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The 19th Hole
June 10, 2008
The Stage is Clear
The US Open begins on
Thursday at Torrey Pines and there is no shortage of storylines leading into the
championship. The most obvious is the return of Tiger Woods from knee surgery
after a failed bid at a fifth Masters title. Admittedly, he may not be at 100%
after rehabilitation, but he has said that may very well not matter. Given his
record at Torrey Pines and that he is going for his fifth consecutive win at
that facility, he may very well be right. A win would put him within another
Tiger Slam of tying Jack Nicklaus’ impossible mark of 18 professional majors.
Lest we forget, though,
it is important to mention of the other player of significance in the field –
world #2 Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is a San Diego native and claims to have
played Torrey Pines over 1000 times in his life. Needless to say, he will be
the hometown hero in addition to being the usual rooting interest of the crowd.
The People’s Champion has had several close calls in the US Open before and it
may be time to make his first run at the national championship since his idiotic
moment at Winged Foot two years ago.
Up until Thursday, the
third best player in golf right now will be a part of the story of who is not in
the field. Kenny Perry, a winner of the Memorial and near winner in Atlanta,
chose to avoid US Open qualifying and stay home this weekend. Claiming that he
never liked Torrey Pines, he took his long ball and straight driving and hot
hand back to Kentucky. He will appear again next at the Travelers Championship.
His story will fade into
the background, though, by Thursday. The course will become the story very
quickly. It is the longest course in US Open history by almost 400 yards and
plays to a length of 7643. Playing to a par of 71, USGA Senior Director of
Rules and Competition Mike Davis has said that he expects a winning score under
par.
Fit into those 18 holes
are two par 4s over 500 yards, a drivable par 4, and a closing par 5 that is set
up for pure drama. The whole course features narrow fairways with a
continuation of the tiered rough approach. The length ranges from 1.75 inches
to 3.5 inches. That is low by USGA standards, but will feature Kikuyu in the
rough blend and could lead to some very inconsistent lies. It fits the
championship standard of the rough creating some degree of uncertainty as to the
next option, but will also allow for recovery shots from the rough.
The entire course will
be extremely firm, probably helping the course to play a few hundred yards
shorter than 7643. The greens will be no exception, playing in the 13 range on
the Stimpmeter. Basically, the setup matches the usual US Open mantra – long,
tight, and firm.
The most curious aspect
of the setup is that it is relatively fair and tame by comparison to setups that
players have seen on the PGA Tour in each of the last two weeks. Two weeks ago,
Muirfield Village was setup more like Winged Foot than Torrey Pines will be.
The greens were running faster, and rough was almost three inches deeper than
the initial cut will be at Torrey Pines. TPC Southwind was equally brutal in
terms of scoring conditions. The pin placements throughout the week were
nasty. The score to get into the playoff was four under par. That very well
could be the winning score this week at the Open.
The point is that the
players on the PGA Tour are not unfamiliar with setups that push the course
beyond its value for the sake of their egos. Still, it prepares players very
well for the litany of problems that the Open presents for players – small
fairways, massive length, lightning fast greens, and unreachable pin placements.
The combination of
players and course are really what makes the US Open such a compelling week. It
is understood as and intended to be the ultimate test in the mental aspects of
golf. After nearly three years of wondering just how this thing will turn out,
Torrey Pines looks to be Mike Davis’ masterpiece. And, because of the USGA’s
pandering, they have also introduced one last storyline to the championship.
Will anyone shoot a
round worse than Tony Romo?
Ryan Ballengee is the operator of The Golf News Network and host
of The 19th Hole Golf Show and LPGA on GNN.
Having graduated from the University of Maryland
in 2004 and 2006, Ballengee brings the perspective of the younger golf fan to
the microphone and his columns. Over the nearly five years he has been
broadcasting and writing, Ballengee has developed a reputation for a unique
interviewing style that asks both the difficult and fun questions. He
can be reached at
ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
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