I don't watch a ton of golf on TV. It is usually good wallpaper while I do my Sunday chores around the house -- if I am not out playing. But who could not get wrapped up in this past weekend's US Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh?
There is something about a tournament where the winner is 5 OVER par. Angel Cabrera was the first Argentine to ever win the US Open when Tiger missed a long birdie put on 18 that would have forced a playoff. But the big story was that not even Tiger could muster a birdie on the back nine Sunday. When he made a par he did his famous fist pump. When have you ever seen Tiger happy about getting a par? That is like Barry Bonds being happy with a solid single up the middle.
Oakmont Country Club was beyond brutal last weekend. It was near impossible at moments. The rough was in most cases well over 5- 6 inches high. The fairways were narrowed and slick so most drives ran off into the rough. The sand bunkers were deep and always in the wrong spot. There were grass bunkers in the middle of the fairways that had 12 inch high "elephant grass" that almost broke Phil Mickelson's wrist (he is expected to miss about three weeks due to this injury). The greens were like painted concrete shaped like the back of a turtle. In other words, almost every approach shot landed and rolled and rolled and rolled off into the 3 inch high fringe or up against the collar of the rough.
So many people talked about how cool it is to see pros actually getting double bogeys and celebrate when the made par... watching them fret with anguish after every other shot. Was this good TV? It is pleasing to see the best golfers in the world shoot scores that you and I can get on a good weekend? I am not sure.
Too me it is a bit of a blunder for the USGA. It would be like the Yankees playing 162 games in stadiums that have tightly cut grass infields, 90 foot bases, 10 inch raised pitching mounds and 400 foot fences... and then going to play the World Series in a place intentionally built to change the game. Imagine a baseball field where the fences are now 550 feet to center field, bases are 110 feet instead. The infield has thick uneven high grass. The mound is now 18 inches high. The best hitters in the game are brought to their knees and a high scoring hit fest ends with a 2-1 score and fans give standing ovations to walks just to see a runner get on base. Would that be fun to watch? Would that be an accurate test to see who is the best team for the whole season?
I say "no way!"
The US Open will be at Torrey Pines in La Jolla next year. Torrey Pines is a public course that any of us could play (which doesn't happen often -- The Open is usually at a private exclusive club like Oakmont.) I don't want to see the course changed so much that we barely recognize the layout and the greens. I want see how the best players in golf play the same course I could play and what they score. Hopefully, we can see Tiger or Phil or whomever win the biggest tournament in golf by being the best player that weekend ... and not by being "least worst."
What do you think?
