2018 US Open

Cool.  I went when it was in Pinehurst.  I enjoy going..but don't tend to follow the big names....way too crowded to see anything

 just watched a video of how fast the 18th green is right now. They show a guy Dropping a ball on the green and then it rolls away from the guy a fair ways and then it takes a left turn toward the frong of the green and then it picks up more speed and it rolls right off the green a good 15 yards or so. Crazy fast and the greens LOOK like they are WAY dry, as they are more brown in color than green. And this video was shot on Monday. I hate to think how much faster they will get by Thursday 

Here is a link to the video so all of you here can see how crazy fast the green is. Let me know what you think of the green. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/video-shows-how-ridiculously-bruta...

crazy tough today.  The Top 10 golfers in the world shot something liek 52 over par today???

At least one guy is playing decently...  Based on recent experience, DJ should win this thing, but where's the drama in that?

Once again the USGA has proven that they're more interested in protecting against par with circus like conditions than they are in presenting a compelling competitive event.  These guys need to take a lesson from Augusta National on how to run a great event!

 agree with you complettly scoma,. I watched the US Open coverage on Saturday and it was a joke, how fast the greens were. I saw a LOT of good shots land close to the flag only to roll off the green and into trouble. Any time that Good shots are NOT rewarded with a good chance at Birdie, it's NOT a good tournement, but an attempt to save par. And really, WHO cares if the best gofers in the world can shoot 20 under for the event? Isn't that what the BEST golfers should be doing on a good course in good condition? Looking at this course, it looked like the greens could use a good healthy DRINK of water for a few days stratight. The call them Greens for a reason, They are supposed to be GREEN, NOT Brown patches of half dead grass. The US OPEN is once again a SICK joke being played on a course in need of water, and that's a shame and the USGA should get their combined heads out of the sand or let someone else run the show. 

So how do you guys feel about what Phil did?   Given how the course was setup, I'm not surprised by what he did, and I am getting tired of hearing the new casters talking about he should withdraw because he brock some cardinal sin rule by hitting a moving ball.  The USGA applied the ruling they felt was due, 2 stroke penalty, lets move on.   My perspective was, the writers sitting at home watching on TV or wherever they were, weren't on the course getting 'slapped in the face' every time they hit a good shot only to see the course punish them, so their perspective on what his punishment should be was...uninformed..let them be exhausted from the constant punishment before they make judgement.   Whether or not it was to save a stroke or 2, I don't care.  I think it and Zach Johnson got their point across.  The USGA made some mistakes in the setup and I don't think that's wrong to be called out.

I watched the inteview Phil did and I think he had a good reason for what he did. He could see that the ball was going to roll off the green and end up in realy bad spot, so he decided to strike it as it was moving to avoid something worse. He took the 2 stroke penaly and moved on, and he even thanked the rules guy when the was told about the penaly, so that's proves he was clear about the pemanly and he was okay with it. Phil "moved on" and now the rest of the golf world should do the same thing. 

As for the golf course setup, I think Ricky Fowler's rounds of 84 on Saturday when he teed off LATE, after the wind had dried out the course, and his round of 65 on Sunday when he teed off EARLY, before the wind dried out the course, pretty much showed the world how BAD a job the USGA did in running this event. I watched the coverage on Saturday and Sunday, the the course looked like "CRAP' when I looked at the greens. Every grren I saw was "too dry" and the grass was more "Brown" then it was Green. Half of each green was brown spots more than green spots, and that is NOT good for the greens in the long run. Why not water the greens the "Same Way" they do the rest of the year. and let the grass grow as it was intended to grow. Why make the green so hard and fast that a "Good approach shot" goes to waste? That makes ZERO sense to me. IF I hit a shot and the ball lands 5 feet from the flag I want to have an excellent chance at a short putt for birdie, not have to go find my ball some 25 yards off the green at the bottom of a slope either at the front of the grreen of off the back or maybe off to one side or the other, just because the USGA thinks the greens need to be hard and dry to protect Par. 

I'd be willing bet money that "IF" the course was in this condition "ALL OF THE TIME", that the membership of that course would "ALL QUIT"  and go play at some other course. Either that or they would force the club to "FIRE" the head grounds keeper and replace him or her with a person that knows how to maintain a golf course in good playing condition instead of the way the USGA had it playing. Even IF that course was FREE to play, I wouldn't want to play it the way it was for the Open. 

In case you didn't go the math. Ricky shot 19 shots BETTER early on Sunday then he did Late on Saturday. Even IF you figurre that HALF of the difference was due to how Ricky played, that still leave 9 or 10 shots due to course conditions from on day to the next. And that's a big joke to say the least. Same for DJ. He was 4 under for the first 2 days, and then 7 over late Saturday when the course had dried out and the conditions were so bad. 

This U.S. OPEN was NOT a test of WHO was the best golfer for the week, but rather a matter of who teed off in the morning and who teed off late in the day on the weekend. And that Is NOT thw way to run a golf tournement. 

I like the idea that the best players are tested...and that's fine.  It just has to be a fair test.  And I don't think this was a equally fair test for the guys going off early and the guys going off late. No one wants to see everyone struggle like the USGA made it.   Clearly, Sunday, the setup had changed and patrons got what they paid for, to see the best player sin the world hitting great shots and having chances to score.  What we had late afternoon Friday and Saturday was not a fair and even test. 

And I just wonder if Paul A would have had a different answer if HE had been out there on the course trying to score, trying to earn a living and make a cut, rather than being in the booth. 

but everyone would be howling if the winning score was 20 under also    I have to disagree with you here Aimee. I would NOT have a problem at all if the best golfers in the world shot 20 or so under par at the U.S. OPEN. Not a problem at all. They ARE the best in the world at playing golf, so why shouldn't they be able to go low in this event ??? This golf course is an excellent design and it is VERY difficult under normal conditions, so I see NO reason to make it even harder by having the green so hard and fast the ball rolls off the greens when a guy just misses a putt, like what happened to Phil when he stroked a good putt and missed. His ball was headed for off the green and his putt was NOT stroked very hard at all. It was rolling pretty slowly when it went pass the hole and it was NOT going to stop until it was way off the green. That is NOT the way to have the course play no matter what event is taking place. 

I have ZERO problems with a course setup that forces a player to make good shots, but when they do I want to see that player "Rewarded" for his good shot making skills, NOT be punished by rock hard greens and super fast putting conditions that are a joke. 

The USGA admitted that they make a mistake with the setup for Saturday, which was nice of them. Too bad they didn't learn from the setup at I believe it was the 2004 US Open when the balls were running off the greens on most every hole due to the same stupid setup practices. Too bad admitting they made a mistake didn't HURT them like it did the players in this event. I wonder IF ANY of the USGA officails that made those mistakes will SUFFER in any way for their screw-ups ? I doubt they will get fired over this mess. They "Should" get fired as this is NOT the first time it's happened, and I doubt it will be the last if the same people stay in charge of things. 

The 2018 Senior. U.S. OPEN is being held here in Colorado this year, down in Colorado Springs which is about 65 miles south of me. I WAS thinking about going, but now I don't think so. Buying a ticket would just put money in the USGA pockets, and I don't really wnat to reward them with my money after one more screw up. 

I wonder if anyone if the USGA has EVER asked the millions of average golfers "What They Want To See" in the way the U.S. Open and other events, in terms of HOW the courses are set up and IF the average golfers wants to see GOOD shot making, or seeing the best golfers in the world struggle to make par for 4 days. MY Vote would be for FAIR conditions and let the scores reflect the skill of the golfer, rather than who plays in the morning and who plays late in the day after the greens have dried out and become horrible to play. 

Don, I don't think they have.  I think they assume as the USGA they know what the test should be.   I just don't get why they have to be so close to the edge.  What's wrong with 3-under a round...You saw it at Erin Hills, there's a lot of whacky golf...where you putt from 30 yards off the green, British Open style.  And where the course is so hard  and dry that you hit 4I 280 yards...or 5I's 310 when they're down hill..

I'd be fine with just normal golf setup but at the Public venues like the USGA does...

But I know what Aimee's saying...because USGA wants scores around Par someone running off with it like high double digits would get critisism too.  Not from me...I'd actually be happy the USGA was stopping tricking up the course.  that's the thing..they trick them up. let's play GOLF not tricked up golf.  Or change the name to the USTGA....adding Tricked-Up in there

I think Tommy Fleetwood shot a 63 on Sunday this year, and the reporters were saying how well he did. I did NOT hear ONE complaint about this low round, just the opposite was the case. Same thing when Ricky Fowler shot a 65 on Sunday, they were happy for him. No one said a word about the course being TOO EASY. So I don't see why the USGA thinks they have to "protect" par by making the course close to impossible to score well on. Let/s be honest here, On most par 4 holes the best golfers in the world will be hitting a mid to short iron into the greens, and IF they are good iron players, they "Should" be putting for birdie on most of the Par 4 holes. And that would mean 5 or 6 under par per round would be an average score for the best gofers in the world that are playing well that day. I don't see a problem with that at all. 

Last time I heard, PAR was supposed to be what an "AVERAGE" stretch golfer would score on any hole. That's a good score for the average stretch golfer, NOT what the BEST golfers in the world would score. So why worry about protecting par when the best golfers are playing the game ?? Makes no sense at all. 

At least the US Open proved to be a more compelling story this year than in the recent past with not only a back-to-back winner, but the usual controvercy as well.

I've seen a lot of sanctimonious commentary about phil manipluating the rules for his own gain and disrespecting the game that's just a little too think to handle.  He had an enotional outburst and he effed up under really trying circumstances, but I'm not prepared to crucify the guy over something that the USGA deliberately brought upon themselves by the way in which they choose to set-up the US Open courses.  I still think that the issue is a bunch of stuffed shirts that fancy themselves as being charged with preserving the game.  If they were really interested in that we would still be using wooden woods and balata balls rather than them knuckling under to the siren's call of growing the game through spectacle created with technological intervention.

You know you never see The Open put a course together like that.  Maybe because they usually expect the weather to BE a factor, they don't make the course setup stupid like the USGA does. 

Will the USGA ever get it right?

      Mike Davis, chief executive of the United States Golf Association, pledged before the U.S. Open that his organization would get it right as far as course set up was concerned. So, it left the golf world scratching its collective heads during the third round at Shinnecock, where the course conditions again got out of control, leading to a comedy of errors that were none too funny.
      Davis, to his credit, apologized that evening, saying the USGA miscalculated, that it didn’t expect the wind to blow as hard as it did, thus making a few of the pin positions dicey. When Ricke Fowler shoots 84 – and bounced back with a 65 in the final round – you know something is not right. Only three scores were under par, the scoring average was north of 75. Tony Finau and Daniel Berger played early, shot 66s, then sat back and made up 11 strokes to tie for the lead. The USGA then seemed to overcompensate, making the course far more playable for the final round. It’s too bad. Shinnecock is a tough test no matter what.