Lot of crying about the course set up.
It got a little crazy this afternoon, but the Open isn't supposed to be easy.

I'm excited to watch the last round tomorrow, hopefully they get the right amount of water on the greens and we see some lower scores tomorrow afternoon. The early tee times should have some good scoring opportunities.

Oh yeah, Joe Buck should stick to baseball or whatever the hell his day job is....sheesh.

Nope... but because of the traffic it causes, our monthly USPSA match has been rescheduled to next weekend.

There is difficult...and then there is impossible.

I don't begrudge the USGA making par a respectable score... but when you see MANY professionals four putt and three put from six feet away... you're just making a mockery of a competition.

This tournament is as bad as Chambers Bay... I blame the USGA.

I haven't been able to watch any of it, but I've been keeping up. Every year, the USGA seems like they want to set the course up as to embarrass the best golfers in the world. I don't agree with that. I don't think it should be easy, but there's a find line in there somewhere. The course set up yesterday especially was way over that line.

My father is thinking that the Dane will win.

I’ve been watching the carnage.

I think it’s just a couple of holes (15 is one) where pin placements were a little off. The course should play over par for most of the pros.

Phil's meltdown still intrigues me. I would have been in favor of a DQ but after thinking about it I’m not so sure now. But nice job clowning on the course for all to see, Phil.

I think today will be much better and I expect we might see some early really low scores (65,66) to make things interesting for the last 5 or 6 pairings. If I had to pick a player I hope wins, I’d go with the Hoff.

quote:

Originally posted by mttaylor1066:
There is difficult...and then there is impossible.

I don't begrudge the USGA making par a respectable score... but when you see MANY professionals four putt and three put from six feet away... you're just making a mockery of a competition.

This tournament is as bad as Chambers Bay... I blame the USGA.

Chambers Bay was a brutal setup. Some of those greens are simply not designed for 10.5’ “Stimp-meter” average speeds.

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
My father is thinking that the Dane will win.

That’s where my money is too
Guys a freak of nature with that 3wood
If he keeps putting like he has been, it’s going to be tough to beat him

quote:

Originally posted by striker1:

quote:

Originally posted by mttaylor1066:
There is difficult...and then there is impossible.

I don't begrudge the USGA making par a respectable score... but when you see MANY professionals four putt and three put from six feet away... you're just making a mockery of a competition.

This tournament is as bad as Chambers Bay... I blame the USGA.

Chambers Bay was a brutal setup. Some of those greens are simply not designed for 10.5’ “Stimp-meter” average speeds.

What I don't like are the burnt out or dead greens from the USGA prohibiting a course from watering. I feel bad for the members who are left with a jacked up course (i.e. temporary greens or course closures) afterward.

Chambers Bay is a good example of what I'm talking about. On TV, the course looked worse than my lawn, and I was renting a house in Canada at the time. The region made a lot of money, but the county (Pierce County) had to pay all of the expenses and the course was closed for a month after the US Open. Sure it's prestigious to host a US Open, but the USGA made the course embarrassing and members couldn't play the course for 5 weeks (week of Open and month afterward).

Saw a few holes yesterday afternoon - looked ugly. Lot of frustrated pro's out there!

In a way it is kind of enjoyable watching the carnage.
More so when the wind is up.
I've always enjoyed a windy British Open.
When you have bumpy, tiny, rock hard, fast, bowl-shaped greens then that is going too far.
Need a better balance.
I think they made some good adjustments.
Love the US OPEN.

I watched some yesterday and watching off and on, today. To be honest, I don't know what to think about the course. I like to see the pro's having to scramble to make par, but not to the point to where it becomes frustrating and no longer fun.

quote:

Originally posted by striker1:

Phil's meltdown still intrigues me.

My guess is that he just said, "Awwww...fuck it. I don't stand a chance anyway." Good for him.

While it does seem somewhat troubling (the course), bottom line is that they all have to play the same course. It doesn't matter if it's easy or difficult, or if the scores are -20 or +4. Who cares? They guy with the lowest score still wins.

They could play it in a WalMart parking lot if they wanted to. The best guy that weekend would still win.

I’m not a fan of winning scores at -20 but it needs to be a fair test. Also, I’d like to see more parity between morning round set up and the conditions the last groups see.

Michael

I can kind of see how Phil lost his cool. It was his 48th birthday yesterday, his family joined him for the tournament and the US Open is the only major he hasn't won for the grand slam. The frustration had to be monumental. Anyone who has golfed has had THAT DAY. I know I have. We just expect the pros have more control over their emotions.

It will be different next year at Pebble Beach where he has won many times. Pebble and Torrey Pines are like home courses for him. I'll be rooting for him all the way.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by mdblanton:
I’d like to see more parity between morning round set up and the conditions the last groups see.

That's always a big deal, particularly when playing a course set up for a major championship. Not just weather changes -- a huge factor yesterday -- but the fact that afternoon greens are necessarily more beat up than morning greens.

I noticed yesterday, ground level shots of putts, at least a couple holes showed slight raises at the holes, mini-mesas. I think people stepping in from all directions to pluck balls from the cup create this. I see it far more often than not on the soft public courses I'm relegated to playing. It effectively reduces the size of the cup, maybe considerably, as anything not absolute dead center will fall off one way or the other.

Phil should have been disqualified. The two stoke penalty he took was intended for inadvertently striking the ball while moving (gentlemen's game). He just flat out fucking cheated as far as I am concerned. What he did was intentional and outside the spirit of the rules

My feelings are the US Open should be played on a course that is playable, not in Walmart parking lot. No fun watching yesterday (not watching today). The USGA has made this prestigious tournament a joke too many times

quote:

Originally posted by mttaylor1066:
There is difficult...and then there is impossible.

I don't begrudge the USGA making par a respectable score... but when you see MANY professionals four putt and three put from six feet away... you're just making a mockery of a competition.

This tournament is as bad as Chambers Bay... I blame the USGA.

I agree, but the setup on Sunday was better.

You could justify a DQ for Phil. I think he was making a statement about the greens and pins. And he was frustrated.

quote:

Originally posted by ElKabong:

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
My father is thinking that the Dane will win.

That’s where my money is too
Guys a freak of nature with that 3wood
If he keeps putting like he has been, it’s going to be tough to beat him

Who’s the Dane? If you’re thinking of Stenson, he’s from Sweden.

If he was making a statement about the greens he should have just said that. The fact that he later stated it was to take a penalty which was better than where he would have ended up is crap when coupled with the video of him telling the official he had no idea what the penalty was.

It was a shocking display of poor sportsmanship, had he said "I'm sorry I lost my cool, or I'm not sorry because this was patently unfair by the USGA" I would still have respect for him. To cobble together a weasel of a lie and then tell people to toughen up if they don't like it was absurd.

In baseball its ok to try and cheat, same thing in football, NASCAR, hockey and soccer. The officials are there to officiate and keep it clean because without them the players do cheat.

In golf where each player is to impose the rules on themselves, this conduct cannot stand as acceptable.