USGA Enough

The US Open (golf) is generally accepted by players, fans and commentators alike to be the hardest tournament to win.

However I think the USGA (United States Golf Association) has become fixated with this notion and has gone too far in their set up of the Olympic Club this year.

While it may be some 400 yards shorter than last year’s venue at Congressional, the narrow fast greens, windy conditions, deep thick rough, lengthy run-off areas and lengthening of some holes has made the course virtually impossible.

Everyone in and around the tournament is predicting that an over par score is looking likely to be enough to win come Sunday evening, I would argue is that really what fans want to see, it’s certainly not what I want to see.

Yes I want to see the players abilities tested to the limit, but I want to see some excitement, I don’t want to see fans cheering pars and bogeys like they were birdies.

Of course this is not the first time the set-up of a US Open course has irritated me, in 2005 at the Pinehurst no.2 course the set-up was so harsh, former champion Johnny Miller described the greens as “like trying to hit a ball on top of a VW Beetle.”

In 2006 and 2007 the set-ups were again just mad and the winning score was +5.

Last year thankfully there was some respite, the set-up at Congressional was tough but fair and provided a much more exciting and enjoyable US Open where players were able to consistently shoot under par.

While Rory McIlroy may have ran away with it still made for better viewing than say 2006 at Winged Foot where we got to watch Monty and Mickelson capitulate at the final hole, even the winner Geoff Ogilvy couldn’t believe what he saw “I was the beneficiary of a little bit of charity.”     

The USGA slogan is: For the good of the game, I hope next year they relent in their seemingly narcissistic attempts to make the players and in turn the fans suffer as much as possible over the four days.

Hopefully then we can see players winning the tournament with an under par score and making birdies and the occasional eagle (or in Nick Watney’s case an albatross what a shot that was), rather than players shooting a winning score over par and struggling to break 70, I know which one I’d rather see.