US Open Preview

I’m afraid to be the bearer of bad news for South African TV viewers for this most-eagerly awaited (in my humble opinion) of US Opens in recent memory.
As I feared, and wrote about a few weeks ago, the time difference to the West Coast is really gonna screw us SA fans. The 1st group out on today goes at 7am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), which is 4pm our time, and the last group off goes at 3:12pm PDT, which equates to 12:12am Friday morning our time! Supersport is scheduled to cross from 10pm on Thursday and Friday nights to 5 the next morning, and then a fraction earlier from 9pm to 4am on the weekend. Damn!
Anyway, here’s my 5 cents worth on how this Major is going to play out, and just who the main contenders are.

1. Phil Mickelson – aka ‘Phil The Thrill’ – can he hold things together and go down in history with his maiden national title (after 6 runner-up finishes), claiming his 6th Major, as well as a completed Grand Slam. The Chambers Bay course – brand new on the US Open rota – is by all accounts well-suited to someone who hits it long (with a bit more space that might give some wild hitters a bit more breathing room than normal) and also has lots of creativity and imagination. Amongst the game’s current contenders, that sounds ominously like Phil! His 65 to close the Memphis tournament on Sunday shows he’s peaking at just the right time, so will it be history, or heartbreak again?
2. Young phenom, Jordan Speith, whose caddy Michael Greller is a local boy and knows the course like the back of his hand. One of the best short games around, Speith’s going to need it on the greens at Chambers Bay, which will offer lots of uneven and awkward bounces.
3. Current world #1 Rory McIlroy must be the favourite, but a slight drop in form recently after a wonderful run is slightly worrying. Was it a slump, or was he just distracted and tired, and will bounce back after 2 weeks off? If his driver’s on song again, then everyone else will be playing for 2nd!
4. Mickelson’s playing partner for the 1st two rounds is Bubba Watson, another long-hitting and creative lefty, but will he have enough width of fairway (like Augusta) for him to shine? Not really, I’m inclined to think.
5. Dustin Johnson must be regarded in the same category (long and wild) as Phil and Bubba.
6. Players Champion, Ricky Fowler, after a great 2014 in the Majors, is ready to claim one for himself.
7. And if accuracy off the tee box is not too much of an issue, can Tiger play well? I didn’t think he’d make the cut at the much narrower Muirfield track for Jack’s Memorial, but he managed with some short game heroics. But then when his fragile short game abandoned him … well nobody could ever have seen that 85 coming. Makes the cut again, then fades on the weekend again.
8. I heard a wonderful expression the other day about golfers who play within themselves and always seem to contend on tough Major courses. “Plodders and plotters” are exactly what Jim Furyk is all about – a lone US Open his only Major – and the testament to his type of game. Matt Kuchar is not far behind Furyk in this category.
9. And a couple others? Defending champion Martin Kaymer, and in-form Justin Rose, who won this Open at Merion 2 years ago.

10. Anyone else?

Dark Horses?
Of course there are always some golfers who seemingly appear out of nowhere, so try these 2 names.
1. Byeong-Hun An.
Who?
Have I lost my marbles?
Ben An, as he prefers to be called, is the big 23 year old South Korean, Americanised through the US college system, and who won the recent flagship event on the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth, in record style. That’s who! And what’s more, he’s played a Major Championship at Chambers Bay before. The USGA scouted out Chambers Bay before it awarded the 2010 US Amateur to the course, and An entered the event as the reigning US Amateur champions after winning it in 2009 at Southern Hills. He progressed to the semi-finals that year in defence of his title, so he does have some pedigree, and he is in some kind of form, and he has been recognised as a star of the future by some ‘people in the know’.
By the way, if both An and Kevin Na are in contention, even playing together, then dyslexics around the world won’t know which way to look whilst watching it on VT!!
2. Colin Montgomerie!
Now, you’re thinking, Kaplan’s definitely smoking some weird stuff. But the seemingly grumpier-than-grumpy Monty is also in form, having won 3 of the last 6 Senior Majors, and even more importantly, seems to have shrugged off his unease with US galleries and their previous animosities (read Ryder Cup defeats) towards him. He’s still a ball-striker par excellence, and will work his way around this devilish layout with the consummate ease of one of the game’s greatest players never to have won a Major. Just saying!

3 things to look out for.

1. The golf course. The 8 year old Robert Trent Jones-designed Chambers Bay is totally different from any other US Open test ever before. It’s a links-style course – with only 1 tree – that will possibly offer cooler weather (the current forecast looks decent, with possible rain on Saturday) and more wind than most other USGA venues prior.
There are many different teeing grounds on all the holes, which will allow USGA Director Mike Davis lots of latitude to set up the holes almost completely differently from one day to the next, and it is this kind of course set-up that really intrigues me. To be able to change the way a hole plays so that it doesn’t offer golfers (and members) the same boring challenge every single time they play the course, is one of the joys of both playing and setting up courses, and tests the architect’s ability to design things which can be re-arranged and adapted, and also tests the golfer’s ability to vary his game plan accordingly. As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life!
It has quite a few big wide fairways where crooked drives will still find some short grass, as well as some dog-legs where the big hitters might be tempted to fly everything.
The greens are undulating in the extreme, where some bounces from good shots will move away from the hole, but also where some off-line shots will gather back towards the pin (reminds me of some course called Houghton). And the pin won’t always be attacked, as on regular target-golf layouts.
And trains running alongside the course, and ‘ancient’ ruins around the course, will be reminiscent of the proper links courses of Scotland, as will the par-3 9th hole, which is similar to the famous Redan 15th hole at North Berwick in Scotland.
There’s no doubt from the pics and videos we’ve been seeing of the layout and its surrounds that the course will look spectacular on TV, especially with the great contrast between drier and browner rough to the greener fairways, plus the idyllic waters of Puget Sound in the background.
And lastly on the course, it looks as though Davis, the man behind getting this Major to this course, intends to change the par of the 1st and 18th holes around on different days; one being a par 4 and the other being a par 5 on one day, and then switching the pars (and the tees) around on another day. Wind forecasts will likely determine this change.
2. The TV coverage. Ok, so the timing’s not going to be ideal for us in SA, but a long nap on the couch after a large Father’s Day lunch at Houghton will set you up well to ‘pull an all-nighter’ for the final round. But what I’m really looking forward to is seeing what Fox Sports offer up during this Major. New to big time TV golf, their crew includes Greg Norman as lead analyst, and I for one can’t wait to see and hear him. “The Shark” is still one of the legends of the game, and his insight is most anticipated. Of course, there’s the drop-dead gorgeous Holly Sonders in their team as well, so that should be worth keeping an eye out for as well. And just what special and different stuff Fox are going to come up with is anybody’s guess. With their football background, I imagine lots of interesting stats, plus camera angles and shots from drones (the Fox Flyover) that will highlight the breath-taking scenery of the course and the waters of Puget Sound and Fox Island in the background, as well as the rest of the Pacific North-West region. Look out also for microphones in the cups and long-distance mikes which will zoom in and capture the players and their caddies discussions over club selections. Can’t wait to hera the legendary debates between Phil and Bones!
3. There’s quite a few SA golfers teeing it up this week, in fact we’re the 3rd most represented country in the event. Former winners Ernie and Retief both start (in fact they’re playing together in the 1st 2 rounds), and there’s also Charl, Louis, Branden Grace, Tjaart VD Walt, Garth Mulroy, George Coetzee and Thomas Aitken. Here’s hoping!

 

Jack’s Memorial tournament

I managed to see (in between neck-jarring naps) the exciting finish to Jack’s Memorial tournament, where Swede David Lingwerth beat the more-fancied Justin Rose on the 3^rd extra hole of the playoff, and after he made a few huge putts under pressure. He was very solid against one of the World’s Top 10, and fully deserved the victory.

Jack’s Muirfield Village course was exceptional as always, and comparisons with Augusta are always expected.

Rose had plenty of chances during the round, plus an awful opening few holes, so it could’ve been a runaway win for him, but still puts him in the front line for a favorite’s spot at Chambers Bay next week. His shank from the fairway bunker on the 72^nd hole was unbelievable, as was his incredible up-and-down for the par and the chance to play off against Lingwerth.

Jordan Spieth finished fast with a 65 to finish just outside all the main action, nevertheless another sign that he’s gonna be hard to beat in the US Open.

And Tiger?

How embarrassing must Saturday’s 85 have been for him?

From 5 wins and Player of the Year 2 years ago to now finding himself at #181 in the rankings is just beyond any normal comprehension. Teeing off first with a marker, hitting 4 balls into the water, and capping off the 85 with a quadruple-bogey 8 on the par 4 18^th hole in front of the huge gallery must have been so draining that I can’t even begin to imagine what mixed emotions he’s going through at the moment.

And from 14 Majors up to 2008, to winless ever since, and right now seemingly so far away from even contending, let alone winning, is exactly the rock bottom that he now finds himself at.

The question is this: is he still digging deeper, or can he start hauling himself back out of the hole?

I started thinking about Seve, and what happened to him when his game, and in particular his driving, went off, and how he turned to the quirky and eccentric – some would say a genius – Mac O’Grady for help. Mac was a Tour player in the 80’s and 90’s, and was also a very good golfer standing on the other side of the ball, so much so that he wanted to enter the annual end-of-year Teams Championship on his own, playing 1 ball right-handed and the other ball left-handed. He fought long and hard with the Tour when they denied him an entry. He started teaching, and was known to be one of the earlier proponents of stack and tilt, a method that has never really stuck with golfers of any ability. Seve, meanwhile, never straightened up his driver, and slowly but faded away into the golfing wilderness.

Do you think Tiger will find a swing that can hit the ball straighter, and if not, do you think he’ll continue struggling like this for much longer?

Memorial Week

How about Rory missing 2 cuts in a row? Should we be worried? Is it too much golf and too many distractions from hosting what he helped become a huge event on a grand old golf course? I think a 2 week break will get him over all the fuss of the last 5 week stretch, and have him still firmly instilled as the favourite at Chambers Bay for the US Open in 2 weeks time.

• After many of the big names missed the cut and fell away, there were few big names around on the Irish Open weekend, and for me that is, the tournament on this wonderful links course just fizzled out. I never like to take away from the great golf being played by a lot of very good golfers, but there was just no-one in the field that would stop me from having a lazy Sunday afternoon nap on the couch!

• Dan Jenkins has been at it again, and having a go at Tiger again this time. He said that if you took away his leading contenders for Majors at the time he was winning (Phil, Ernie & Vijay) then Tiger won many of his 14 Majors against “nobodies”! I think Jenkins must have some fixation for trying to get under Tiger’s skin!

• Ozzie Stephen Bowditch won the Byron Nelson event in Texas, making him the umpteenth Ozzie to win in the Lone Star State over the last 10 years or so. Baddeley, Scott (4 times), Appleby and Allenby have all won in Texas, so there must be something in the Texan air that makes them feel at home and play well there.

• Bowditch by the way, had 6 different equipment manufacturers in his bag. TaylorMade driver and fairway, Adams hybrid, Mizuno irons, Cleveland wedges, a Bettinardi putter, and Titleist Pro V1X ball. In these modern days of being tied down to one club-maker only, or maybe 2 max, that’s quite a smorgasbord he’s accumulated for himself there.

• Talking of Adam Scott, I see he’s teamed up with his ex-looper Steve Williams again for 4 big events coming up in the next few months. 3 of them happen to be Majors, and the 4th will be the WGC Bridgestone event where they’ve won together before.

• Tiger and Phil have both been spotted up in the Pacific Northwest whilst on scouting trips to Chambers Bay, where the head of the USGA has advised the players to play 10 practice rounds before the US Open if they want to win there.

• And talking of Chambers Bay, click on this link to see some spectacular photos of the new and much-anticipated layout. It looks like a typical links course, with wide open and undulating fairways, lots of wild grass and waste bunkers, and I’m sure wind is going to play a factor there. Ernie said that his 4 rounds in trying conditions at Royal County Down last week was the perfect warm-up for Chambers Bay.

• Can Tiger compete this week at Muirfield Village? Will he even make the cut?
• Can the DC, the sweet-swinging Hideki Matsuyama win again, or even contend?
• Kevin Na seems to be in form, but can he close a big one?
• And will Jordan Spieth once again underline his star status with another week hanging somewhere close to the lead?

The WGC Cadillac matchplay and The Players Championship

Rory showed his full range of shots and abilities during his run to the WGC Cadillac match-play title last week, and reminded us all – including Masters Champion and new kid on the block Jordan Spieth – just why he’s the undisputed heavyweight champion of the golf world.

He showed true #1 qualities when he rallied late in matches to come from behind, then changed gear in the final to completely dominate from the start and shut out Gary Woodland. This come-from-behind ability is definitely something special to me, and Rory has shown it now a few times. At Hoylake last July he seemed to be losing his way, only for something to change in him. He did exactly the same in the PGA at Valhalla, when he launched that 3 fairway metal from some 280 yards out to about 5 or 6 feet from the hole for what seemed like an improbable eagle at the time, and this catapulted him on to the win.

This was all in stark contrast to his first 2 Majors where he led from the front in 2011 at Congressional in his 8-shot US Open win, and at Kiawah Island in his 1st PGA title in 2012.

Other interesting bits that came out of San Fran were:
1. Jim Furyk is definitely getting back to old ways after his win a few weeks ago. He almost had a perfect week, save for Rory’s spectacular finishing blitz.
2. Paul Casey is also slowly, but surely getting back to his old ways when he was one of the Top 10 in the world a while back.
3. Nedbank Golf Challenge winner Danny Willet is also starting to make a name for himself. Beating Furyk in the 3rd place playoff got him a special exemption on the PGA Tour for the year, so he’ll be getting plenty of starts now Stateside to show the golfing world just who he is.
4. Then there was that altercation between Miguel-Angel Jimenez and Keegan Bradley, about the only time I’ve seen 2 Tour Pros going nose-to-nose over something! To me it looked like MAJ just went over there to make sure what was going on, but telling Bradley’s caddy to “shut up” was maybe not the cleverest thing to do. The whole incident reminded me of the poll taken recently amongst Tour players as to who the most unpopular golfer on Tour is. We know that the ‘other’ Rory – our own Sabbatini – is not too well liked by his peers, but if I’m not mistaken, the very same Bradley was linked in a similar vein of notoriety. Maybe, just maybe, there’s some history there. Guess we’ll have to wait a few years until MAJ’s book comes out, to be released just after he captains the Euros to another victory in the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris.
5. And lastly, Tiger and Lindsey Vonn breaking up! I can’t figure this out; just a few weeks ago in the Par 3 event at Augusta, she was shepherding his kids around like a proud mom and future Mrs Woods, and all seemed hunky dory. I mean, did they just suddenly fall out of love? Boom, thanks for coming! Speak soon. ‘Break a leg’ in your next downhill race… if you’ll pardon the expression. Wonder if she’ll sue for some of his earnings?

Then this week is the Players Championship at PGA Tour HQ in Ponte Vedra Beach. The course, with its iconic & famous 17th island green, and the not-as-famous 18th hole hugging the lake on the left, has identified some great champions through the years, and with quite a few of the top players all in good form now, should be a great event. Tiger will have to hit the ball much much straighter off the tees – than what he showed at Augusta – if he wants to get into contention, and will Rory not be too mentally tired after the 139 or so holes that he played last week in the matchplay? Maybe then the scene is set for Spieth to continue his roller-coaster ride! The DC is Martin Kaymer, who last year won this event on Mother’s Day, and then followed it up with a US Open win on Father’s Day.