John Kavanaugh was RIGHT

[Bart Bradley]

THIS has been an amazingly exciting Open.  The play, the setup, the players, AND the course have all been fabulous.

John called it.

Bart

[Jay Flemma]

Here here!  My heart has been racing all day.  What grand theatre.  And the course played tougher than my 7-under prediction.

Look how many threads Torrey generated this week.  ON gca.  Its given us a lot to talk about.  Amazing

[Bart Bradley]

Here here!  My heart has been racing all day.  What grand theatre.  And the course played tougher than my 7-under prediction.

Look how many threads Torrey generated this week.  ON gca.  Its given us a lot to talk about.  Amazing

I still don't know who I think will win...I haven't been at all comfortable with even guessing for the past 5 hours.

Bart

[John Kavanaugh]

My wife just called me a Drama King because I was yelling at Rocco's ball.

[David Stamm]

THIS has been an amazingly exciting Open.  The play, the setup, the players, AND the course have all been fabulous.

John called it.

Bart

Bart, I would attribute more to the set up than the course itself.

[Tom Huckaby]

This is too funny... I damn near never post here on the weekends, but I just fired up the computer with the sole and only intention of starting a thread entitled

KAVANAUGH WAS RIGHT!!!!

Best damn US Open I've watched since 1982, I think...

Anyway, could you ask for more drama?

13... calls for a dramatic choice plus great execution....

14 at 267.... good lord, how cool was that?

18 shortened....

Great call, John. 

TH

[Tim Bert]

Kavanaugh ALMOST called it, you mean.  If Rocco holds on to win in regulation, I'm right there.  I stand by my comment months ago that you can't have the greatest modern Open if it involves an 18 hole playoff.  Spin it any way you like from here on out.  An excellent Open, but the USGA really ought to do something about the least exciting tie-breaker in golf.  This could have been an electric finish tonight to have Rocco and Tiger go out and duke it out for a few holes.

[John Kavanaugh]

I have never had a week when more people have asked me if I have played a given course.  I have never been more proud to say yes.  Golf loves Torrey, so should you.  It will never be just Torrey ever again.

[Mike_Cirba]

John,

Nice call.   It has been a wonderful tournament.

[Will MacEwen]

Kavanaugh ALMOST called it, you mean.  If Rocco holds on to win in regulation, I'm right there.  I stand by my comment months ago that you can't have the greatest modern Open if it involves an 18 hole playoff.  Spin it any way you like from here on out.  An excellent Open, but the USGA really ought to do something about the least exciting tie-breaker in golf.  This could have been an electric finish tonight to have Rocco and Tiger go out and duke it out for a few holes.

The Monday playoff really defines "buzzkill".

[Tom Huckaby]

I have never had a week when more people have asked me if I have played a given course.  I have never been more proud to say yes.  Golf loves Torrey, so should you.  It will never be just Torrey ever again.

John - me too re that - I've had to explain Torrey 50 times this week... and I keep having to say I have but haven't - that is, I have played it many times, but not like it is today.  And darn right it will never be just Torrey again... but then again it never really was just a golf course.  It's always been a rather tough tee time and in the last few years the price has caught up with the fame for sure.

Tim - I kinda agree in that I don't like the 18 hole playoff - I think the 4 or 5 hole way they do it for the Open is the best - but whatever happens tomorrow is not going to change the greatness of this US Open.  I mean come on... Tiger gimpier than Hogan ever was cans a downhill 20 footer to tie on the 72nd hole?

TH

TH

[Kalen Braley]

I couldn't be more estatic, JK was right on the money.

And I'm glad we can finally put Torrey Pines Vs. Pebble beach to bed as to which one is better.  Its TP in a landlside, by a 1st round knockout.

Only a first class layout like TP could produce results and excitment this good.
Only a also ran would produce results seen in the last open at Pebble where Tiger not only won a laugher but was a snooze fest to boot on Sunday.

Only a first class layout like TP could provide such risk reward holes and well placed ponds to have it come down to the wire.
On the other hand, an also ran like Pebble clearly was inferior in its play as it wasn't even close and its strategic merits clearly favored one player over everyone else.

Only a first class layout like TP would allow an almost nodoby, who hasn't won in 6 years to be on the edge of winning his first major.
A 2nd rate layout only means you get the best player winning in a walk and clearly makes the field far less competitive.

Long live the king, TP has got to be right up there with all the great courses in the world.  Meanwhile, PB is clearly overrated and has no business in the top 100!!!  I'm glad this one has finally been clarified and PB can now officially be striken from the US Open rota in favor of TP.

[John Kavanaugh]

No one is calling the course top 10 like Pebble cleary deserves.  I do believe that most golfers going to San Diego would choose Torrey over Barona.

I am holding off calling this the greatest US Open of modern times until I see it finished.

I do feel sorry for anyone so caught up in their expertise on what makes great achitecture that they skip playing Torrey in favor of drinking wine and patting like people on the back.  As a matter of fact if Mackenzie could have chosen two golfers to end up tied on a perfectly designed course he just might have chosen Tiger and Rocco.  So much for Torrey being one dimensional.

[Ryan Farrow]

No one is calling the course top 10 like Pebble cleary deserves.  I do believe that most golfers going to San Diego would choose Torrey over Barona.

I am holding off calling this the greatest US Open of modern times until I see it finished.

I do feel sorry for anyone so caught up in their expertise on what makes great achitecture that they skip playing Torrey in favor of drinking wine and patting like people on the back.  As a matter of fact if Mackenzie could have chosen two golfers to end up tied on a perfectly designed course he just might have chosen Tiger and Rocco.  So much for Torrey being one dimensional.

I don't know about all that but I can't wait to see Tiger and my Pittsburgh boy Rocco go at. I was hoping for them to play together today, and i must admit i was rooting for tiger to drop that putt on 18, but its all Rocco tomorrow.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Really no one likes the 18-Hole playoff? I just think its the purest form of a tie-breaker in golf. If they are tied after 4 rounds why not give them a nights rest and a full round to duke it out. Is there a more different/opposite player than Woods on tour than Rocco is? Obviously I have a very small connection/bias to Rocco and his caddy from CP making it even more fun to watch but I can't understand why another 18 holes on such a great and exciting layout, as John called it, can be described as a buzzkill. I think it will be great theater to see the most fun-loving/biggest ham vs. the most serious/focused athlete of all time go head to head, mano y mano for another great 18 holes.

[Ryan Farrow]

Patrick, couldn't agree more.

[Will MacEwen]

Really no one likes the 18-Hole playoff? I just think its the purest form of a tie-breaker in golf. If they are tied after 4 rounds why not give them a nights rest and a full round to duke it out. Is there a more different/opposite player than Woods on tour than Rocco is? Obviously I have a very small connection/bias to Rocco and his caddy from CP making it even more fun to watch but I can't understand why another 18 holes on such a great and exciting layout, as John called it, can be described as a buzzkill. I think it will be great theater to see the most fun-loving/biggest ham vs. the most serious/focused athlete of all time go head to head, mano y mano for another great 18 holes.

I might like it if I got to see it, but I won't ,and many others are in the same boat.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Really no one likes the 18-Hole playoff? I just think its the purest form of a tie-breaker in golf. If they are tied after 4 rounds why not give them a nights rest and a full round to duke it out. Is there a more different/opposite player than Woods on tour than Rocco is? Obviously I have a very small connection/bias to Rocco and his caddy from CP making it even more fun to watch but I can't understand why another 18 holes on such a great and exciting layout, as John called it, can be described as a buzzkill. I think it will be great theater to see the most fun-loving/biggest ham vs. the most serious/focused athlete of all time go head to head, mano y mano for another great 18 holes.

I might like it if I got to see it, but I won't ,and many others are in the same boat.

Now that I can understand although you should be able to at least catch the end even on the east coast after work. But from a golf perspective and/or from watching it I think its great.

[John Kavanaugh]

Will,

I have caught a majority of the tournament by listening to XM 146.  You could buy a unit tonight and be listening tomorrow.

[Will MacEwen]

Will,

I have caught a majority of the tournament by listening to XM 146.  You could buy a unit tonight and be listening tomorrow.

Not going to fly, even in the country courts where I ply my trade.

[Mike Nuzzo]

I think more lucky than right.
Tiger not hurt it might have been a runaway.
I say the greatness of the event had more to do with the players, then the set up, then the course.

Although John's quote is fantastic:

"a matter of fact if Mackenzie could have chosen two golfers to end up tied on a perfectly designed course he just might have chosen Tiger and Rocco.  "

[Jason Connor]

I'm a fan of the 18-hole tiebreaker.

It's like coming home from a long golf trip when you're thinking, "Man, I wish this was one day longer."  The U.S. Open -- which everyone is raving about -- is one day longer!  And the two guys playing are the two best right now.  What's not to like?

[TEPaul]

Perhaps John Kavanaugh was right but if he was he got a ton of help from the USGA's Competitions Director Mike Davis.

In my opinion, the hero of the success of this US Open was Mike Davis. And I think I can say with some assurance this was no accident, and hopefully it will be part of our US Open future.

The excitement generation and excitement factor cannot be denied, and, again, it was not accidental---what you saw this week is his new maintenance and set-up philosophy.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Perhaps John Kavanaugh was right but if he was he got a ton of help from the USGA's Competitions Director Mike Davis.

In my opinion, the hero of the success of this US Open was Mike Davis. And I think I can say with some assurance this was no accident, and hopefully it will be part of our US Open future.

The excitement generation and excitement factor cannot be denied, and, again, it was not accidental---what you saw this week is his new maintenance and set-up philosophy.

Yea good point Tom, we have Mike Davis to thank for sure and I think we will get to enjoy a similar set-up at Interlachen it two weeks for the Women's Open. On Sat/Sun they will have a short-4 @ 250 to a very well-bunkered green and a 25 yard draw off the tee to hit it as well as a very reachable par-5 for #18. Should be fun too.

[Tim Bert]

My issue with the 18 hole playoff stems from the fact that it can make for a real ho-hummer if it gets out of hand early.  Hopefully it will come down to the final few holes and make for some more excitement because this Open deserves a good finish the way it has been going so far.

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