Billy H

[Poor Posture]

It's an OPEN - free country, not a country club

[glcoach]

I thought it was great. Anything to stick to the snooty USGA.

[JaNelson38]

I guarantee you there were more players who felt like Horschel did than the opposite.

The man holding the trophy raked the USGA over the coals yesterday.

[longleft]

[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1434922889' post='11802290']
You guys are special. Fox knew damn well what they would get with that interview. He is pissed easy to see. Now guys in the booth running the buss over him. The real clowns are the interviewer and the announcers. All the players should I refuse the rest of the interviews to protest that type ambush tactic
[/quote]

Totally true...especially how joe buck tee'd up Greg Norman about the comments during the broadcast.

This is sport. Guys talk sh@t all the time. And technically the USGA took a huge risk holding the championship on this course. Billy could have kept his mouth shut, but then we'd bit@h about how he ducked his post round interview...just like everyone is saying about DJ.

[Titleist 670]

I love how people here are saying that the players shouldn't complain.

If any one on here had their home course shut down for three weeks, and then they showed up to play their club championship & suddenly say the tee boxes were dirt and the greens were terrible, they would complain as much as the pros are, and they aren't even playing for money.

The video of Billy in this thread I completely agree with. You had 8 years or whatever to prepare for this tournament, and the spectator experience by all account is subpar, and the greens were not consistent.

I did love the hole setup on the back 9 for Sunday, and the tournament was a ton of fun, but I can see why the pros were frustrated by the greens.

Look at Grace's putt on 17 for example - downhill putt that stops and rolls slightly back right before it gets to the hole. He must have been fuming.

[AZGolfer1969]

[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1434922889' post='11802290']
You guys are special. Fox knew damn well what they would get with that interview. He is pissed easy to see. Now guys in the booth running the buss over him. The real clowns are the interviewer and the announcers. All the players should I refuse the rest of the interviews to protest that type ambush tactic
[/quote]

First. Awesome grammar. Second. Are the players required to go to these interviews? He wanted to go talk about his inability to win a major or even compete in one.

[gigemaggs99]

I was kinda surprised how Norman kept defending the USGA, I guess he wants to speak highly of them, it's good to be respectful, but perhaps there could have been better planning.

If the USGA knew Chambers Bay normally doesn't mature until later in the summer/late summer as Norman explained, why not hold the PGA Championship there instead? They are the ones that plan the event so they should kinda have an idea of the lay of the land, no?

I'm not saying what Billy H did was ok, but there are 2 sides to every story. I would also like to know if a player does hit the green with their putter like he almost did, would the USGA/PGA fine them? I mean it's one thing to get upset, it's another thing to throw a tantrum and tear up the course. I'd be pissed if one of my buddies slammed his putter into the green. I'd ask them, "What's wrong with you DUDE!?"

[nochct1]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1434923865' post='11802430']
[quote name='caniac6' timestamp='1434921989' post='11802154']
He doesn't have to play. Take a week of vacation Billy.
[/quote]

That is what I have been saying. These guys don't have to play. How about you think about where you are Bill? How about instead of what you are doing you could be putting on a roof in 90+ degree temperatures, or sitting in a cubicle with a boss who won't let up, or collecting someone else's garbage everyday?

The whining ungratefulness of some of these people is simply breathtaking.
[/quote]

They have a right to complain. They work incredibly hard to get to where they are and should expect better conditions.

And please don't compare them to those who work in a cube or other mid level jobs. Nobody handed these guys a tour card. They aren't lucky to be out there. They worked there asses to get out there.

[nochct1]

[quote name='gigemaggs99' timestamp='1434944514' post='11806550']
I was kinda surprised how Norman kept defending the USGA, I guess he wants to speak highly of them, it's good to be respectful, but perhaps there could have been better planning.

If the USGA knew Chambers Bay normally doesn't mature until later in the summer/late summer as Norman explained, why not hold the PGA Championship there instead? They are the ones that plan the event so they should kinda have an idea of the lay of the land, no?

[/quote]

If the USGA ran the PGA Championship, then maybe they would consider having it there.

As for why they had the US Open there? It probably had to do with money. I don't know how big the property is, but my guess is they could have a ton of corporate tents. More than they had at Merion. They probably got a favorable deal with ticket sales and concessions as well.

[PZero]

[quote name='seve1972' timestamp='1434921975' post='11802146']
Guys a jerk (other than giving his caddie 1mil fro the fedex)
[/quote]

No, no he's not.

[poppyhillsguy]

[quote name='seve1972' timestamp='1434921740' post='11802106']
"I lost a lot of respect for the USGA"....
What a dbag...too bad the U.S. Open is not an invitational. #spoiledlittleahole
[/quote]

Do you really want more interviews with players that say "I'll take it one shot at a time" or "I'm so close with my game".

A player willing to voice his opinion is fine with me. It doesn't mean I have to agree with it, but I appreciate honesty.

[wdm50]

[color=#2E2E2F][size=4][background=rgb(251, 251, 251)]
Jack Nicklaus always said he loved to listen to fellow players complain about a golf course because he figured for every one who did, it was one less person he would have to beat that week.[/background][/size][/color][color=#2E2E2F][size=4][background=rgb(251, 251, 251)]
“Somebody’s name is going to be on the trophy,” Nicklaus said at last week’s Memorial. “[The course] isn’t supposed to suit your game, you are supposed to suit your game to the golf course.”[/background][/size][/color]

[Fbgstaff]

[quote name='poppyhillsguy' timestamp='1434946414' post='11806866']
[quote name='seve1972' timestamp='1434921740' post='11802106']
"I lost a lot of respect for the USGA"....
What a dbag...too bad the U.S. Open is not an invitational. #spoiledlittleahole
[/quote]

Do you really want more interviews with players that say "I'll take it one shot at a time" or "I'm so close with my game".

A player willing to voice his opinion is fine with me. It doesn't mean I have to agree with it, but I appreciate honesty.
[/quote]

I agree.

[denvergolf]

[quote name='lchang' timestamp='1434925015' post='11802594']
I listened to the interview and thought it was fine. Short, honest and nothing too over-the-top at all.

Antics on the course were more noteworthy than his interview IMO.
[/quote]I'm not up in arms about it, but I absolutely agree with you re: his theatrics on the course. If he thought he was making a point, he unfortunately diluted it.

[drbonesvt]

[quote name='seve1972' timestamp='1434922840' post='11802276']
...nice touch for Fox putting HSonders in the interview booth......#mute
[/quote]

Heard Brian Williams is available

[skraly]

[quote name='cxx' timestamp='1434923092' post='11802332']
Finally the truth. After so much spin it's good to hear what everyone knows. USGA screwed up again, the greens suck, turned a major into a goofball tournament. First three days put the pins where the balls don't go. Last day put them where they naturally go to salvage something out of the mess.
[/quote]
Say what you want. Jordan ended up 6 under. That's about usual for a U.S. Open. Luis shot 29 on the back to fall one shot short of a tie. What one man can do, another man can do. The rest of the field just got out played. I totally agree with a comment I heard from Weiskopf,"when I heard a guy complain about the course and the greens I knew I could cross him off as a threat to win." It's one thing to win the Reno-Tahoe Open. It's a totally different thing to contend and win a major. Most of the guys on tour don't have the mental ability to handle that pressure. How ever good their swings may be, they fail under the intense pressure of a major. As Jack once put it,"I knew I would win, they knew I would win, and they knew I knew they thought I would win." The very best learn not to beat themselves. They hang tough until the others fail under the pressure-which they usually do.

[skraly]

[quote name='Frankensteins Monster' timestamp='1434924983' post='11802590']
He made a perfectly valid statement when he met with the media. The U.S. Open is supposed to identify the best golfers of the week. He said the USGA took out one of the skills of the game, putting, with their disastrous greens and I completely agree. Putting is like throwing a dart with a fan on the side of the dart board. There's no skill to these greens. They're a putt and pray and that does not help identify the best golfer of the week. It turned the greens into a run of the green, literally. I agree, the USGA should be ashamed of themselves. With such a beautiful course you make the greens completely stupid. Way to go USGA buffoons.
[/quote]
If the U.S.Open is supposed to identify the best golfer of the week I would argue that that is exactly what happened. Week in and week out Spieth has been the best golfer on tour this year. So the cream rose to the top and prevailed. What more do you want? Chambers Bay was not a typical U.S.Open course but the best still came out on top. So mission accomplished as far as I am concerned.

[Musky]

I can't get by the skinny leg pants.

[KYMAR]

[quote name='Hawkeye03' timestamp='1434927354' post='11802998']
[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1434925438' post='11802646']
[quote name='Hawkeye03' timestamp='1434923379' post='11802370'][quote name='jdanlaw' timestamp='1434922971' post='11802310']
[quote name='prorobo' timestamp='1434922746' post='11802264']
Situation 1: Player gives cordial and vanilla corporate responses in interview ("Would've been nice to make a few more putts, just happy to be here").
Wrx response: These guys are robots and have no personality.

Situation 2: Player speaks their mind in the heat of the moment and essentially summarizes the vast majority of their peers' opinions.
Wrx response: He's a tool/fool/whiny b***h/etc.

Can't win here.
[/quote]

+100
[/quote]

There are ways to express displeasure without making yourself out to be a fool.[/quote]


Who is more the fool? The person who sees wrong or shortcoming and points it out so next time it can be made better. ! Or the yes man who says " everything is wonderful " so as to cover for the governing body and also pave the way for this to happen again and again. I say the latter is the true fool.
[/quote]

Neither actually. The fool is the one who can't control their emotions and make coherent and logical argument. "I lost a little respect for the USGA this week" added no value to his argument and made him sound like a fool..

He could have said "With the amount of time and resources the USGA had to get this course right. The condition of the greens was a complete disappointment/disaster/abomination/etc"....
[/quote]

So it would have been ok had he simply parroted the obvious as a preface to his criticism? Because everyone needed to hear "they had eight years!" Again for his comments to be considered reasonable? Im not crazy about his exact words but the idea that he should treat the USGA as if they are due deference is a little absurd. I read some of these responses and all i can think of is "Theres no gambling at bushwood sir!"

[BobbyDPlaysGolf]

Actually if you listen to the full interview he makes a lot of valid points and the one liner is what it is. A guy that is pissed that the prep work he put in didn't work out because the surfaces sucked. Reality is the player that won it, won it because he handled it better then the other guys.

[greens hit]

[quote name='prorobo' timestamp='1434922746' post='11802264']
Situation 1: Player gives cordial and vanilla corporate responses in interview ("Would've been nice to make a few more putts, just happy to be here").
Wrx response: These guys are robots and have no personality.

Situation 2: Player speaks their mind in the heat of the moment and essentially summarizes the vast majority of their peers' opinions.
Wrx response: He's a tool/fool/whiny b***h/etc.

Can't win here.
[/quote]

I think there's a huge middle ground there that you overlooked.

[Malvern]

[quote name='Malvern' timestamp='1434923286' post='11802360']
You will get what you get when you ask Player to give one of his 10,000 opinions or stick a mic in the face of some guy who has just come off the course. Would be nice to hear a considered opinion from the Players Aassociation or some of the games better thinkers like Geoff Ogilvy a week or so after the event.
[/quote]

Quoting my own post however thought the Geoff Ogilvy interview was good.
http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/latest.html

Need to hit "load more" and scroll down.

[TheInfidel]

[quote name='prorobo' timestamp='1434922746' post='11802264']
Situation 1: Player gives cordial and vanilla corporate responses in interview ("Would've been nice to make a few more putts, just happy to be here").
Wrx response: These guys are robots and have no personality.

Situation 2: Player speaks their mind in the heat of the moment and essentially summarizes the vast majority of their peers' opinions.
Wrx response: He's a tool/fool/whiny b***h/etc.

Can't win here.
[/quote]

100% right.

Billy nailed it.

#bringbackthequarry

[tdk8180]

Horschel was Christian Bale mad at the interview. I dont blame him for being upset, he said what he wanted to say and I hope the youth golfers take note when playing in their USGA events...if you don't like how something has gone down, you go find an authoritative adult and beeotch them out cause your parents paid hard earned money for you to play.

[SixtySomePing]

They all played the same course for 4 days.

End of speech.

[braincramp52]

[quote name='mac94' timestamp='1434931661' post='11803636']
[quote name='lawsonman' timestamp='1434923987' post='11802446']
I don't think he made himself look stupid at all. Billy is always going to say what's on his mind and if somebody doesn't like it, tough sh!t. I wish everybody would do it. Makes me want to puke with all the politically correct crap that comes out of most interviews.
[/quote]

Always saying what is on one's mind is the definition of classless.
[/quote]

Guess I was wrong. I always thought it was the definition of honesty.

[warfelg21]

[quote name='lawsonman' timestamp='1434972288' post='11807950']
[quote name='mac94' timestamp='1434931661' post='11803636']
[quote name='lawsonman' timestamp='1434923987' post='11802446']
I don't think he made himself look stupid at all. Billy is always going to say what's on his mind and if somebody doesn't like it, tough sh!t. I wish everybody would do it. Makes me want to puke with all the politically correct crap that comes out of most interviews.
[/quote]

Always saying what is on one's mind is the definition of classless.
[/quote]

Guess I was wrong. I always thought it was the definition of honesty.
[/quote]

Me too.

I personally applaud what Horshel did. He put and organization that has run 2 straight poor major events on blast.

Just thank god it's at Oakmont next year. A place where the only difference between member play and Open play is rough length and tees.

[cxx]

I'd give Billy a break. Even though It looked like the moon, I don't think he prepared an appropriate historical comment for the occasion.

[tobaccoroad]

Funny thing is, I think he held back...
If he really opened up, they wouldn't have been able to show the interview at all. Dude was pissed.

[tobaccoroad]

[quote name='tdk8180' timestamp='1434966730' post='11807786']
Horschel was Christian Bale mad at the interview. I dont blame him for being upset, he said what he wanted to say and I hope the youth golfers take note when playing in their USGA events...if you don't like how something has gone down, [b]you go find an authoritative adult and beeotch them out cause your parents paid hard earned money for you to play.[/b]
[/quote]

Ummmmmm. Really?