PGA Tour: US Open at the new-look Pinehurst No.2: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).No idea what to expect this week with the US Open to be held for the third time in 15 years (almost unprecedented repeat visits) at Donald Ross's masterpiece, Pinehurst No.2. Since we last saw it, Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore have laid waste to the whole place, and even the most nerdy architecturally gurus don't quite seem to know what to make of it. A Beauty or a Beast? Or possibly both.
 
2).Previous form may or may not have to be thrown out the window, we just don't know, but a summary of the accumulated wisdom of media punditry suggests length is imperative, a high ball-flight preferable and a delicate touch around the greens a necessity. If only these things were that easy. Let's look first of all at what little previous course form there is.
 
3).1999 US Open:
Mickelson famously beaten into second place by a 15 - 20 foot par putt on the last from William Payne Stewart. Other four-round finishes from guys golfing it this week include:
5th: Stricker
7th: Maggert
10th: Darren Clarke
15th: Leonard
17th: Furyk
23rd: Jimenez
32nd: Cink
46th: Allenby
 
4).2005 US Open:
Michael Campbell wins and goes on to have a wonderful year, only to disappear as mysteriously as a Malaysian 777. A second star-crossed champion to be sure; Cambo has an exemption in to this week's tournament but, amid stories of a broken marriage, he's sitting this one out. The tournament was Goosen's to win anyway, bidding to become the only golfer since Strange to win consecutive US Opens he played in Sunday's final group only to balloom to an 81. Which was better than partner Jason Gore's 84. Other Top 40 finishers in this week's effort:
T3: Garcia
T3: Tim Clark
11th: Goose
15th: Els
23rd: Kenny Perry
T28: Ogilvy
T28: Scott
T28: Matt Every (top amateur)
T33: Cabrera
T33: Westwood
Others making the cut included Poulter, Donald, Ryan Moore, McDowell. Barlow.
 
5).2008: US Amateur:
New Zealand's Danny Lee won but only after he beat Patrick Top Five Reed in the semi-final.
Others who progressed to Match Play included:
3rd Round: Fowler
2nd Round: Horschel
1st Round: Scott Langley
 
6).Not much to go on then. In addition to the above, Phil spent a week there at a golf camp as a 13-year-old and certainly seems to have an affinity for the place. He's also logged the most number of US Open appearances in the field, as this will be his 24th, with his (in?)famous six runner-up finishes. The leading five veterans are, including 2014:
24: Phil
22: Ernie
20: Furyk
19: Cink
19: Stricker
 
7).There's been a lot of attention in the US media this month about Payne Stewart:
Blow-by-blow accounts of his win with equal billing to Mrs Phil's imminent childbirth.
Hour-by-hour accounts of the tragic plane crash and untimely death.
A compelling, but ultimately unsatisfying bio/documentary on the Golf Channel which pretty much made his Aussie wife Tracey the real star - and perhaps deservedly so by many accounts given the brat (you've got a long way to go Top Five) the young Payne came across as.
And out-of-this-world hyperbole from Sports Illustrated, who should know better:
"In the post-Nicklaus era no (golfing) figure was more compelling than Payne Stewart."
In Missouri, maybe. Dear oh dear.
 
But what a beautiful golfswing he had; he took his game around the world, won in Japan and Holland, and ultimately had a decent Ryder Cup record together with three (squeaky?) Major wins. One always feels the best of Payne Stewart, the man at least, was still to come.
 
8).Who's going to win then?
It's been roasting this week, 97F today and will be broiling all week long, probably with storms. A course that plays firm and fast will bring the "navigators" in to play, but with a yardage from the tips of close to 7,600 yards, length will matter, all the more so if storms bring flooding rains.
I would think the two obvious favourites would be Mickelson and Bubba, though whether either can focus fully for 72 scorching holes must be questionable. But: You gotta like their length and improvisational skills. And there'll be lots of long putts on the crowned Donald Ross greens, and no-one avoids the 3-putt like Bubba.
 
9).I'd say three fancied players and three outsiders worth considering might be:
Watson at 18/1, Jason Day at 28/1, Kaymer at 40/1.
Webb Simpson at 45/1, Poulter at 66/1, Horschel at 80's.
For various reasons I'd love to see Phil or Rory or Sergio prove me wrong, but they're all three like unpredictable treats in Forrest Gump's box of chocolates the way their form currently is.
 
10).Once again the USGA sits around a table sniggering at each other as they concoct amusing groupings and this year is no exception, especially the fatboys threesome of De Jonge, Stadler and Shane Lowry. I'd be royally p1ssed off if I was one of them, but I suppose they had it coming.
Then there's the curious case of one-time winners Spieth, Matsuyama and Fowler.
 
Just think, not so long ago a US Amateur Champ turned pro and made the John Deere Classic the first win (as Jordan Spieth would do a dozen years later) of what would surely be a glittering career. Perhaps a featured US Open tee-time.
But it didn't work out quite like that for David Gossett, and my favourite story so far this week is of his seemingly miraculous (considering last year's web.com earnings were $10K) qualification for this week inspired by the very same 45-year veteran caddie (Johnny Miller, Lehman, you name it), Andy Martinez, who carried Gossett's bag to victory fifteen years ago in the "Amateur" at Pebble Beach.
Not saying that Spieth or Hideki or one-trickie Rickie will turn out like David Gossett. But his story is what "Opens" are made of, for the first two days anyway.

Hope Koepka and Compton get into the top 4 now!!

You just have to say that Kaymer has been a class apart this week. He has destroyed everybody. 

This course has suited his play   

       

World class from Kaymer! Ruthless! Back to where he belongs!

The Compton story is incredible! Great stuff

Nice to see Compton & Koepka (yet another European Tour player!) earn invitations from Augusta.

Well done Martin Kaymer; how's about Stenson or Garcia for Hoylake and Rory for Valhalla?

Fancy Rose foe Royal Liverpool, but of course Tiger won here the last time. Hope he is back.

  

skyeman wrote:Fancy Rose foe Royal Liverpool, but of course Tiger won here the last time. Hope he is back.

  

Even if 9c plays, I think he'd be good odds not to make the cut.

Great display from Kaymer - most impressive win in a long time, Anyone notice how annoyed he was to bogey 16... with a 7 shot lead? No doubt the two 65s put him in the winning position, but it was fantastic how he dealt with the pressure of that lead and the difficulties of the course.

Have to say though, I got a bit bored of the ball constantly (for most players) running off the turtle back greens. And all the greens tended to merge into one after a while - none of them really stood out as being different.

Bob_the_Job wrote:Have to say though, I got a bit bored of the ball constantly (for most players) running off the turtle back greens.

Ditto, that got old quickly.

Glad Kaymer won, really admire his clinical approach to the game. Can see him returning to world #1 and staying there.

2 Majors, 1 WGC, 1 Players, 1 RTD. Clearly the most succesful European golfer in the past 5 years - despite being in a slump for half the time....

pedro wrote:2 Majors, 1 WGC, 1 Players, 1 RTD. Clearly the most successful European golfer in the past 5 years - despite being in a slump for half the time....

Yes. Maybe. Not clearly, but probably just shades McIlroy (2 Majors, Leading money winner on both tours, 2 FedEx Play-offs, Australian Open) also in a slump for a bit.

Not being an expert here, but assuming dry conditions how will Hoylake play compared to Pinehurst?

Three interesting things i noticed last night after the golf was finished.

One was Johnnie Miller making a bit of a plum of himself on NBC by suggesting that no one played well this week!

Two was Donald Trump making a bit of a plum of himself on Twitter by suggesting Pinehurst looked 'scruffy' and that it would impact on viewing ratings which prompted both Donald and Poulter among others to express their disagreement.

Three was an article on the Golf Channel website which said "any talk about him (Kaymer) being the worst world No 1 of all time is long forgotten...."
Really???! Was there talk of this? In the US maybe? Tom Lehman anyone..........

Wonderful from Martin Kaymer, loved the way he bounced back so superbly from the Horlicks he made of #10; two great putts on 13 & 14 sealed the deal.
 
No-one in contention really seemed to have the balls to make it interesting, would think Stenson and Dustin Johnson in particular must be disappointed with their seemingly limp efforts yesterday.
 
Wonder what's up with Snedeker's back? That could be him done for a while; he's turned in to quite the sicknote which is a shame as he's pretty good to watch.
 
Meanwhile, Tom Watson must be wondering how his Gleneagles squad is going to look; most likely he'll have to "pick" Mickelson and Woods if he wants them on his Team as they both look odds against qualifying automatically.
Similar quandary for McGinley, but would think he'll be pleased to see Kaymer win so emphatically even as Donald & Westwood failed, and McDowell & Poulter fizzled.

I doubt if there ever could be a bad number 1 unless 10 of the top players got long term injuries. If you got there for 1 week only, it proves for a while at least you were a great player.

The first 2 majors this year were second major wins for the players concerned, so if that trend continues you are looking at Scott, Rose, Schwartzel, Oosthuizen, Dufner, McDowell, Simpson or Bradley to win the Open.

I thought Kaymer showed particular intelligence as he putted green side (regardless of what the TV pundits said). Mix very smart golfer with very good golfer and you get great results. POY frontrunner to be sure.

Sr,
Don't you think NBC have missed out over the years by not having a commentator who's been out a bit?
Can't stand IB-F or Feherty (tho I like Faldo) but at least they offer some out-of-the-box perspective whereas the NBC crew have been so stereotypical. Difficult to believe they haven't nobbled Nobilo from TGC; or stolen Warren Humphries or even Thomas Levet.

Agree with that Kwin ... I like Nobilo a lot and think he would be a great addition.

I never understood why they need guys in towers at the last few holes. There are just too many commentators involved.

Hartford this week and one of only two PGA Tour events in New England + New York, The Travelers Championship.
European interest:
Blixt, Chopra, Jacobson (won in 2011), Lingmerth, Pettersson, Davis, Knox, Owen, Gonzo, Olesen and Sergio.

A very good field, perhaps as good as they've had for decades, with Bubba, Zach & Dustin, Kuchar, Top Five, Day, Snedeker (if his back holds up), Bradley, Oosthuizen, Mahan & Koepka as well as Team Euro.

Thought the course was fantastic.  Loved the way the holes blended from green to brown, leading into the waste areas.  

Kaymer was magnificent.  Taking a big lead into a final round brings its own pressures.  Would have been very easy to have fallen apart on this course but he kept his head and his putter close too.