US Open: Who do you want to win, who will win?

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

You need nerves of steel, brass balls, and the heart of a lion to win the best championship in the world.

Brooks showed he had all three. First back to back champion in almost 30 years.

A great - and I mean GREAT - tournament!

 

[LaJolla Lion]

You need nerves of steel, brass balls, and the heart of a lion to win the best championship in the world.

Brooks showed he had all three. First back to back champion in almost 30 years.

A great - and I mean GREAT - tournament!

Yeah, he was clutch down the stretch....really clutch. The course spit out great golfers and had them so f--ked up that Phil created a new term....michelgan....when you putt goes by to fast and you hit while moving. Like a mulligan, just for putting.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Interesting note.....I heard the Vegas over / under for the highest score on any hole during the tournament was 9.5.

The unders would have won except for Phil.....he apparently recorded the only double digit score on a hole with his 10.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Interesting note.....I heard the Vegas over / under for the highest score on any hole during the tournament was 9.5.

The unders would have won except for Phil.....he apparently recorded the only double digit score on a hole with his 10.

I like Phil a lot and root for him. He just plain lost his mind. Not his best look.

 

[Relayer]

I like Phil a lot and root for him. He just plain lost his mind. Not his best look.

Phil had an hour and a half to think about what he was going say in his presser.

Perhaps 20 years of frustration at this major finally caught up to him when he lost it on 13. Maybe at that moment he realized that winning the USOpen and completing the career slam ain't gonna happen. Who knows how his game will be heading into Pebble Beach next year.

He obviously has no remorse based on his actions after making par on 13 yesterday.

 

[Relayer]

DJ should thank Phil and the USGA for grabbing all the headlines. Very little talk on how he came up short and was not very good on the weekend. His irons were off and his putting looked like the old DJ. I was very surprised with his play after being in cruise control Thursday and Friday.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Phil had an hour and a half to think about what he was going say in his presser.

Perhaps 20 years of frustration at this major finally caught up to him when he lost it on 13. Maybe at that moment he realized that winning the USOpen and completing the career slam ain't gonna happen. Who knows how his game will be heading into Pebble Beach next year.

He obviously has no remorse based on his actions after making par on 13 yesterday.

Well, I think he showed SOME remorse Sat eve, he apparently called Mike Davis of the USGA and offered to withdraw from the tournament.

Sunday’s reaction to parring the hole? Probably pretty similar to what anyone else would have done at that point.

 

[Obliviax]

I though Saturday was a complete joke of a tournament. I am not sure who I blame more: the USGA for clowning up the course or lefty for acting like a clown. Perhaps he thought "When in Rome.....".

I get making the course hard. I get punishing bad shots. But if the USGA wants to do something, get control of the equipment. The greens were a complete joke. I'd rather play on the local course with the guys that are wearing sleeveless t-shirts than a course that is there to fool people and make them look bad. It was like putting the NHL finals on slushy ice, reminded me of Penn State's LSU bowl game, or playing the world series on the local playground.

Regardless, I thought the champ showed great spine and courage. The rest of the tournament was not up to par.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

DJ should thank Phil and the USGA for grabbing all the headlines. Very little talk on how he came up short and was not very good on the weekend. His irons were off and his putting looked like the old DJ. I was very surprised with his play after being in cruise control Thursday and Friday.

His weekend putting looked like he had taken a putting lesson from Tiger on Fri night!

 

[ILLINOISLION]

I though Saturday was a complete joke of a tournament. I am not sure who I blame more: the USGA for clowning up the course or lefty for acting like a clown. Perhaps he thought "When in Rome.....".

I get making the course hard. I get punishing bad shots. But if the USGA wants to do something, get control of the equipment. The greens were a complete joke. I'd rather play on the local course with the guys that are wearing sleeveless t-shirts than a course that is there to fool people and make them look bad. It was like putting the NHL finals on slushy ice, reminded me of Penn State's LSU bowl game, or playing the world series on the local playground.

Regardless, I thought the champ showed great spine and courage. The rest of the tournament was not up to par.

Obli, you nailed it: a great champion, a very disappointing venue.

 

[LurkerLazarus]

It's a shame that such a classic venue was permitted to get so screwed up.

Bottom line is, if you think the course is not up to the task, then don't pick it. If you have to muck with it too much, that means it's no longer worthy.

 

[Grass]

The hardest part for me on Sunday was trying to decide who I wanted to win. I literally battled back and forth in my mind up until the last few holes and then I said screw it. I would have been happy with any of the contenders on Sunday winning.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Obli, you nailed it: a great champion, a very disappointing venue.

Well, they're not going anywhere. Shinnecock will be in heavy rotation for the foreseeable future along with other regulars Pinehurst #2, Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines, Pebble and Oakmont. The USGA likes to go back to old favorites too, like The Country Club and Winged Foot. You have a new shooter in the mix with Los Angeles CC.

Then you have courses where there were very successful US Opens but not in the regular rotation like Merion, Oakland Hills, Congressional and Medinah. They have to get worked in too.

Don't hold your breath though on a return to Chambers Bay. Thank God. And I'd be happy if they stayed far, far away from Erin Hills as well.

 

[Obliviax]

His weekend putting looked like he had taken a putting lesson from Tiger on Fri night!

Thanks...but it is classic big business. Golf makes a ton of cash on equipment and manufacturers. Technology has made the current tracks stupid (hat time to MtNittany). The problem is equipment. So they are working to trick up courses so that they can retain their revenue stream but make golf seem like it is adhering to traditions. They are not addressing the problem, but trying to address it with bandaids.

I recall John Daly tearing up the British Open. He set to tee off on one of of the later holes on the last day. The announcer was talking about Daly not wanting to get into the fairway bunkers. Daly tees it up and wacks it about 40 yards beyond said bunkers. The color announcer, I want to say it was Jack but may be wrong, said "well, I don't think the old gal (the old course) has ever seen anything like the likes of John Daly before." His meaning was that Daly was playing way beyond the challenges that the old course applied to the players. Jack, I know, at one point, said something like "he plays a game of which I am not familiar" (of course, Jack had unprecedented length in his heyday as well).