"Did he reach the 2nd at Merion in 2?"
Tom Birkert:
Interesting you would ask that on here and I wonder if you even considered who in the world would even know that other than John Hurley himself or perhaps his caddie from around here (if in fact he could even remember shots he hit on a particular hole at Merion during the US Amateur back in 2005).
But you're lucky because I believe I do remember, but why would I? Well, that's a pretty interesting story too I'll get into later.
Sometimes somebody comes along and there is just a certain unusualness to something about it which people instinctively pick up on when it happens. Around here (particularly at Merion)with distance and ball striking at least I can think of two really good examples of that;
1. When Davis Love III came through here back in I guess 1985.
2. When John Hurley did in 2005.
I didn't see Davis's round (64) but I know two of the three guys who played with him and I've spoken with Love's caddy that day. I saw every hole of all the golf Hurley played when he was here in Philadelphia for the 2005 US Amateur.
Why did I do that? Because I saw him in the quarterfinals of the Nebraska Match play championship in the summer of 2005 and even though I did not know the course (Wild Horse) or the guy who was playing him (who beat Hurley on the 19th hole) it took me only about a hole or two to recognize this kid was pretty much an anomaly even compared to the best and most powerful of the young guys he played against (and it didn't take long to hear them say that too).
That got my attention in Nebraska that day and I stuck with him his entire week in Philly in 2005. I played a lot of tournaments against a number of players like Jay Sigel who was arguable as powerful and long as an amateur as any of the Tour players out there and that can be documented as he played against and with them all in so many Masters and US Opens and such.
But Hurley was just that much different from even a Sigel in power and length and ball striking and distance. When I saw him play in Nebraska and that week in Philadelphia in 2005 he didn't even have optimized equipment (apparently of his own choice for a particular reason) for maximum distance with his swing speed and ball speed.
And they did catch him on those USGA computers too during the 2005 US Amateur. That one shot which he admitted a couple of minutes later he really didn't catch very well sure did surprise the USGA tech guys when that shot came up on their computers behind the 5th tee at Merion.
Hurley's ball speed captured by those kinds of computers is over 200mph. Tiger's, for instance, is around 185mph.
But in the real world to watch that on the golf course is just so different, at least for me. His swing is really good, pretty beautiful actually, and his backswing has a nice even tempo to it and he doesn't even take it to parallel (he said he worked very hard on that) and the transition is a nice even tempo too but once he starts coming down after a good transition his arms and the club is just a solid blur through the impact zone, and then he actually seems to finish with a nice even pace and held finish.
That's really different from anything I'd ever seen before but the other thing is the sound---I never heard one like that and the other thing is the ball comes out of there so fast you can hardly even pick up the first 100 yards of it unless you swing your head down the line around the time he's reaching impact. I was definitely not the only one who noticed those things that week in Philadelphia.
I've seen a lot of really powerful players in my career but that guy is different than anything I ever saw before perhaps even Davis Love III in that remarkable power performance he put on at the Walker Cup at Pine Valley in his one and only singles match (I followed that entire match too). There is no question at all that to the USGA officials watching Love that day at PV back in 1985 that that was some kind of window on the future with distance they had definitely never seen before and they definitely knew it and appreciated it (although I do recall the looks on their faces were also ones of some concern
).
I believe if you gave Hurley equipment that was completely optimized to and for him there probably isn't anyone out there he couldn't fly. To believe it you pretty much have to see it, and one can't really tell by just watching one or two of his shots. Follow him all week and you can tell though and that brings up something else pretty interesting about his distance I'll mention later.