MAIN EVENT
BRUTAL
test
The second men's Major of the year takes place this month and it's an event that always delivers drama
By BRENDAN BARRATT
+
The Women’s Open tees off at Royal Porthcawl
The US Open returns to Shinnecock Hills some 22 years after Retief Goosen defied near-impossible playing conditions to wrap up his second Major title, and eight years after Phil Mickelson sensationally hit a moving ball in protest at similarly unplayable course conditions in the 2018 tournament.
While the course hosted the US Open in 1995, when Corey Pavin won on a score of level par, the controversy really began in 2004, when tournament officials seemingly over-reacted to the sight of the leading players at six-under-par at the halfway mark of the tournament.
With the USGA seeking a winning score closer to level par, they attempted to toughen the course. They stopped watering the already firm greens and left the heat and wind to do the rest. The result, unsurprisingly, was a course that was almost unplayable, even for the best in the world.
Only three players finished under par for four rounds, as it became almost impossible to land a shot on the green and have it remain on the putting surface.
Greenkeepers were faced with no option but to hand water the greens between groups during the third and final rounds to keep the course even close to playable and USGA executive director Frank Hannigan later described the scenes as, 'a great deal embarrassing'.
SA IN THE TOP 10
1st Gary Player (1965), Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004)
2nd Gary Player (1958, 1979), Ernie Els (2000), Louis Oosthuizen (2015, 2021)
3rd Tim Clark (2005), Ernie Els (2010), Louis Oosthuizen (2020)
4th Ernie Els (2013), Branden Grace (2015)
5th Ernie Els (1996, 2003), Branden Grace (2016)
6th Gary Player (1962, 1978)
7th Ernie Els (1993), Charl Schwartzel (2015), Louis Oosthuizen (2019), Branden Grace (2021)
8th Gary Player (1963, 1974)
9th Gary Player (1961), Charl Schwartzel (2011), Louis Oosthuizen (2011), Ernie Els (2004, 2012)
10th Gary Player (1977), Retief Goosen (2012)
Predictably, scores rocketed as perfectly good shots would stop near the flag on the green, before starting to roll again, running off down large slopes and into the rough.
It was carnage. In the final round, not a single player broke par, with the average score for the day being 79, nine over par. Our own Ernie Els, who was playing in the final group with leader Retief Goosen, shot an 80. Tiger Woods finished 10 over par – still good enough for a place inside the top 20.
Through it all, Goosen kept making clutch putt after clutch putt, seemingly unfazed by the commotion around him. Ultimately, the South African made 11 one-putts on his way to a score of 1-over-par 71 and a two stroke victory over a frustrated Mickelson.
'It was tough, actually quite painful out there, playing under pressure,' said Goosen. 'The greens were just so brutally quick, even uphill putts were quick. I don't think there was one slow putt out there.'
Mickelson, who became a runner-up in his national open for the third time, was brutal in his assessment of the course conditions. When asked if he thought the setup was too tough, he responded tersely, 'I played some of the best golf of my life, and still couldn't shoot par. You tell me.
'You dream of winning these tournaments as a child and you work hours and hours, and you fly in days and days and do all this prep work, and then the outcome is left to chance as opposed to skill.'
Fourteen years later, a similar scenario unfolded at Shinnecock Hills. The dry and firm course was buffeted by gusts of wind on a hot day one, which made the layout even drier and even firmer.
In short, the USGA got it wrong again.
Just four players finished the first round in red numbers, and that was down to just one, Dustin Johnson, by the end of round two.
Once again, things got silly on the weekend. And there were no players under par going into the final round. By Saturday, Zach Johnson claimed the USGA had 'lost the state of the greens', backed up by Mickelson's bizarre penalty for hitting a ball in motion that almost – and probably should have – led to his disqualification.
Four over on his round, Mickelson hit a fast, downhill 18-foot putt for bogey on the 13th, only to watch it race past the hole. Likely to roll right off the green, the American chased after it and hit the ball while it was still in motion. He accepted a two-stroke penalty and signed for a score of 81.
For the record, it was Brooks Koepka who won the 2018 US Open on a score of 1-over-par, one stroke ahead of Tommy Fleetwood, whose final-round 63 equalled the tournament record.
With the winning score from the last seven – and 11 of the last 12 – US Opens being under par, it's hard to know whether the USGA will have learned from their previous two trips to Long Island or whether they will fall into a similar trap and tweak the course conditions.
In some ways, it hardly matters – because either way will make for riveting, if potentially painful, viewing.
The US Open title is earned as much as it is won
US OPEN | FACEBOOK.COM
