2018 United States Open

[MountainGoat]

If you want to talk about weather and luck of the draw, chime back in for the British Open thread. You can have the morning wave playing in 50° weather with high wind and driving rain while the afternoon wave plays in 75° with no wind and rain. That's weather and luck of the draw, and that's NOT what the USGA is doing at Shinnecock. It's all human error on the part of the USGA at Shinnecock. Again.

 

In addition, Open courses have evolved to be playable in bad weather, because you can play the ball low. You can't do that at Shinnecock. It requires high shots to minuscule landing areas.

[Mr. Grumpy]

My how swiftly they change the narrative.. Not one mention of DJ taking this or really mentioning him at all - now they are riding the Koepka back to back train..

[Petunia Sprinkle]

“I hope they make it easy enough for Phil today.” - Mrs. Sprinkle

[jmck]

"I hope they make it easy enough for Phil today." - Mrs. Sprinkle

 

Not to worry, just tell the Mrs if it gets too hard for Phil he has ways of making it a little easier on himself.

[Mr. Grumpy]

"I hope they make it easy enough for Phil today." - Mrs. Sprinkle

 

Tell her he's 2 under and get a kiss.

[bscinstnct]

With all the controversies that went on today I still find it a very entertaining tournament. Just think, you could be watching the British Open.

 

 

Can't wait. Second best event of the year.

 

Hoges!

 

Its hot out. Theres babes layin out in bikinis all over the park. Good thing I got me sunglasses on to sneak a creepy peek while I am powerwalkin with the wifester. Although, pretty sure she was checkin out this one particularly fine "talent" herself, ha ; )

 

Gonna go out now, get some sun, then, come back, pour a nice nitrous cold brew coffee,

 

And spike it with Titos and watch the golf!

 

Cant remember a tournament I was looking forward to seeing this much.

 

 

[BNGL]

I don't understand why the USGA cannot do a better job of controlling the moisture on the greens. It's extremely easy to instrument every green and to know the exact moisture content of the subsurface. They can/could use that data to front load the greens at the beginning of a day so they don't become questionable like they did on Saturday afternoon. And yes, I know you can't 100% predict the weather but you can provide a margin or error in subsurface moisture where conditions don't get out of balance from morning to afternoon.

 

I think it's really difficult in that environment to get right. The course is so exposed to the wind and sun that the greens are going to lose a lot of moisture over the course of the day.

 

I'm not sure it's possible to get the green speeds as fast as they want them and have them remain at the same level of difficulty all day. They're just pushing the greens too hard to dictate scoring. Why the USGA can't figure out what every super in the private club world knows is beyond me.

I don’t understand why the USGA cannot do a better job of controlling the moisture on the greens. It’s extremely easy to instrument every green and to know the exact moisture content of the subsurface. They can/could use that data to front load the greens at the beginning of a day so they don’t become questionable like they did on Saturday afternoon. And yes, I know you can’t 100% predict the weather but you can provide a margin or error in subsurface moisture where conditions don’t get out of balance from morning to afternoon.

 

Because when you setup for a tournament like this you get the plant "lean" what that means is the leaf blade is starving for nutrients and moisture. Yes you can water in the mornings, but holding that moisture in the leaf blade will be nearly impossible through the day as it warms up and the breezes pick up. The plant isn't dead, at least in my opinion (not yet, its a razors edge for sure if this was Wednesday Id be worried). Basically the plants "breathe" (not like you and I breathe) through stomata that dot the leaf blade of all plants. These stoma are openings that facilitate gas exchange and are regulated in size by parenchyma, when a plant is losing too much moisture through the stoma, they close up stopping cell respiration and plant growth. That process is called transpiration. This course I would imagine has high evapotranspiration times given its location heat and breezes (I've been walking around all week, and if it were me and I was in charge id be dusting from 12-1)

 

When we host our big events, one in the fall and one in the spring, we push hard. I know that my greens are firmer and faster than what is being played on TV right now (for sure for the spring event) but we have to water in the afternoon from about 1230-130 I send out 6 guys with hoses to dust the greens and refresh the leaf blade to keep it fresh and fair for the afternoon groups.And it plays strikingly similar to the morning rounds, who woulda thought!? Granted we get a stop in play during those hours as the groups break for lunch, but if they were to water at those times the course would be more uniform through out the day.

[jwpatt11]

It already looks like the course will play easier today, Phil and Rickie are both under par.

[JaNelson38]

USGA says they're gonna slow the greens 10-12 inches.

 

Rafa Cabrera-Bello estimated the greens at a 14 yesterday.

 

Is slowing them to a 13 really gonna change anything? Especially when they should be about a 10 or 11 at Shinnecock?

[jerebear21]

Honestly how small are these greens really? From my experience with golden age courses the greens are humongous. From broadcast the greens look humongous as well. I dare say it looks just as big as augusta greens and just as undulated.

[buckeyefl]

Complain all ya want about how ridiculous and unplayable the course is.

 

It's the same for every guy in the field.

 

 

No, it's not. That's the essence of the problem. Berger and Finau played a different course than DJ and the others who finished late.

 

Berger literally went on record to say he's going home to watch because he knew what the course was about to turn into. It was significantly, and I mean SIGNIFICANTLY softer in the morning than what the afternoon groups faced.

 

The "same golf course" argument is just plain incorrect. If you tee off at 6:30am with morning dew on the course, fairways that are soft and muddy from sprinklers, is it the exact same course than if you teed off at 3:00pm after it's been dry and windy all day? No, it's not. So stop saying it is.

 

Exactly. To repeat that again is to label yourself an idiot. It's simply untrue. You'd have to be blind to not see two 66 in the morning vs a handful of 75 and ups in the afternoon as " they all play the same course ". Absolutely a falsehood at this point.

 

And no it isn't the same as any Pga early late scenario. Not close. It's actually closer to having the morning wave play front tees and the afternoon play 1k yards more. Or maybe two separate courses. One long and fast and one short and soft. Not same same

 

 

 

these arguments are pointless..

 

no one can control the weather and there is the luck of the draw...unless you want them to play "shotgun" tee-off times.

 

They didn't control what they could control and in their arrogance they hurt the tournament. Nothing new here. No excuse they have is enough and as JL said this morning, they have a very bad habit of not giving themselves any room for error.

 

The course is enough of a test with the added length and speed and any good public or private club super could have kept it in great playable condition.

[gvogel]

This is great golf. I love watching the players being challenged in ways they don't see week to week. It brings risk/reward into the mix instead of just firing at flags without a second thought.

 

Challenge? Risk and reward? That wasn't remotely what was happening yesterday but not surprised some of you see it that way as far too many golfers are gluttons for punishment and will play setups far beyond their ability and cone away talking about how great the course was that day.

 

Isn't that the truth. This is my favorite comment of the year so far.

[hogans71]

Apologies if this is a repost

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/us-open-2018-henrik-stensons-reaction-to-finding-out-he-dropped-an-f-bomb-on-live-tv-was-priceless

 

That's freaking hilarious..

 

Huge fan of Henrik...

[jmck]

 

They didn't control what they could control and in their arrogance they hurt the tournament. Nothing new here. No excuse they have is enough and as JL said this morning, they have a very bad habit of not giving themselves any room for error.

 

The course is enough of a test with the added length and speed and any good public or private club super could have kept it in great playable condition.

 

Yeah, exactly. I'm sure Shinnecock's greens were better two weeks ago than they were yesterday, and I'm sure they'll be better two weeks from now. The USGA walking all over the Supers who live and breathe with the course year round for decades has a bit of a habit of making a travesty of our national championship. Or if travesty is too strong a word they certainly have a knack for making themselves part of the story line rather than just letting the players play.

 

Why? So they can squeeze that last inch or three out of the greens on the stempmeter and +5 wins it instead of -5.

[golfnoob25]

The intro was well done.

 

"Felt that shame" , they show a picture of Phil

 

 

[tannyhoban]

Question for the people out there: Was Rory right? Does the USGA think the players are better than they actually are?

I would up vote this if I could. This tournament grounds them. I imagine Shinnecock members are very proud right now as I would be.

 

Only the dumb members would be proud of the course right now. Any course could produce high scores if that is the goal and this event is doing a pretty poor job of representing the qualities that make the course great.

 

I’m lucky enough to have several members at my club in Florida that are also members of shinnecock, (and staying with one of them in the hamptons this week and been walking the property each day) and they are all loving this. They knew this was coming last summer after Koepka went low. They all have said, that won’t happen at shinnecock. It’s not.

 

Well bully for them.

[15th Club]

Lol. I thought that Brad Faxon was going to fall out of his chair when Gil Hanse's first televised words today were about "the distance issue along with the green speeds issue..."

[andrieddle]

I hope Stenson wins this

[IH82BOGEY]

It already looks like the course will play easier today, Phil and Rickie are both under par.

 

Softer this morning for sure. Don't know about this afternoon. Watch out for Top 5 if it stays this way.

[Christosterone]

I think it’s funny how much people get worked up over the us open...

 

It’s gimmicky but it generally creates great leaderboards...

 

Heck, chambers bay had a Spieth/DJ battle and people act like it was the worst tournament ever...

 

Yes Shinnecock was ludicrous when goose won it and yesterday....

But at the time goose was part of the big 5 and was playing among the best in the world...

 

I’d say this leaderboard is going to be rather awesome today...

 

I hope Poulter and Reed tie, have the new style playoff, and I can watch the WRX forums explode as Poulter wins it...

And then I want Poulter to sucker punch every kid who asks for an autograph....

 

-Chris

[NoTalentLefty]

The club members from Shinnecock who applaud the setup are idiotic. That ain’t in anyway how they play it during the course of their membership. It’s some kind of pride thing that sucks to high heaven. Probably directed proportionate to the size of their ....s. This has been one of the worst US Opens ever. IMO

[Dill Pickleson]

Seeing lots of birdies, disappointing.

[Z1ggy16]

I think it's funny how much people get worked up over the us open...

 

It's gimmicky but it generally creates great leaderboards...

 

Heck, chambers bay had a Spieth/DJ battle and people act like it was the worst tournament ever...

 

Yes Shinnecock was ludicrous when goose won it and yesterday....

But at the time goose was part of the big 5 and was playing among the best in the world...

 

I'd say this leaderboard is going to be rather awesome today...

 

I hope Poulter and Reed tie, have the new style playoff, and I can watch the WRX forums explode as Poulter wins it...

And then I want Poulter to sucker punch every kid who asks for an autograph....

 

-Chris

The problem is, these greens are not fair right now, at least not yesterday afternoon. I watched multiple guys little tap their ball on 18 from behind the pin and it rolled minimally 6ft past the cup. That's not a test of skill, that's an impossible task to hole that shot.

 

I watched Alex Noren putt what looked like the effort of a 30-40 foot putt, probably 90+ft from off the green up to the pin. Then he missed his 2nd putt.

 

Harmon 4 putted from inside 15ft.

[masegolf1978]

Rickie out in 31. Balance usga, balance!

[DatSliceDoe]

Folwer is 10 shots better today than yesterday on the front. Seems legit.

[BNGL]

The club members from Shinnecock who applaud the setup are idiotic. That ain’t in anyway how they play it during the course of their membership. It’s some kind of pride thing that sucks to high heaven. Probably directed proportionate to the size of their ....s. This has been one of the worst US Opens ever. IMO

 

Nor would they if it was a regular tour event. When I was part of the team that hosted the tour, the course never looked or played better. I loved that week, my first year. Then the members started (didn't start, they actually do it all the time, why can't it look like this all year blah, blah, blah...

[Christosterone]

I think it's funny how much people get worked up over the us open...

 

It's gimmicky but it generally creates great leaderboards...

 

Heck, chambers bay had a Spieth/DJ battle and people act like it was the worst tournament ever...

 

Yes Shinnecock was ludicrous when goose won it and yesterday....

But at the time goose was part of the big 5 and was playing among the best in the world...

 

I'd say this leaderboard is going to be rather awesome today...

 

I hope Poulter and Reed tie, have the new style playoff, and I can watch the WRX forums explode as Poulter wins it...

And then I want Poulter to sucker punch every kid who asks for an autograph....

 

-Chris

The problem is, these greens are not fair right now, at least not yesterday afternoon. I watched multiple guys little tap their ball on 18 from behind the pin and it rolled minimally 6ft past the cup. That's not a test of skill, that's an impossible task to hole that shot.

 

I watched Alex Noren putt what looked like the effort of a 30-40 foot putt, probably 90+ft from off the green up to the pin. Then he missed his 2nd putt.

 

Harmon 4 putted from inside 15ft.

 

I agree is ludicrous...

Moreover, the players in the afternoon played a course twice as hard...

First half of the day was +77

Second half was +155 if memory serves...

 

That is clearly not fair and an indication of a poorly planned setup...

 

But the us open is a gimmicky test....that’s kind of the USGA’s schtick...

 

Even so, the leaderboards are generally exciting..

 

-Chris

[jmtbkr]

Oh jeez......

 

How many pounds of makeup does Holly Saunders have on???

 

I kniw this is the Hamptons, but that’s just gross!

[Z1ggy16]

Not there today so Im streaming... EX USGA President is on Fox making excuses for them, saying how they "misjudged" the weather/conditions yesterday afternoon. Here we go...

[larciel]

Lol now the course is easy to get.

 

This is joke