US Open set-up -- where's Tom Meeks when you need him?

[Phil McDade]

The scoring at this year's US Open is too low.

As I write this, the leaderboard shows 19 players under par; another 9 are at even par.

This is not the US Open I grew up on.

McIlroy's performance so far, while admirable, is not the issue. He's simply playing much better than anyone else on what appears to be a course set up to be moderately difficult. Throw McIlroy out of the equation, and while you might have a more exciting tournament, you'd still have a US Open on a course where birdies and eagles are easy to find, lots of players are under par, rounds in the 60s are commonplace, and 27 players have gone through nearly three rounds of golf without going over par.

There should be one tournament a year -- just one -- that is a long, hard slog. Where making par is often a relief. Where several holes are just a b...tch to play. Where birdies ought to be a true accomplishment, with three or so extremely well-played shots. Options schmomptions -- I want Patton's match to Bastogne.

Is it the course? Is it the conditions (i.e., weather during and leading up to the tournament)? I note the same course in 1997 produced a winning score of -4, only two other cumulative scores under par, and modest numbers of rounds in the 60s (par of 70 that year). Olin Browne, playing the tournament of his life, was in contention most of the tournament and shot three rounds over par (all 71s), one round under par (69), and finished T-5th -- my kind of US Open.

I, of course, blame the set-up.

[Ronald Montesano]

How much of the course sits below the clubhouse? If most of it does, not only is it wet, but it's in the drain zone. Slow fairways and soft greens makes for longer straight drives and closer approaches (see Zach Johnson, Round 3, 11th hole, hybrid.) Can't blame the absence of Meeeks. Bethpage in both 2002 and 2009 was like throwing darts.

[Tim Martin]

The scoring at this year's US Open is too low.

As I write this, the leaderboard shows 19 players under par; another 9 are at even par.

This is not the US Open I grew up on.

McIlroy's performance so far, while admirable, is not the issue. He's simply playing much better than anyone else on what appears to be a course set up to be moderately difficult. Throw McIlroy out of the equation, and while you might have a more exciting tournament, you'd still have a US Open on a course where birdies and eagles are easy to find, lots of players are under par, rounds in the 60s are commonplace, and 27 players have gone through nearly three rounds of golf without going over par.

There should be one tournament a year -- just one -- that is a long, hard slog. Where making par is often a relief. Where several holes are just a b...tch to play. Where birdies ought to be a true accomplishment, with three or so extremely well-played shots. Options schmomptions -- I want Patton's match to Bastogne.

Is it the course? Is it the conditions (i.e., weather during and leading up to the tournament)? I note the same course in 1997 produced a winning score of -4, only two other cumulative scores under par, and modest numbers of rounds in the 60s (par of 70 that year). Olin Browne, playing the tournament of his life, was in contention most of the tournament and shot three rounds over par (all 71s), one round under par (69), and finished T-5th -- my kind of US Open.

I, of course, blame the set-up.

I`m with Phil. What happened to par being a good score at the U.S. Open? The pins better be tucked tomorrow or it will be a snoozefest.

[John Shimp]

There's been rain, you are watching the leaders and mostly rory, and it's Saturday where rds like westwoods tend to happen.  I hate watching guys chop sideways from the rough or miss 2 footers on pebbles lousy poa last year.  Shinnecocks challenges are more fun though......  

I think its a nice challenge and producing a good leader board. Some good players who had been playing well aren't here.

[Anthony_Nysse]

I think that whole "graduated rough" idea needs to graduate. This rough cut is now all around the bunkers, thus encouraging balls to go INTO the bunkers, which most pro would rather have. THe rough around the tees pads are the "dirtiest" on the courses.
  I understand that it's soft, but there is too much short grass to recover out of. I like the videos of the Open of the 80's and 90's where you knew the Superintendent would be mowing the roughs for weeks to get it down to member height. 

[Terry Lavin]

Tom is probably enjoying a glass of Merlot after playing golf today.  He's a great man and he was the king of the tough setup.  So he got criticized like crazy.  He was following the edicts of the competition committee back then and Davis and his crew are following the edicts of the current committee.

The beef I have is more related to the East Coast bias.  When the USGA cut the rough before the Open at Olympia and the weather turned wet and mild, the critics came out "a howling".  "The course is too easy."  "This isn't US Open rough."  "This isn't like any US Open I've seen."  When Furyk won at 8 under and only three players broke par, the reputation of the course was still damaged.  For no good reason, of course, but it was.

But if it happens out East, the critics shut their collective mouths.  The course is easier because of the conditions.  They took a chance with newish bent grass on USGA spec greens and now they're paying the price.  If this happened in Chicago, Cleveland or Toledo, they'd never go back there, because the whining would be so loud.

Wait until they go to Merion and 78% of the field is under par.  There might be 20 players better than 10 under at that Open.  It won't matter, because the blue coats fairly genuflect before walking on Merion's property.  And well they should, it's a bit of a shrine after all.  If the pros beat up Shinny in 2018, not to worry, the Open will still come back, because it's out East, for Chrissakes.

There's a saying that "size matters".  Well in these golf matters, "score matters" unless the tournament is held well east of the Mississippi (or at Pebble Beach, which is exempt from every conceivable criticism).

Off my soapbox.  Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood and Robert Garrigus and a bunch of other guys are beating up a very good, but very vulnerable (to pros) golf course.  Unless somebody gets closer to McIlroy, this Open won't be all that watchable tomorrow, which will be a bit of a shame, because this kid just might be the future of golf.

[Joel_Stewart]

I'll cut them some slack.  The weather was terrible last week and then turned pleasant this week.  The greens were on the verge of dying and they had to take some action.

Besides, par is just a relative number.  Tell really good players Ian Poulter or Nick Watney the course is too easy.

[Garland Bayley]

The scoring at this year's US Open is too low.

As I write this, the leaderboard shows 19 players under par; another 9 are at even par.

This is not the US Open I grew up on.
...

Are you kidding me? They had to loosen it up for the third round so Rory didn't make it an absolute blood bath. They are trying to keep him from breaking Tiger's record for largest margin of victory at the US Open.

[jeffwarne]

I'll cut them some slack.  The weather was terrible last week and then turned pleasant this week.  The greens were on the verge of dying and they had to take some action.

Besides, par is just a relative number.  Tell really good players Ian Poulter or Nick Watney the course is too easy.

or they could just arbitrarily call a 500 yard hole a par 4 and lower par by 4 shots.

Par is just a number.

Plenty of low 4 round totals in US Open history, just not as many under par when par's  280

Here's a thought though...
Why target stimps of 14, flatten the greens to accomodate that speed, and be at the mercy of the weather?

Why not leave enough slope where challenging pins are available at "lower speeds",and target quite achievable speeds of 11 or 12 as the speed?
weather is less likely to change your target and outcome then....
and the rest of the golf world could stop targeting super silly speeds exceeding 12

and if protecting par is really important,stop moving tees up....

[Tim Martin]

I'll cut them some slack.  The weather was terrible last week and then turned pleasant this week.  The greens were on the verge of dying and they had to take some action.

Besides, par is just a relative number.  Tell really good players Ian Poulter or Nick Watney the course is too easy.

or they could just arbitrarily call a 500 yard hole a par 4 and lower par by 4 shots.

Par is just a number.

Plenty of low 4 round totals in US Open history, just not as many under par when par's  280

Here's a thought though...
Why target stimps of 14, flatten the greens to accomodate that speed, and be at the mercy of the weather?

Why not leave enough slope where challenging pins are available at "lower speeds",and target quite achievable speeds of 11 or 12 as the speed?
weather is less likely to change your target and outcome then....
and the rest of the golf world could stop targeting super silly speeds exceeding 12

and if protecting par is really important,stop moving tees up....

Jeff- Johnny Miller has mentioned more than once that the lower scoring is partly because of the tees being up. Do you think they will tip it out tomorrow?

[David Kelly]

I think that whole "graduated rough" idea needs to graduate. This rough cut is now all around the bunkers, thus encouraging balls to go INTO the bunkers, which most pro would rather have. THe rough around the tees pads are the "dirtiest" on the courses.
  I understand that it's soft, but there is too much short grass to recover out of. I like the videos of the Open of the 80's and 90's where you knew the Superintendent would be mowing the roughs for weeks to get it down to member height. 

So why even have bunkers if you want to grow out the grass to stop players from going into them?

[Tim Bert]

"Unless somebody gets closer to McElroy, this Open won't be all that watchable tomorrow, which will be a bit of a shame, because this kid just might be the future of golf."

I have a feeling we will be seeing a healthy dose of this from Rory.  The real shame is the number of Tiger supporters that thrived on this stuff that will now run to proclaim Rory blow-outs unwatchable.  When Tiger did it somehow it was must see TV.  The torch is being passed. Get on the wagon while there's still time to do it early on.  I bet Rory will even win a major from behind on Sunday one day.

[Ted Cahill]

Oh, this is the US Open?  That explains why Phil is here. I thought I was watching the John Deere Classic.

[Dan Herrmann]

I'm happy with the Open.  The lowest score wins, and "par" is just an artificial concept.  I love what Mike Davis is doing.

You get 100F temps followed by rain, you're going to have a soft course. 

[noonan]

Par 71 rather than 70......everyone whines when the course is silly hard....the course is soft and the balls are long....and the drivers are big

These guys are good...

Rory is swing hard at it and the ball is going straight.....

[Mark Pearce]

Terry,

An interesting US perspective.  Frankly, outside the US, I'm not sure it works the same.  OF didn't suffer here from the scores when Furyk won and CCC looks like a dog track.  I agree that the course is playing easier than a US Open track should but that, surely, is down to a combination of weather and concern over the greens.  The softness of the greens and the ease with which they are stopping the ball seems to be the problem.

It's McIlroy, by the way.

[David Royer]

By late yesterday I found myself asking what happened to our US Open.  It happened when one of the announcers said something like  twenty players were at par or lower.  Rory is the not the reason I found myself wanting a little of the old  back, it was the other 19 or so.  Most areas always experience there typical weather patterns.  I'm not sure the setup expectations were realistic.  I wonder what Mike Davis has in mind for next year at Olympic?  it would seem to me the new typical of graduated rough, added length, etc., needs to be tempered by design and expected weather.

[Philippe Binette]

No wind + soft greens = low scoring...

it doesn't help that the bunkering looks to be for babies... too far away from the greens and completely lacking character to scare the players a bit

and some fairways were flattened to make sure it looks more like the driving range.

[Joe Grasty]

Philippe is exactly right, no wind and soft conditions make for low scores.  The setup is fine.  The best players in the world showed up and Rory lapped them all. 

Assuming he gets the job done today, it'll be good to live in a world where Tiger is no longer king of the jungle.

[Kalen Braley]

I think the biggest "problem" isn't even being addressed....equipment.

These guys are hitting driver 9 iron on a 480+ yard par 4 (18). This is just stupid!  I don't recall this happening last time around at Congressional.

I don't blame the course, I blame how equipment has made super long holes into driver, short iron.  Unfortunately it only makes things worse for us weekend warriors because courses get longer and tougher based on a handful of pro events and the eventual monkey see- monkey do nonsense of local course operators.

Lets see these guys put up these numbers when they are hitting 4 and 5 irons into these greens instead of wedge thru 8 iron.

[Niall C]

Philippe is exactly right, no wind and soft conditions make for low scores.  The setup is fine.  The best players in the world showed up and Rory lapped them all. 

Assuming he gets the job done today, it'll be good to live in a world where Tiger is no longer king of the jungle.

Joe

Where have you been the last couple of years 

Niall

[Jim Nelson]

Did changing #6 to a par 5 change his relationship to par?  They did lengthen the hole somewhat, but I have never played there and have no idea how the players view this hole.  I certainly support good risk/reward holes.  Rory went birdie, birdie, par or 2 under.  If it was still played as a par 4, he would be 1 over.  I know you can't quite compare this way, but is the course easier in relationship to par?  I would have to think so.  11 under is quite an accomplishment and he would still be 8 better than 2nd place, but not a record.

[Phil McDade]

Kalen:

Wouldn't getting rid of the graduated rough (i.e,., part of the set-up) discourage more drivers off the tee? Wouldn't having truly penal rough encourage accuracy vs. length?

I've seen lots of balls stopped on greens coming out of the real rough (not the graduated stuff), which to me suggests it's not that penal. Being in the graduated rough hardly seems penalizing in any way.

[Garland Bayley]

I think the biggest "problem" isn't even being addressed....equipment.

These guys are hitting driver 9 iron on a 480+ yard par 4 (18). This is just stupid!  I don't recall this happening last time around at Congressional.

....

It's downhill. But how much. I hit driver, 8 iron on 10 at Indian Canyon, and it's about as long.

[Phil McDade]

Did changing #6 to a par 5 change his relationship to par?  They did lengthen the hole somewhat, but I have never played there and have no idea how the players view this hole.  I certainly support good risk/reward holes.  Rory went birdie, birdie, par or 2 under.  If it was still played as a par 4, he would be 1 over.  I know you can't quite compare this way, but is the course easier in relationship to par?  I would have to think so.  11 under is quite an accomplishment and he would still be 8 better than 2nd place, but not a record.

Jim:

True; it's obviously easier to get more under par with three par 5s on the course than the usual two par 5s. In the past 10 years, this is only the third US Open to feature a par of 71 (PBeach and TPines the others); all the rest have been 70. The USGA historically (well, going back 40 years or so) has had a tendency to play the Open at courses with a par of 70 (Baltusrol, Merion, Olympic, along with WFoot, Southern Hills, Shinnecock) either by design or set-up.

Johnny Miller during yesterday's broadcast said Congressional features only three holes (10, 11, and 18) with any amount of risk in them at all. Congressional's probably among the weaker tier of courses to host the Open, but the USGA found a way with Torrey Pines to make the course challenging. Of the top nine players on the leaderboard, everyone save for Yang broke 70; Westwood hardly looked like he broke a sweat in shooting 65 yesterday.

I know these guys are both good and smart; I'd just like to see them get a little more nervous over shots. To me, the tournament hasn't been very compelling, because the course and its set-up seem to demand little of the player other than executing a few modestly challenging shots per round.