USGA/Pinehurst verdict: F as in failure

[Bruce Katona]

IMHO, as a televised event, F as in Fantastic; as 8 players managed to overome the Defense of Par and were in the mix late, including late charges by Tony Finau, Hideki, Russell Henly, Cantlay & Mathew Pavon (who performed admirably playng in the final group).........and it was Fantastic because of how the participants performed on a great stage.  Frankly (another F), the only thing better would have been a playoff.


 The native areas are something now unique to Pinehurst, like no rough was for many years at AGNC - like it or not.  In the end the wire grass probably cost as many shots as it presented recovery chances - and how a ball would up did add excitement to an errant stroke, with the chance at a recovery, or result in a disaster.


Greens who look like overturned plates or bowls rolling at 13 or 13+ with pins cut right on the edges - just what you'd expect from the group orchestrating the show.


I would have agaig preferred a playoff.  How the winner interacted with the patrons  while playing his round is something he brought from LIV and its something golf needs to grow the game. For the guy who is having a difficult Monday, if most/many/all of us had gone through what he has in his personal life very recently & very publically, and came a whisker of holding onto the brass ring in what we all do for a living, well played - we all should be so professional.

[Matt_Cohn]

So wait, now folks on GCA are complaining that there's too MUCH luck in golf?


I must have misread everything posted on here the last 20 years. 

[Peter Sayegh]

Nobody is arguing that Rory didn’t  drop the ball. The question is should Bryson have been near the top with as many fairways that  he missed. It is the US OPEN after all.

Yes he should. He answered the questions presented by the course and USGA. That’s why he is the champion. The others didn’t. That’s the way it works.

So wait, now folks on GCA are complaining that there's too MUCH luck in golf?


I must have misread everything posted on here the last 20 years. 

Daryl, Matt, thank you for your posts.
GCA has never embraced the fact tournaments/majors are simply competitions...

[Pete_Pittock]

Bryson finished 66th in driving accuracy. All previous winners were in the top 10. Rory was top 10. Yes, luck in the natives was a huge factor.

There were 73 players on the weekend.  The player who was average (37th) hit seven more fairways than BAD over the tournament, less than two more per day.  DeChambeau was the runaway leader in driving length. It seemed that recovery shots from the rough more than not allowed the player to advance the ball close to the green. I'd posit that distance was more important than accuracy, as the runner up in driving distance also was runner-up in the tournament.


Two other takes. 1) Bryson had to change his driver's head just before he headed to the first tee on Sunday, presumably because the original one was damaged. His Sunday stats were worst, and there was a steady decline as the tournament proceeded. Maybe it was beginning to fail in earlier rounds.
                         2) He had physio mid round on Saturday. Any physical impediment will likely affect distance and accuracy, and with his swing speed, the effect on him would be greater.


 

[Craig Sweet]

Bryson won the tournament on the greens....period.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I didn’t have a bad time watching but I’m used to some penalty when fairways off the tee are missed.

There were penalties for missing the fairways. Bryson had wire grass and sandy lies all day. He just dealt with them really well. It's not like he had nothing to worry about all day until the 18th.

Is golf now just entertainment?

It's not "just" that but it's mostly that for you and I, as long as we're talking about the U.S. Open.

I'd venture that you are heavily discounting Bryson's recovery skills because he made it look far easier than it actually is. No other player recovered like he did this week, even from good lies.

Bingo.

These greens made this U.S. Open more of a "second shot golf tournament" than the Masters ever really is. You had to be precise as heck at Pinehurst, and all the times the wire grass interfered even a little, or the "sandy areas" even if you were away from wire grass… made it tougher. Bryson recovered incredibly well, very often.

It’s not like he went catatonic and was firing birdies like he was at TPC Bushwood. He shot 71. With several less than 10% up and downs. It wasn’t about getting his club on the back of the ball. It was about correctly judging lie and his own ability and then making some truly remarkable pars. 8 and 18 come to mind.

Bingo x 2.

[Matt_Cohn]

Bryson won a US Open with narrow fairways and high rough, and won a US Open with wide fairways and no rough. You can make a case that both setups de-emphasized driving accuracy, but more likely he just combines strategy and execution better than the other guys.

[JLahrman]

I'd venture that you are heavily discounting Bryson's recovery skills because he made it look far easier than it actually is. No other player recovered like he did this week, even from good lies.

It's interesting to look at the strokes gained statistics from the tournament: https://www.usopen.com/2024/player-stats.html?tab=strokesGained

For the 4th round only, Bryson had:
0.12 gained off the tee (distance compensating for missing fairways).
-0.06 gained on approaches
-0.59 gained putting
1.32 gained around the green - the only part of his game that stood out on Sunday

For all four rounds, Bryson gained between 0.96 (approaches) and 1.17 (putting) in the four phases.

That's a pretty nice all-around performance, although his play around the greens really made the difference on Sunday.

By comparison, McIlroy had (for full tournament/4th round):
Tee:  1.78 / 1.61
Approaches: 0.41 / -1.67
Around the green: 1.21 / 0.63
Putting: 0.64 / 2.21


Chamblee was hammering on about McIlroy's irons, and going at least by those stats he's not wrong. McIlroy's putting gets a lot of scrutiny, but for the week it was good especially on Sunday even with the two misses. Much has been made that the putts on 16 and 18 were the only ones inside of five feet he missed all week. It would be easy to create a mashup of every player in the field missing at least one putt from lengths similar to the putts on 16 and 18 during the week. The focus will understandably be on those putts, but if you look at the full 72 holes the main reason McIlroy was even in that position was because of his putting particularly on Sunday. Overall it was his irons that let him down on Sunday - 4, 5 (though that was a tough break), 7, 8, 15, 17...

[Matthew Rose]

I think Bryson's amazing series of recoveries from these situations had to be worth something and that to me is what stood out.

[Paul Rudovsky]

Please quit disparaging "luck"...because one the the greatest things about the game we all play is that it is a simulation of life.  In life, we get good bounces and bad bounces, good lies and bad lies...and one of the very important tests of life is how you reaction to bad lies and bad bounces.  The greats get a bad bounce or bad lie and then grit it out.  That is what Bryson did on the first and last holes Sunday.  The greats are street fighters...Rory is not.


By the way...those of you who condemn luck in the game...what do you think of the bounces you get over in GB&I???  That is part of the charm and test of golf over there and I submit that it a key reason that 98% of those who post on GCA love playing there.  If I have a criticism of golf today it is that we may have gone overboard in making course conditions too perfect.  Yes, I love the advances made over the past 10+ years...but part of me misses the test of bad bounces and bad lies which have been severely reduced as a result.


And Bryson winning when missing so many fairways...ever think it might have something to do with his genius  and his abilities in terms of hitting it from bad lies?.  In many ways I think the only golfers in his class in history are four guys with the first names of Ben, Moe, Lee, and Tiger.


Finally, for the last 8 months to so I have felt that the two "stars" of the new courses to open in 2023/24 (at least to date) are Lido (WI) and Old Barnwell (SC).  I put them in a very very special class along with The Old Course in that all three put a premium on thinking, strategy, local knowledge, and most off all discipline.  IMO at its best, great golf demands these skills in spades...just as life does.  After this week I have added Pinehurst #2 to complete a foursome.  Incredible test and brilliant performance by Mr. BdC.

[Michael Morandi]

Paul,


You make very good and irrefutable points about luck and character. My problem with the native areas is that they weren’t native at all, consisting of some 75 plant species, many not native to the area, and the areas themselves were contrived by the USGA. I’m not aware of that being done in the GB&I, nor am I aware of a guy hitting 9 of 14 drives into the GB&I native areas and still being able to get his club on the back of the ball. Of course in the GB&I the native areas aren’t a yard off the fairway either. I take nothing away from Bryson’s performance and character. He made the shots before him. He played the same course as everyone else. He is a deserving champion on the course played.


Michael

[Ben Hollerbach]

I’m not aware of that being done in the GB&I, nor am I aware of a guy hitting 9 of 14 drives into the GB&I native areas and still being able to get his club on the back of the ball.

Molinari won the 2018 Open Championship only hitting 43% of the fairways that week.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I'm not sure I understand why you are so upset with the native areas. I understand that some species aren't native to the area. Neither is bent grass. Bryson had some dicey lies in the "rough." His strength allowed him to manage them better than others could. I thought of Arnie at Birkdale when he hit his second shot from a bush.

[Michael Morandi]

I’m not aware of that being done in the GB&I, nor am I aware of a guy hitting 9 of 14 drives into the GB&I native areas and still being able to get his club on the back of the ball.

Molinari won the 2018 Open Championship only hitting 43% of the fairways that week.

How many of his errant drives went into the native areas?

[Mark Pearce]

How many of his errant drives went into the native areas?

What "native areas"?  They went into rough or bunkers.  I can't help thinking that you're over-thinking this.

[Michael Morandi]

I probably am. But aren’t you making my point that you can’t compare Pinehurst to courses in the Open rota? 


I’m moving on.

[Paul Stephenson]

One of the 5 fairways he hit ended up in a divot.  He couldn't avoid the sand no matter where he drove the ball.

[JohnVDB]

 Others have said Bryson got lucky with his lies in the native areas and he couldn’t have done what he did with a “normal” US Open setup. He has a YouTube video up of all his shots in the final round. I went through it see his shots.
Lets take a look at the non par 3s.:
#1 – Tee shot right down the middle ends up in a divot.  I suppose those who oppose him getting lucky in the rough also think he should get relief from the divot since he got unlucky there. He knocked it on the green.
#2 – In native.  Got a decent lie, but couldn’t get the spin to keep the ball on the green.  Did get it up and down.
#3 – Fairway and green
#4 – Fairway, hits second over green and can’t get it up and down.
#5 – In native.  Not a very good lie, but he kept the second shot to the right into the bunker which was the smarter play than Rory missing short and having it go left.  Well played for a par.
#7 – In fairway, hit green
#8 – Really bad drive into trees. Out to where the spectators walked and pine straw. Typically not a area where you might get a bad lie even if there was rough. Couldn’t get on green though because of the trees, but made a great up and down.
#10 – In native. Lie was good, but his stance appeared to be affected by a tuft of wire grass.  Couldn’t get to green, but got in the fairway. Got it up and down for birdie.
#11 – In native. Again lie was ok but stance was affected.  Faxon said his face was shut down by wire grass.  Pulled it left but got it up and down out of bunker. Bryson was heard on mic saying it was another bad stance in there.
#12 – In native again. Had to pitch out because of thick grass in front of his ball. His second bogey of day.
#13 – Drove green.  This didn’t count as a fairway hit, second birdie.
#14 – First miss in left native.  Had a good lie and stance there. Hit green.
#16 – Hit fairway after bouncing through rough. Hit green.
#18 – Bad drive left. Swing restricted by the magnolia tree, got it in bunker and the rest was history.
So, of all the times he missed the fairway I would say there were only two (2 and 14) where he had clean lie and stance. Those two and the two par 5s were the only ones where he hit the green in regulation. He made a number of excellent recoveries after driving in the native to save pars.

[Rob Marshall]

Please quit disparaging "luck"...because one the the greatest things about the game we all play is that it is a simulation of life.  In life, we get good bounces and bad bounces, good lies and bad lies...and one of the very important tests of life is how you reaction to bad lies and bad bounces.  The greats get a bad bounce or bad lie and then grit it out.  That is what Bryson did on the first and last holes Sunday.  The greats are street fighters...Rory is not.


By the way...those of you who condemn luck in the game...what do you think of the bounces you get over in GB&I???  That is part of the charm and test of golf over there and I submit that it a key reason that 98% of those who post on GCA love playing there.  If I have a criticism of golf today it is that we may have gone overboard in making course conditions too perfect.  Yes, I love the advances made over the past 10+ years...but part of me misses the test of bad bounces and bad lies which have been severely reduced as a result.


And Bryson winning when missing so many fairways...ever think it might have something to do with his genius  and his abilities in terms of hitting it from bad lies?.  In many ways I think the only golfers in his class in history are four guys with the first names of Ben, Moe, Lee, and Tiger.


Finally, for the last 8 months to so I have felt that the two "stars" of the new courses to open in 2023/24 (at least to date) are Lido (WI) and Old Barnwell (SC).  I put them in a very very special class along with The Old Course in that all three put a premium on thinking, strategy, local knowledge, and most off all discipline.  IMO at its best, great golf demands these skills in spades...just as life does.  After this week I have added Pinehurst #2 to complete a foursome.  Incredible test and brilliant performance by Mr. BdC.

Saying Rory is not a street fighter is s little harsh. He’s  blown fields away in majors. Blown them away. Obviously he’s in a major slump right now. Wouldn’t surprise me if he comes out on fire at the British. This tournament shouldn’t define his career. Look at Greg Norman’s record.

[Rob Marshall]

John,
My only comment would be #5. Rory did come up short after the ball rolled backwards after being 20 or 30 from the pin well into the green. Was that a bad shot, Bad break,or just “Pinehurst”. I’ve never been there.

[Kyle Harris]

If the US Open is about hitting fairways then why leave the range?

[Erik J. Barzeski]

and the areas themselves were contrived by the USGA

Oh boy.