The U.S. Open has now completed
three rounds and I hate to sound like an old school fuddy-duddy but the U.S.
Open, once the preeminent major golf tournament, has now fallen to the back of the pack of the
four major golf tournaments. Here's why;
The U.S. Open used to be
consistently difficult. Fairways were narrow, rough was high and greens were
fast. Hey, a score below par would likely place you in the top five if
not guarantee you would win the tournament. (From 1949 through 1963, only three
golfers won the U.S. Open with a score under par. They were:
Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus! More recently, since 2005, six of the twelve champions
have finished either even or over par.
(Of course, Rory McIlroy smashed Congressional for a record score of
sixteen below par during that time, which has been discussed elsewhere in this
blog.)
The USGA, as a result of its course selection for
the past several U.S. Opens, appears to have lost its collective mind. Two of
the last three U.S. Opens have been held in the State of Washington and Wisconsin,
both for the first time in each state and both on links-type courses. The
courses have been brand-new (compared to the venerable tracts, such as Oakmont,
Baltusrol, The Country Club in Brookline Massachusetts, and Winged Foot, that have hosted numerous Opens between
them) and completely bereft of trees. Furthermore, this year the fairways have
been wide enough to land Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose. here
driving accuracy, not distance, used to be a prerequisite for Open success, admittedly
resulting in some anomalous. results (Andy North has won two U.S. Opens; this total
is one more than his total of PGA tour wins in other tournaments; Michael
Campbell has one PGA Tour win to his credit, the 2005 U.S. Open), the U.S. Open
has now become a long driving contest. Tiger Woods must be more than sad
that he was unable to compete in this type of competition. For the first time
ever the top three ranked golfers in the world did not make the cut. To me
that's a disaster. I will most likely skip watching the final
round on Father's Day to watch a bunch of unknowns compete for one of golf’s
most prestigious. titles.
Wait a minute, I have Justin Thomas
in my fantasy golf pool. Forget what I
just said – I will be watching the 2017 U.S. Open with keen interest this afternoon. Stay
out of the fescue, Justin!
Copyright 2012-2017 R.E. Kelly
AMDG