US Open 2012

The 112th US Open gets underway on June 14 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. It is the 5th time that the US Open have visited and low scoring has not really been seen previously. Take a look at prior results, where extra time was needed on two occasions:

1955 Jack Fleck tied Ben Hogan at +7. Fleck went onto win the playoff shooting -1 to Hogan's +3

1966 Billy Casper tied Arnold Palmer at -2. Casper triumphed in the playoff by the same score as Fleck; 69-73

1987 Scott Simpson finished at -3 beating Tom Watson by a shot. They were the only two players to finish under par.

1998 Lee Janzen came from 7 shots back to win finishing at even par ahead of Payne Stewart.

But this won't be the same open as 1998. A lot of improvements have been made to the venue culminating in a nine year tree management program. Don't be alarmed, it's not the tree removal program that the good folks at Oakmont entered into when they removed every single one on the course. There were lots of evergreens and underbrush that gave the Olympic Club the feel of being very claustrophobic, dark and narrow. It was almost as if the players were in a chute not able to see from one hole to another.

This narrowness also affected the playing conditions and options; players were protected from the swirling winds, recovery play was limited and the course became wet, soft and spongy due to reduced sunlight and air flow. A short time into the tree management program the benefits became evident, the increased sunlight and air movement quickly enhanced the characteristics encouraging drier, firmer conditions. The apparent widening of the holes will now offer players different strategies for each hole and increased angles into the greens whilst exposing them to some of the winds that they were previously protected from.

The course has also been changed to fit professional play, measured at 7,170 yards the course will not be same one that the members play. Featuring lopsided nines, it will play as 34-36, with the only par 5's coming on the back nine. The front nine will pose a stern opening test for the players with no real let up until the short par 4 seventh. The first has been changed from a 520 yard par 5 to a par 4 although it does play downhill. The par 3 third measures in at 247 yards and the par 4 holes of five and six are close to 500 yards too.

In contrast the back nine offers the shorter par 3's, both less than 200 yards albeit one being a yard shorter than the front nine eighth, and back to back par 5's at the sixteenth and seventeenth. Expect the seventeenth to be reachable and tempting to the players as the USGA try to encourage a spread of scores from an eagle to a bogey. This could be a crucial hole in determing the winner on Sunday.

This year sees the USGA continue the use of a split tee start but there is a twist this year too. The starting holes will be the first and the ninth. The ninth is very close to the clubhouse so it made sense to start there rather than ferrying players out to the tenth. Will it be easier for players to start from the ninth, maybe? But they will also have to start from the first on the other day. Starting from the first they have 12 holes to recover from the hard start, starting from the ninth they have 10 holes to build a cushion for the next 6.

Moving onto the runners and riders, the field is yet to be finalised and four spots remain TBD. There is a cut off for the top 60 players in the OWGR after the Memphis tournament this weekend so there will be some anxious players and alternates eagerly awaiting the latest posting of the OWGR as of Sunday. The first tee shot of the tournament will come on the ninth hole from Shane Bertsch at 7am PT, 10am ET and 3pm BST. As usual the USGA have tried to pick some marquee and fun groups for spectators to look out for.

The no pictures please group of Tiger, Phil and Bubba

The best players in the world right now group of Luke, Coco and Lee

The cheat stick brigade, who the USGA will be watching closely, group of Webb Simpson, Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley

The former champs group of Els, Ogilvy and Cabrera

The appeal to the asian market, and known by their initials, group of KJ (Choi), YE (Yang) and KT (Kim)

The almost young guns, almost living up to expectations, group of Rickeee, Ryo and Dustin

The didn't they do well just to be here group of:
Casey Martin (qualifying medallist and disabled player who took on USGA for the right to use a cart or buggy)
Dennis Miller (director of golf from Ohio of YouTube fame, check out his putt to make it through a qualifiying playoff)
Cameron Wilson (A) from the relatively local Stanford University golf team

With the weekend play expected to finish at 7pm local time there will be some late nights and early mornings for for UK based viewers as the USGA have decided to finish during the East Coast primetime tv market.

Got to love those top two groupings - sadly with it being West Coast and with my abnormal body clock I can't see me seeing the later parts of the rounds - but at least for the first two days there will be early and later coverage

Grumps - if it's OK with you I'm going to make this the sticky thread for the US Open rather than start a new one - may even change the topic title if that's OK with you

Go for it Davie; I'm fine with making this a sticky. I'll make some edits to the original post and thread title so it's a little more encompassing.

So the final four spots have been determined for this year's Open:

Colt Knost, Spencer Levin, Justin Hicks and Kyle Thompson.

Colt must have upset someone at the USGA as he is starting around 7:30 on Thursday morning whilst all the others can get used to being in the Open as they're among the late starters around 2:30.

Casey pulls out and is replaced by a 14 year old! Apparently the youngest ever competitor in the US Open by almost 12 months!

Davie wrote:Casey pulls out and is replaced by a 14 year old! Apparently the youngest ever competitor in the US Open by almost 12 months!

Just heard he was born 7-months after Tiger's first pro win Hope the kid does well and doesn't get ruined like they did to Michele Wie (Love to ruin her myself )

Paul may as well write off his RC chances again, which is a massive shame because he's deffo a top player who has got right to the top and keeps going backwards because of his hobbies/lifestyle. Shame

Davie wrote:Casey pulls out and is replaced by a 14 year old!

Not to worry, leaves more time for the snowboarding

Snedeker also pulled out on Monday and he was replaced by Jordan Spieth. Spieth is the first player to follow Tiger and win back to back US junior amateur titles, he has also featured in a few of the Texas PGA tour events as an amateur.

Along with Anthony Zhang, Spieth makes it eight amateurs in the field along with four club pros.

Interesting that Rory, GMac and Lee are practising together today - I thought Rory and Lee weren't getting on so well after Rory's split with the Chubby stable

Hmmm - the plot thickens! I have seen a couple of people ask Lee why he doesn't follow Rory on Twitter, and his response is always along the lines of "you'd better ask him why he doesn't follow me".

I'm really hoping that Lee or Luke can pick up the trophy this week.

Tee times are out and it's a two tee start (which I don't like for Majors)

Interesting to see the two tee start is off 1 and 9 (not 1 and 10)

Mixed fortunes for the two big feature groups - Eldrick, Blubba and Hefty-Lefty get the early start on Thursday from the 9th while Lee/Luke/Coco get the afternoon shift off the first

For us in the UK timezone that means we get saturation coverage of the Woods circus early evening for the first round but a late night if we want to see the world's top 3

Situation will of course be reversed on Friday when the US PGA darlings get the primetime Friday slot, but us back in blighty will get to see more of the Euro players without burning the midnight oil

Davie wrote:Tee times are out and it's a two tee start (which I don't like for Majors)

Interesting to see the two tee start is off 1 and 9 (not 1 and 10)

Mixed fortunes for the two big feature groups - Eldrick, Blubba and Hefty-Lefty get the early start on Thursday from the 9th while Lee/Luke/Coco get the afternoon shift off the first

For us in the UK timezone that means we get saturation coverage of the Woods circus early evening for the first round but a late night if we want to see the world's top 3

Situation will of course be reversed on Friday when the US PGA darlings get the primetime Friday slot, but us back in blighty will get to see more of the Euro players without burning the midnight oil

Glad to see you were keeping up with the main article Davie.

Damn - I missed that part of your edit if the lead article!

And he had gone to all that trouble as well Davie...

BlueCoverman wrote:And he had gone to all that trouble as well Davie...

I know it's not up to the same standard as Kwini's articles but I spent a whole 15 minutes researching for that post Blue. Some people, eh?

i have to admit that i am finding it hard to generate any enthusiasm at the moment... just too much going on!

ho hum! maybe next year. or when the season is over!

Aww sorry Grumps - but look on the bright side - we both said the same thing! Would have been even worse if we'd contradicted each other

No worries Davie.

I think it's going to be a really hard test this week. Even the traditional straight and steady guys that you're meant to look for at a US Open will be under more pressure. With reverse tilt fairways good drives could still find themselves out of position and in the semi or worse.

Like LJ I'm not really excited going into this, maybe it will change once we get underway. Will we have another first time major winner for the 14th or 15th time in a row or will someone be able to add to their record?

I'm finding it hard to see a winner out of the world top 5 or 6 this time. Usually I find someone in the list further out in the rankings that I fancy to do well but I'm just not seeing anyone this time. The only name outside the top 5 or 6 that I think has a chance is Justin Rose

Four hours to first tee-off. A few have mentioned they haven't felt "into" this tournament yet but I'm quite looking forward to it, particularly with all the publicity the course has received for its apparent difficulty

I just have a feeling for Lee this week; his tee-to-green game seems well suited to this place and if he can just avoid some of the missed short putts of recent times he could well be challenging come Sunday night (or Monday morning for us)

I would love to see Lee win it but I have got a feeling that this could be Luke's week. Not expecting too much from Rory though...

I'm looking forward to it, but still haven't figured out how to keep up with all the live football and golf over the next few days.

Did you hear about the hole in one at the par 4 7th that Quiros had in practice! Bet he wished he had saved that til today. Mind you they may have put the tee forward for a bit of fun. Think he is 250-1. Would consider an e/w bet, but think he is probably far too erratic.

So according to the US Open website Flores is the first player to complete a hole, an inauspicious start of +1 on the ninth.

Simple thoughts while looking forward to this U.S. Open:

1. Can't remember the last time that nobody absolutely had a clue as to a likely outcome coming into a major golf tournament. I'm cheering for Lee but wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't a factor on Sunday.

2. The classically styled California track seems almost unworthy of hosting a modern major but most pro's interviewed this week have walked on eggshells when assessing their chances against the course.

3. The experts are obsessed with the first six holes as the key to gaining on the field or not losing ground for those in the 'cup half-empty' crowd. Almost guarantees that we will get a fair share of disasters awaiting those expecting 'par' scores for 7 through 18.

4. Most experts are maligning the 18th hole as a 'red-headed' stepchild due to the short length and the small green meaning less options for strategic pin placements each day. Can't wait to hear the excuses for train wrecks on this one while it offers a great chance to catch a leader or apply great pressure on Sunday afternoon.

5. The host city: though San Francisco has a pseudo rivalry with Los Angeles in particular (in reality a love affair), it is one of the few great cities in this country. I doubt if there are more than five and that's being generous.

Shane Bertsch, who also had the honour of the first tee shot, has recorded the first par of the day at the ninth and takes a 1 shot lead. Bet his mum is really proud.

Going to be an interesting Open this year Venice. I don't think there is anyone that truly stands out this year. Like you say the expectation is play the first six 2 or 3 over and still be in the mix, pick up shots on the "easier" holes. I think the short par 4 seventh may cause a couple of high scores as shell shocked players press too hard to get back on track.

Players are bitching and moaning about the long sixteenth but it's going to play as a true three shotter. Welcome to our world boys. I think we'll find that 16-18 on Sunday will be where someone rises to the top.

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:Players are bitching and moaning about the long sixteenth but it's going to play as a true three shotter. Welcome to our world boys.

Amen.

Whoops Andy Zhang +5 after two holes. Hope this isn't going to be embarrassing...

Well if he keeps improving at the same rate on the next few holes he'll by +6 through 3 and then down to +5 through 5.

Welcome to the big boys league

Well you got the +6 through 3 bit right Grumps, not sure your next prediction will be quite so accurate!

Nope +8 after 5!

So he stopped improving and starting regressing Blue. My bad.

Jason Bohn looks to be putting a tidy round together, he's approaching the supposedly easier ten now so it will be interesting to see what he finishes with.

Kevin Na and Grace making light work of the easier holes, now for them to hang onto what they have on the harder eight.

If nothing else, TW's early round success should get the juices flowing early for the afternoon marquis groups. That said, what's Phil and Bubba trying to prove?

Woods looking very assured I'd say. Certainly the best player in the top 20 or so at the moment (though the 1,2,3 group may have something to say about that in about 90 minutes)

Have to say I'm impressed with Tiger at the moment though. Big question is can he do it for 4 rounds

faldono1fan wrote:Did you hear about the hole in one at the par 4 7th that Quiros had in practice! Bet he wished he had saved that til today. Mind you they may have put the tee forward for a bit of fun. Think he is 250-1. Would consider an e/w bet, but think he is probably far too erratic.

They've just been talking about it on the Sky coverage, and said exactly the same as you re. it happening on the wrong day. He looked like he enjoyed it anyway.

Quiros is the sort of guy who looks like he's smile all the way through a state funeral and a month of national mourning!

The 3 Brits on the red button.

Mary_S wrote:The 3 Brits on the red button.

You put too much pressure on Luke for the first drive. He thought you said, "red bottom."

LOL - and I've really jinxed him with my fantasy pick too!

The 3 amigos currently all +4 thru 9, so not sure if it worth staying up until 2 a.m. as I have a lesson in the morning. Will give it a couple more holes, in case there is a sudden improvement.

Must admit did not fancy any of the Brits to do well in this one, for my sins, I bet Keegan Bradley, and Nick Watney, might be a bit soon, but wish I had just bet Tiger

Mary_S wrote:LOL - and I've really jinxed him with my fantasy pick too!

The 3 amigos currently all +4 thru 9, so not sure if it worth staying up until 2 a.m. as I have a lesson in the morning. Will give it a couple more holes, in case there is a sudden improvement.

Not sure it's a good idea to keep grouping the players as such. The cumulative results rarely live up to the billing. The '3 amigos' are still one stoke better than the early morning '3 animosities' group.

On a positive note: the weather is going to be extraordinarily good for the Bay Area through the weekend. Guess global warming has its benefits.

Weather report sounds promising Venice.

Just to clarify - the was because I'm tired - not because the golf is boring! I think that some shots will be picked up on the back 9.

I am starting to enjoy some of Montys commentary, good honest comments

I notice that 1, 2 & 3 are playing some shit hot, sorry shit, golf right now. Reckon they're arguing about agents at the moment.

Good to see the kid Zhang settle down after his nightmare start. Finished with a birdie at the last to break 80

Nice to see Casey Martin finish with a 74 boy has he had to battle with all sorts of difficulty all his life. Do not think he could win it, but god would it be some story if he did???

OP I hope TW has had a nice chat with him, as they were at Stanford Uni together and used to play a lot. Would be a nice touch Woods getting together and having a beer over old times etc. he's probably still in touch I suppose but something we never see about TW's private life, only the bad stuff.

I have to say that it's my first look at this course, and its scary to say the least. half the membership at my club are complaining about the rough on a few holes being allowed to encroach fairways. On these holes if you hit it long off the tee no problem, but if you hit it an average distance irrespective of if its accurate, the ball will kick you into the cabbage. This makes it unfair for the average player as good shots are penalised and usually by a couple of shots.

The Olympic club isn't a place for Luke because he doesn't have the distance, and even though he has the best GIR, the best putting and the best fairways hit statistics, he's goosed on this track, especialy over the opening holes. It doesn't however favour the bombers neither as someone like Bubba cannot hit a straight ball and trees are in his line on nearly every tee. The drive he took on the 7th last night was unbeleievable as he was set up to hit it almost at right angles off the tee aiming at a hole 2 fairways away .... I love the way its been set up though, but to do any damage there needs to be irons hit to stay on fairways and accurate shots at that, plus the ability to move the ball both ways. This place would kill me without doubt and will probably be a graveyard for many top players.

Winning score anyone? I'm going for -3 under.

Followed the 3 amigos until the 14th hole, glad to see that Lee managed to grind out a score that keeps him in the mix.

Doc - I don't think you're far from the mark re. the winning score. I'll go for -4 under.

I've got a lesson this morning - blue sky at the moment, so fingers crossed.