewritten, adding a healthy measure of ambiguity.  As I understood the rule, the player was not necessarily guilty if the ball moved after he grounded his club, but he had to know what caused the movement.  

When Curtis Strange is the voice of reason, perhaps a reassessment is due:

STRANGE: It should have never have been a penalty. Because when you have greens that are 14 on the Stimpmeter, anything can cause that ball to move. You can be 15 feet away and cause that ball to move. That's why they changed the rule, and it's a good thing they did.

Yes, but again they waited far too long...

Rahmbo in Full - Are you tired of me singing the praises of Jaime Diaz?  Cause yer gonna want to read his profile of the next big thing, and by big....  well, here's the lede:

Jon Rahm's 225 or so pounds don't exactly taper along his 6-2 frame. Instead, they settle

with an even thickness, leaving him with the natural ballast that has historically contributed to stick-and-ball genius. Not that there's anything plodding about Rahm. Watching the Spaniard swing a driver is to be reminded that large land mammals often move with startling speed.

Heh, that's a good one, Jaime...  He is a large land mammal, though most of those move quickly because of predators....  This to me is quite amazing:

Intelligence is. He came to ASU in 2012 with almost no English skills, having been recruited sight unseen by Tim Mickelson, relying on an exchange of emails. "I'm kind of

a free spirit, but it was hard," Rahm says of his first few weeks in Tempe. "I couldn't smile that much, just because I didn't know what was going on. There were probably a lot of jokes I missed the first month of school." 

Mickelson admits that one month into that first semester, he didn't think Rahm would make it past Christmas. But with the help of a Spanish-speaking teammate, Alberto Sanchez, and an improvised crash course of memorizing verbally acrobatic rap songs, in particular Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" and Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools," Rahm recovered to pull a 3.6 grade-point average in his first semester and eventually graduate with a B average in communications. Along the way, he won 11 college events, tying Phil Mickelson's school record, became the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, finished fifth in the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open and became the first to win college golf's Ben Hogan Award in back-to-back years.

Employee No. 2 is not a fan of the man, on account of his temper...  though he notes that it's something he's working on.  His ambitions are as large as he is, including for next week:

"I think my game is pretty suited to the U.S. Open," says Rahm, his Spanish accent discernible but mitigated by his impressive English vocabulary after five years of living in the United States. "It's a really big deal to be precise off the tee, which I am. I've got a good short game and good feel with the putter, too. It's one I could win."

Of course, those skills are useful just about anywhere....Read it all. 

Phil in Phul -Alan Shipnuck files this from the scene of all six crimes:

A U.S. Open title is the only thing missing for a man who has everything

This is the most poignant:

The U.S. Open is the only thing missing for a man who has everything. Until Mickelson wins one, we are left with more haunting memories. After his collapse at Winged Foot,

Phil had retreated to the clubhouse. I found him sitting at his upstairs locker, motionless, staring into space with his head resting wearily in his hands. Amy came by to give him a kiss, but Phil didn't seem to notice. "I've never seen him like this," she whispered. "I think he's in shock." Finally, Phil stirred, packing up his belongings and beginning the trudge home. 

As he snaked through the locker room, he passed numerous mementos of Winged Foot's glorious U.S. Open history. There was a reproduction of a 1929 newspaper trumpeting Bobby Jones's victory. A 1959 clipping celebrated Billy Casper's heroics. A photo from 1984 showed a beaming Fuzzy Zoeller hoisting the winner's trophy. And there was a picture of Hale Irwin enjoying his victory in 1974, signed by the man himself: TO WINGED FOOT G.C. WHERE MY DREAMS WERE FULFILLED.

Mickelson walked past all of this history without even noticing, leaving the locker room deserted but for its ghosts.

 That's the one right there, folks....  On Feherty, Phil said that Bones gets one absolute veto each year, so it's hard to imagine why it wasn't invoked here:

Phil Mickelson's drive on the 72nd hole of the 2006 U.S. Open went right over my head, clanging off a hospitality tent and expiring in Winged Foot's tangled rough about 50 feet from where I was standing. What I remember about Phil's arrival on the scene, along with his caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay, was how fast both were moving. Too fast. I had been interviewing Rick Smith, Phil's then-swing coach, and we stood to the side of all the commotion as his protégé—needing a par to win or a bogey to force a playoff—tried to carve a 3-iron around a tree toward the green. 

Phil pushed it, and the ball hit squarely on the trunk. The report was as loud as gunfire. Smith went ashen and could form no more words. Just then, Mike Lupica, the newspaper columnist, approached Smith and huffed, "He's going to have a hard time making 5 from there!" I was impressed that Smith didn't slug him, but Lupica was right. Phil, of course, carded a double-bogey 6.

I know what Phil was thinking, but Bones should have handed him a wedge and thrown his body over the rest of the bag.

So You're Saying There's A Chance? -  From an unbylined item:

Phil Mickelson still has a tee time at Erin Hills

Not only that, but he has the only tee time that gives him any chance whatsoever.

The USGA just released the tee times and groupings for the 117th U.S. Open at Erin Hills, and Phil Mickelson is still on the docket. 

Mickelson announced late last week that he would miss the 2017 edition for his eldest daughter's graduation from high school. Lefty's daughter is the class president and valedictorian, and will be making a speech during the ceremony on Thursday, during the first round of the championship. 

But Mickelson is still listed to tee off at 2:20 p.m. local time with Stewart Cink and Steve Stricker. His daughter's graduation is at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, which would be noon local time in Erin.

Still, that's a gift from his friends in Far Hills.... He still needs a weather delay of some sort, but with a morning time even that wouldn't have likely helped unless the entire day was rained out.

Here's the prime groups off the first tee on Thursday:

2:36 p.m. – Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia

2:47 p.m. – Henrik Stenson, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen

2:58 p.m. – Jimmy Walker, Justin Thomas, Paul Casey

3:09 p.m. – Jason Day, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy

3:20 p.m. – Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, Phil Mickelson

And off the 10th:

8:51 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm

9:02 a.m. – Lee Westwood, Ross Fisher, Graeme McDowell

9:13 a.m. – Danny Willett, Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera

9:24 a.m. – Matt Kuchar, Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed

9:35 a.m. – Martin Kaymer, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson

I haven't noticed the USGA being cheeky with any of these, but I also haven't done more than scan the names...

This likely has less to do with Phil than folks will assume:

The USGA is relaxing its policy on alternates and will let them practice at Erin Hills

even if they're not officially in the field. 

Jeff Hall, the USGA's managing director of rules and open championships, said recent history at the U.S. Open has shown that with most players practicing in the morning, there would be room to accommodate first alternates in the afternoon. 

The U.S. Open starts June 15, the first one held in Wisconsin. 

''We haven't been overly public with it,'' Hall said. ''But we've been communicating to the alternates that they will be entitled to play.'' 

That would apply only to first alternates from each of 12 sectional qualifying sites, or no more than one alternate from each section if the first alternate is not there.

Kind of crazy that at least the first few weren't allowed practice rounds previously....

Non U.S. Open Stuff -  Answering the important questions:

What Kind Of Golf Tantrum Should You Throw?

No math, but there is a flowchart:

Shouldn't "All of the above" be an option?  If you can't make it out on the blog, click on the link above.

What Was Your First Clue? - He's actually a pretty good analyst, at least about golf:

Paul Azinger: 'Some players' think pain meds are problem for Tiger Woods

 Some?