Despite having no data to substantiate this claim
, I opine that more greens are being hit in regulation at this US Open from balls off the fairway than ever before.
Do you agree? It sure seems so from what I have seen, coupled with input from friends.
Let’s suppose that it’s true.
That leads to a tricky question: Is that good or bad?
Given that we are at Pinehurst, I believe that it is positive because it promotes a bolder, more open shouldered brand of the game, even under major championship conditions. The severity of the Pinehurst greens, as a set, all eighteen of them, (not just 6 or 8 or 10) is the perfect complement to patchy ‘rough’. The integrity of the course’s challenge is being wonderfully maintained by its one-off green complexes. Together, the absence of rough and treacherous greens are providing an examination that yields a star-studded leaderboard. Just what we want!
(True, Pinehurst on Friday (with a couple of holes set up too short
) yielded again to Martin Kaymer's superlative performance but Pebble, Oakmont, St. Andrews, Augusta, etc. have always shown that great courses are great BECAUSE they reward superlative play.)
In decades gone by, killer rough combined with killer greens created the prototypical US Open beat-down, embodied by Oakmont and Winged Foot. That brand of golf has its place FOR SURE but golf should be about variety when compared to other sports. After all, that's its ultimate trump card which is why it was a shame that past US Open course set-ups became too easily stereotyped. Millions upon millions of people tuned in for US Opens only to see similarly difficult parkland set-ups time and time again.
That is the very perception that Mike Davis is changing - what constitutes a thorough examination. Without question, Pinehurst is challenging the best
even if they can hit the green from the rough. Just as the players and spectators this week are seeing a different form of golf, same will apply at Chambers Bay in 2015 and Erin Hills in 2017. ALL OF THIS IS GREAT FOR THE SPORT.
Golf's variety is FINALLY being highlighted and that’s a very good thing.
Best,