Sunday, June 20, 2021

The United States Open

After a fairly bland first three days, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines has sprung to life, and the top of the leaderboard is crowded with big names.

1.  B. DeChambeau:  -5 (62 holes)

T2.  C. Morikawa:  -4 (63)
T2.  R. McIlroy (NIR):  -4 (62)
T2.  L. Oosthuizen (RSA):  -4 (61)

T5.  B. Koepka:  -3 (67)
T5.  J. Rahm (ESP):  -3 (62)
T5.  M. Hughes (CAN):  -3 (61)


77 comments:

  1. Rahm birdies the 9th hole and moves to 4 under par.

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  2. Koepka, at 3 under par, is running out of holes. He is lining up a 20-footer for birdie on 15. Here he goes: STRAIGHT INTO THE CUP! Koepka moves to 4-under par, and is now only one shot off the lead.

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    1. I, of course, thought Koepka was going to win at this point. I always think Koepka is going to win the majors.

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  3. DeChambeau's birdie putt on 10 just misses, and he taps in for a par.

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  4. MacKenzie Hughes birdies the 9th hole, and we now have a 6-way tie for second at 4-under par.

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  5. Oosthuizen birdies the 9th hole, and moves into a tie for the lead at 5 under par.

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  6. Morikawa makes a 10-footer to save par on 12, and he remains at 4-under.

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  7. T1. B. DeChambeau: -5 (64 holes)
    T1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (63)

    T3. B. Koepka: -4 (69)
    T3. C. Morikawa: -4 (66)
    T3. J. Rahm (ESP): -4 (65)
    T3. R. McIlroy (NIR): -4 (63)
    T3. M. Hughes (CAN): -4 (63)

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  8. What a dramatic tournament! This is like an old-school Masters Tournament.

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  9. McIlroy makes a tricky 6-footer for par on 10, and remains at 4 under.

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  10. There hasn't been a playoff at the U.S. Open since Tiger won here in 2008. I don't know if the USGA still does the 18-hold playoff or not.

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  11. DeChambeau hits a terrible drive on the par-3 11th, but he pitches back onto the green and he will have a chance to save par.

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  12. Koepka drives into a bunker on the par-3 16th, and he is in trouble. His effort to save par slides off to the left, and he falls back to 3-under par with only two holes left.

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  13. Now here's DeChambeau trying to save par. He's about 10 feet away. His effort slides off to the right, and he is now 4 under par.

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  14. Almost immediately we see Oosthuizen hole a long birdie putt on 10, and he now has a two-shot lead with eight holes to go.

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    1. And at this point I decided to root for Oosthuizen because he's always up there around the top of the leaderboard.

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  15. 1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -6 (64 holes)

    T2. C. Morikawa: -4 (66)
    T2. J. Rahm (ESP): -4 (66)
    T2. B. DeChambeau: -4 (65)
    T2. R. McIlroy (NIR): -4 (64)
    T2. M. Hughes (CAN): -4 (63)

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  16. Morikawa is making a mess of the par-5 13th. He's played four shots already, and he's in the rough behind the green.

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  17. McIlroy bogeys the 11th, and he falls back to 3 under.
    Morikawa double bogeys the 13th, and he falls back to 2 under.

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  18. 1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -6 (64)

    T2. J. Rahm (ESP): -4 (66)
    T2. B. DeChambeau: -4 (65)
    T2. M. Hughes (CAN): -4 (64)

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  19. Koepka just barely misses a curling birdie putt on 17, and he remains at 3-under par.

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  20. Oosthuizen and Hughes both miss the green on the par-3 11th hole. Hughes's ball appears to have landed in a tree.

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  21. DeChambeau hits a poor drive on 12, and cannot save par. He falls back to 3-under par.

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  22. Hughes's ball went through the tree, bounced off the cart path, and went back up into the tree. That's not good news.

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  23. After a long session with the rules officials, Hughes will hit his third shot from off the 11th green. He ends up about 25 feet from the hole.

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  24. Rahm's birdie putt on 13 slides past on the right. He'll take a par.

    Harris English birdies the 18th hole and takes the lead in the clubhouse at 3-under par.

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  25. Paul Azinger says "These guys are folding up like cheap suits."

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    Replies
    1. My wife laughed at this line as though she had never heard it. I was really surprised.

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  26. Oosthuizen has a 10-footer for par on 11, can't make it, and falls back to 5-under par.

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  27. McIlroy is in all kind of trouble on the par-4 12th. He drove into a fairway bunker. Then hit into a greenside bunker. Then landed in the greenside rough. And pitches his fourth shot to within 8 feet.

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    1. When Rory was trying to position himself for one of those shots from the bunker, and his foot kept falling off the lip and back into the sand, that's how I feel on every shot when I play golf.

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  28. DeChambeau slips on his drive at the 13th tee, and the ball sails off into the rough.

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  29. 1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (65)

    2. J. Rahm (ESP): -4 (67)

    T3. H. English: -3 (72)
    T3. B. Koepka: -3 (71)
    T3. B. DeChambeau: -3 (66)
    T3. R. McIlroy (NIR): -3 (65)

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  30. McIlroy double bogeys the 12th, and he falls back to 1 under par. Azinger says that these guys have all sorts of entourages to help them and they still can't make par.

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  31. Koepka's second shot on the par-5 18th landed in the rough next to the green. From their, he pitched his third shot into the bunker. He will need to get up and down for par. Azinger says it's turning into a two-way race between Oosthuizen and Rahm.

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  32. Koepka bogeys the last hole, and he will finish at 2-under par. Since Harris English is in the clubhouse at 3-under par, Koepka is eliminated.

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  33. 1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (65)

    2. J. Rahm (ESP): -4 (67)

    T3. H. English: -3 (72)
    T3. B. DeChambeau: -3 (66)

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  34. While everyone else is collapsing, Rahm hits a nice approach to the 14th, and Oosthuizen hits a nice approach to the 12th. One of them will win the Open.

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  35. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many double bogeys, by so many great golfers, so close to each other.

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  36. Oosthuizen pars the 12th to stay at 5 under. Rahm pars the 14th to stay at 4 under.

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  37. DeChambeau makes an utter hash of the 13th hole. He bogeyed the 11th, bogeyed the 12th, and double bogeyed the 13th. He's now 1-under par, and he will not defend his title.

    It's now down to Oosthuizen and Rahm.

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  38. Rahm pars the 15th -- his sixth par in a row -- and he stays at 4 under.

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  39. McIlroy comes really close to eagling the 13th, but takes a birdie that moves him to 2-under par. He still has a chance.

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    1. And at this point I decided to root for Rory because you got to see him in that one tournament that one time.

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  40. Oosthuizen's second shot on 13 lands in the rough, while Rahm's drive on the par-3 16th lands on the green.

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  41. Rahm pars the 16th. Oosthuizen's third shot on 13 lands on the edge of the green.

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  42. Oosthuizen saves par on 13, and he remains one shot ahead of Rahm.

    1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (67 holes)

    2. J. Rahm (ESP): -4 (69)

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  43. Morikawa has a shot at eagle on 18, but finishes with a birdie. He gets to 2-under par, and is eliminated.

    Meanwhile, on 17, Jon Rahm ends his string of pars with a long, curling birdie! He moves to 5-under par and into a tie for the lead.

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    1. Right before this point, I decided to root for Morikawa to get the eagle and take the lead in the clubhouse and maybe get into a playoff for the win.

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  44. T1. J. Rahm (ESP): -5 (71 holes)
    T1. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (67)

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  45. Very pumped up now, Rahm pounds his drive on the par-5 18th far down the fairway. He knows this hole can be birdied.

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  46. Oosthuizen pars the 14th, and remains tied for the lead.

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  47. From 222 yards away, Rahm whacks his second shot toward the 18th green. He misses and lands in a greenside bunker.

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  48. Oosthuizen's drive on 15 goes straight down the middle.

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  49. From out of the bunker, Rahm pitches onto the middle of the green. He will have a long putt for birdie.

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  50. Now Rahm lines up his putt on 18. For the lead. Here he goes: STRAIGHT INTO THE CUP!!! Jon Rahm has birdied the last two holes of the U.S. Open, and he is now 6 under par. On a day when many of the game's biggest stars collapsed, he has shot a glorious 4-under par 67.

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  51. 1. J. Rahm (ESP): -6 (72 holes)

    2. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (68)

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  52. Now Oosthuizen has to play the last four holes in at least 1-under par. On 15, his approach comes up just short of the green.

    Meanwhile, Rahm is carrying his infant son and walking to the clubhouse. He looks about as happy as it's possible for a human being to look.

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  53. Oosthuizen pars the 15th hole to stay at 5-under par. There's a huge scoreboard next to the green, so he knows he has to play the last three holes in at least one under par.

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  54. DeChambeau makes a quadruple bogey 8 on the 17th hole, and he is now 6 over for the day and 3 over for the tournament. If he pars the last hole, he will have a 77 for the day.

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  55. Oosthuizen holes a nervy 6-footer to save par on the 16th and remain one shot off the lead.

    1. J. Rahm (ESP): -6 (72 holes)

    2. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -5 (70)

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  56. Oosthuizen's drive on 17 misses the fairway, and he could be in real trouble here.

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    Replies
    1. "Well, that's the tournament," I sagely told my wife at this point.

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  57. Oosthuizen's drive on 17 is a disaster -- the ball goes into the penalty area and disappears into a bush.

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  58. Oosthuizen takes a drop, and a penalty, and then hits his third shot to within about 10 feet of the pen. He will have a chance to save par.

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  59. Oosthuizen cannot save par on the 17th hole, and he is now two shots behind with one hole left.

    1. J. Rahm (ESP): -6 (72 holes)

    2. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -4 (71)

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  60. DeChambeau pars out on 18. He went out in 33 (two under par), and came home in a disastrous, eight over par 44. His 77 will be remembered for awhile.

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  61. Oosthuizen's drive on 18 drifts into the left rough.

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  62. I really hope that Eric got to see the moment that they just showed, where Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm's wife were sitting on folding chairs, just talking to each other, while Rahm's wife cuddled her baby.

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    1. Absolutely saw it. Absolutely my favorite moment of the entire tournament. Hat tip to you.

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  63. Apparently Rahm is at the driving range, in case there's a playoff, and Mickelson brought over a folding chair for his wife so that she could sit and watch him. Good for Phil!

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    1. This is the best I've felt about Arizona State that I've felt in my entire life.

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  64. Here's Oosthuizen from the rough. He comes up short of the green.

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  65. Oosthuizen cannot hole out from the fairway, and Jon Rahm wins the 121st U.S. Open!

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  66. So, in the end, I was thrilled that my guy won.

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