A few more thoughts about the US Open
After Bart Bryant made a series of great one-putts on the last five holes at Muirfield Village to win The Memorial, in this post I brought out the old cliche about driving for show and and putting for dough. Well, darn, if today's finish at the US Open did not prove the point again. I was truly awed by Tiger's ball striking down the stretch, but it was Michael Campbell's ability to roll in the putts which meant a relatively calm stroll down 18 to secure the championship.
I enjoyed watching the US Open on TV even more because I had seen the course in person. But I still thought all the holes felt and looked the same on TV. I know the USGA is in love with Pinehurst, but I wonder if others think the US Open should return to this venue again and again.
4 Comments:
I do admit the holes seem to be lacking any character beyond the ubiqutous turtlebacks. I continually found myself wondering which groups were where on the course as a majority of Sunday's holes seem to feature front right pin locations with shots landing just short and announcers continually wondering if it would stay. Still seeing Campbell stiff arm Woods and slip through all the other car wrecks Sunday made for decent television.
I have to agree with you that I just don't see the USGA's fascination with Pinehurst No.2. I do think that it's a great course, but I prefer to see the US Open played on the old style golf courses of the Northeast (although it would be nice to see an Open out here in the Midwest every now and then). I would much rather see the US Open on a traditional, tree-lined layout such as Winged Foot (the site of next year's tournament) or Oakmont (2007) or Oak Hill. These are the courses that the USGA has traditionally used, and it will be great to see them return.
Also, I was watching the broadcasts and it sure looked like Pinehurst was not in the greatest condition (at least compared to '99). Was this the case? To be fair, maybe it had something to do with the heat, but the course conditioning just didn't look to be up to par.
That said, it was a good final round (although I am shocked that Retief blew up) and Michael Campbell is definitely a worthy champion.
Now it's on to St. Andrews for The Open (not the British Open...THE Open). That is going to be a great championship for several reasons. Not only is Jack Nicklaus going to call it a career, it is going to be played at the home of golf. I applaud Jack for choosing the appropriate stage on which to close his tournament career. Nothing against Augusta National, Pebble Beach, or other great courses, but there can be no greater place to end it all than in the oldest golf tournament in the world and in front of the most knowledgeable golf fans anywhere at St. Andrews in Scotland. Truly there cannot be a more storybook ending (than of course to see the old man conjure up the ghosts of the past and contend one last time in a major).
Jack didn't choose St. Andrews. St. Andrews, or more specifically, the R&A, chose him.
Pinehurst is a little monotonous, but sets up really nicely for a US Open if the goal is par as a winning score. No need to trick it up to protect par. Also, I really, really like the use of public courses for the Open -- it's a great trend that I hope continues.
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