Saturday, June 20, 2015

U.S. Open Wrap-Up: Day Two

Mike Davis became the Executive Director of the USGA in March 2011.  Since taking over the USGA, he has radically changed the U.S. Open.  For decades, the National Open was played at a series of (mostly) old and traditional courses, with lots of rough and narrow fairways.  I didn't like this version of the National Open, which to me felt like the French Open of golf -- it didn't have much to do with the golf played the other 51 weeks of the year, and we seemed to get a high percentage of flukey winners.  (Andy North?  Twice?  No Nick Faldo?  Or Seve Ballesteros?  Or any of the other great Europeans from the 1980's and 1990's?)

But Mike Davis has changed all of this.  Now the U.S. Open is a showcase for whatever experiments he's decided to run.  At Congressional in 2011, he decided to play a U.S. Open on a traditional course, but with almost no rough.  That had a mixed result -- he got a great winner (Rory McIlroy) but an embarrassing score (16 under par) and a boring tournament.

At 2012, the Open went to Olympic in San Francisco, and for the only time under Davis's rule we had an Open that looked like the sort of Opens we saw from 1974 to 2009 -- a really boring tournament won by an obscure American (Webb Simpson), thanks in part to a poor last round from Jim Furyk.  Davis hasn't allowed a repeat of that.

In 2013 he took the Open to Merion in Philadelphia, a great old course that was considered to small to host an Open.  That was a great success -- Merion played well and Justin Rose was a more-than-worthy winner.

Last year he played both the Men's and Women's Opens at Pinehurst -- but a Pinehurst where scads of trees had been eliminated to make the course look like it did in the 1920's.  This worked well for the Women's Open, where Michelle Wie won a thriller.  But the men's Open was a snoozer, with Martin Kaymer shooting 9 under par and winning by eight shots.

So now we're at Chambers Bay, near Seattle, which is evidently meant to be seen as some sort of experiment in "sustainable" golf, or "municipal" golf, or some sort of thing.  It's the oddest golf course I have ever seen.  The land sits in the middle of the big forests that dominate the landscape around Seattle, but there is only one tree on the whole property.  It used to be a quarry or some sort of industrial landscape, and odd hills and huge gray bunkers are all over the place.  To save water (I suppose) there are no trees and no normal rough -- only punitive sections of fescue.  To keep the pros from shooting the lights out, the greens are absurdly hilly and bumpy, and the pins are placed in odd, inaccessible locations.  The result requires the pros to play each hole like they're playing some sort of odd mini-golf set up -- you have to figure out where to land the ball so that it will roll through the odd contours and somehow get within 20 feet of the hold.  Then you have to navigate the odd, bumpy greens.  The whole thing is also unspeakably ugly, unless you're a big fan of the landscape in West Texas.  Or of gray sand.  It looks like golf after the Apocalypse.

On its face, the setup appears to reward long hitters and talented putters.  That's normally the combination you want on a golf course -- it's worked for Augusta National for years.  But the oddity of the layout introduces a randomness that works against the great golfers.  So far, the leaderboard has a mixed feel to it:

T1.  P. Reed:  -5 (66+69=135)
T1.  J. Spieth:  -5 (68+67=135)

T3.  B. Grace (RSA):  -4 (69+67=136)
T3.  D. Johnson:  -4 (65+71=136)

T5.  T. Finau:  -3 (69+68=137)
T5.  J. Luiten (NED):  -3 (68+69=137)
T5.  B. Martin:  -3 (67+70=137)
T5.  D. Summerhays:  -3 (70+67=137)

T9.  J. Day (AUS):  -2 (68+70=138)
T9.  J.B. Holmes:  -2 (72+66=138)
T9.  J. Lovemark:  -2 (70+68=138)

As I see it, this tournament can be redeemed if it's won by Jordan Spieth, who would then be halfway to the Grand Slam.  That would be amazing.  I would also be happy if J.B. Holmes pulled a Webb Simpson and became the first Kentuckian to win a major since Gay Brewer won the 1967 Masters.  Other than that, I'm going to be pretty disappointed with the Chambers Bay Experience.

One final point:  the USGA is spending a lot of time using the Chambers Bay broadcast (on FOX!) to encourage more people to play golf.  But using Chambers Bay to promote golf is like using trigonometry to promote high school.

56 comments:

  1. I do like the trains. But I wish the cars didn't have so much graffiti.

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  2. There have been a couple of moments where it looked as though Rory McIlroy was going to start playing well. But he's never really been able to get on a roll. Through 13 holes today, he is 4 over for the tournament, and he will probably not be the 2015 National Open champion.

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  3. Leaderboard:

    T1. J. Speith: -5 (36 holes)
    T1. P. Reed: -5 (36)
    T3. B. Martin: -4 (37)
    T3. B. Grace (RSA): -4 (36)
    T3. D. Johnson: -4 (36)

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  4. J.B. Holmes birdies the third hole to move to 3 under par.

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  5. The first hole is a 499-yard par 4. (Sometimes it's a 598-yard par 5, because Chambers Bay). Spieth and Reed tee off there, and we're on our way.

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  6. Reed and Spieth both par the first hole.

    Next up is the 2d hole, a 399-yard par 4. Spieth and Reed both drive into the fairway.

    They actually seem to have fans at the course today watching the golfers -- we didn't see much of that on the first two days.

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  7. The pin at the second hole is almost right next to an enormous bunker that goes behind the green. Reed goes for the pin and ends up in the bunker. Spieth lands on the front of the green, and will have a very long birdie putt.

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  8. For the record, on TV it looks as though the entire course is in the late stages of a terrible drought.

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  9. Leaderboard:

    T1. J. Spieth: -5 (37 holes)
    T1. P. Reed: -5 (37)
    3. B. Grace (RSA): -4 (38)
    T4. J.B. Holmes: -3 (40)
    T4. J. Luiten (NED): -3 (38)
    T4. D. Johnson: -3 (38)

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  10. Dustin Johnson birdies the third hole to move back to 4 under.

    Patrick Reed's ball was plugged in the bunker, and he can't get it out. He's now lying 3 in the bunker.

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  11. Jordan Spieth HOLES HIS ENORMOUS PUTT on the second hole, and he is now SIX under par.

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  12. Patrick Reed takes a double bogey six, and he is now 3 under par, three shots behind Spieth.

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  13. Now we're at the third hole, a par 3 that can be anywhere from 163 to 198 yards.

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  14. Leaderboard:

    1. J. Spieth: -6 (38 holes)
    T2. D. Johnson: -4 (39)
    T2. B. Grace (RSA): -4 (39)
    T4. J. Leiten (NED): -3 (39)
    T4. P. Reed: -3 (38)

    J.B. Holmes bogeyed the fifth hole, and is now 2 under par.

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  15. On the third hole, Spieth hits a rather bland tee shot that rolls into a swale about 40 feet from the hole. And then he HOLES THE FORTY-FOOT PUTT! He's now SEVEN under par, and he leads the U.S. Open by three shots.

    The tiny crowd at Chambers Bay is going nuts.

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  16. JORDAN SPIETH! I! AM! JORDAN! SPIETH!

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  17. Phil Mickelson shoots a 77, and he is now 10 over for the tournament.

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  18. Spieth now moves to the fourth hole, a 495-yard par 4 that rates as the most difficult hole on the course.

    Leaderboard:

    1. J. Spieth: -7 (39 holes)
    T2. D. Johnson: -4 (39)
    T2. B. Grace (RSA): -4 (39)
    T4. J. Luiten (NED): -3 (40)
    T4. P. Reed: -3 (39)

    Spieth and Reed both split the fourth fairway with their drives.

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  19. So to play the fourth hole, you have to throw your approach shot to the back of the green, and then let the ball roll down toward the hole, which is perched very close to a bunker in front of the green. You have to do this sort of thing a lot at Chambers Bay.

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  20. Spieth's ball didn't roll all the way down, so he's putting from above the hole. His putt isn't hit hard enough, and he will have about 4-5 feet for par.

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  21. By the way, Dustin Johnson missed a two-footer for par at the 4th, so he is now 3 under par -- four shots behind Spieth.

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  22. Johnson is wearing a shirt where the collar and sleeves are red, and the body of the shirt is gray. It looks like he's playing for Reidland.

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  23. Spieth cannot make his par putt, and his three-putt drops him to 6 under par.

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  24. Now we move to the 5th hole, a par 4 that is 488 yards long. It's the seventh-most difficult hole on the course.

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  25. The Pride of Reidland, Dustin Johnson, holes a 20-footer for birdie on 5, and he is now only 2 shots behind Spieth.

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  26. Branden Grace birdies the 5th hole to move to five under par, only one shot off the lead. Meanwhile, Spieth hits a bad drive on 5 that drifts into the tall grass on the left of the fairway.

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  27. Fox gives us a blimp shot of Chambers Bay, which looks very much like a prison from this angle.

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  28. Leaderboard:

    1. J. Spieth: -6 (40 holes)
    2. B. Grace (RSA): -5 (41)
    3. D. Johnson: -4 (41)
    T4. J. Leiten (NED): -3 (41)
    T4. P. Reed: -3 (40)

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  29. Louis Oosthuizen signs for a 66 that leaves him at 1 under par, five shots off the lead. He missed a three-footer at the last that would have moved him to two under par. So far, Oosthuizen has gone 77+66+66=209.

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  30. Spieth skulls a shot that rolls down into a swale off to the left of the 5th green. It will not be easy to get up and down from there.

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  31. Spieth runs his third shot about 20 feet past the hole, so he is probably looking at a second straight bogey.

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  32. Grace looked as though he was about to take a bogey on 6, but he hits an amazing shot from the fairway that stops about a foot from the hole. So he will tap in for par.

    Spieth does make bogey on 5, and he is now tied with Grace for the lead.

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  33. Reed takes another bogey on 5, and he's now back to 2 under.

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  34. And now Dustin Johnson has birdied the 6th, and he moves into a three-way tie for the lead at 5 under.

    We haven't seen this yet, because Fox has Holly Sonders interviewing Louis Oosthuizen.

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  35. And we move to the 6th hole. In a change, this is a 495-yard par 4. It's the 9th toughest hole on the course.

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  36. On 6, Spieth hits a good drive and a good approach. He'll have about a 15 foot putt for birdie.

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  37. Leaderboard:

    T1. D. Johnson: -5 (42 holes)
    T1. B. Grace (RSA); -5 (42)
    T1. J. Spieth: -5 (41)
    4. J. Leiten: -3 (42)

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  38. Johnson and Grace both miss the fairway on the par-4 7th. Johnson is in a bunker; Grace is in the rough.

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  39. Reed curls in a long birdie putt on 6, and he moves back to 3 under par.

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  40. And the Spieith rolls in HIS birdie putt. He's gone birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie, and he's now 6 under par.

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  41. For the 7th hole, we have a fourth consecutive long par 4. This one is 508 yards long, and it's uphill all the way.

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  42. Big mistake by the guys on PGA Tour Radio -- Dustin Johnson's drive on 7 was not in the fairway bunker. He and Grace are both looking at 25-foot birdie putts.

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  43. Leaderboard:

    1. J. Spieth: -6 (42 holes)
    T2. D. Johnson: -5 (42)
    T2. B. Grace (RSA): -5 (42)
    T4. S. Lowry (IRL): -3 (46)
    T4. P. Reed: -3 (42)

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  44. Johnson and Grace each make par on the 7th.

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  45. From 56 feet away on the 7th green, Reed has a downhill putt for birdie. He doesn't hit it hard enough, and it catches a ridge and goes trundling away from the hole. He ends up about 36 feet away. He can't save par, and he will take at least a bogey.

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  46. Spieth had a downhill birdie putt on 7, and it runs about 10 feet past the hole.

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  47. Spieth cannot save par on 7, and he falls back to 5 under.

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  48. Reed ends up taking a double bogey, and he falls back to minus 1.

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  49. The 8th hole is a 508-yard par 5, so at least we'll see something different.

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  50. On the par-5 eighth, Johnson whacks his second shot toward the green, the ball rolls through the green, veers off to the right, finds its way onto some sort of cart path, and starts ROLLING BACK TOWARD JOHNSON. It rolls about 50 feet or so away from the hole until it finally stops in some sort of pit.

    This is the dumbest golf course I have ever seen.

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  51. Leaderboard:

    T1. B. Grace (RSA): -5 (43 holes)
    T1. D. Johnson: -5 (43)
    T1. J. Spieth: -5 (43)
    T4. S. Lowry (IRL): -3 (47)
    T4. J. Luiten (NED): -3 (44)

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  52. I could keep watching this golf tournament, but to be honest I'm not enjoying it much at all. I'm going to watch UVA and Florida at the College World Series.

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  53. This is about like a big skeeball tournament.

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