2013 U.S. Open Thread: Chat, Predictions and Comment

Paul_Stewart said:
Some clown on the BBC Sport has just posted this cracking comment ......

"As a golfer who plays off 2 I am shocked and appalled by the current course set ups - too much emphasis is put on low scoring and birdies. This is the easiest US Open course I've ever seen and if I failed to break par I would storm of the course in a fit of rage."
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I wonder how Numpty number 1 is regetting his comments having seen the scoring so far?
 
THese "best players in the world" are hitting some pretty awful shots....

I know the course is tough but missing greens with a wedge in your hand at their standard is pretty poor.
Just seen Fowler miss a par 3 green 30 yards left, plenty of others have done the same, missing fairways with irons in their hands....

And lets not get down to talking about the use of the Driver......
 
Imurg said:
THese "best players in the world" are hitting some pretty awful shots....

I know the course is tough but missing greens with a wedge in your hand at their standard is pretty poor.
Just seen Fowler miss a par 3 green 30 yards left, plenty of others have done the same, missing fairways with irons in their hands....

And lets not get down to talking about the use of the Driver......
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The tough course is playing with their minds, this isnt a 20 under set up and their out of their comfort zone.
 
shivas irons said:
The tough course is playing with their minds, this isnt a 20 under set up and their out of their comfort zone.
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Which is why it's awesome! Only 2 players under par after 36 (ish) holes! Makes us muggles feel much better! Going to be an interesting few days... I am just annoyed my Xbox live subscription has ended.. I watch sky sports through it and have decided to to renew.. Might invite myself to a mates house for Sunday night!
 
shivas irons said:
The tough course is playing with their minds, this isnt a 20 under set up and their out of their comfort zone.
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Agreed but some of the shots they're playing are really really poor.
For the best players in the world to miss a fairway with a 5 iron, knowing that going in the rough is probably going to cost them a shot, is dreadful play.
The first hole is, what, 340 odd yards
Fairly wide fairway to aim at with an iron in your hand
And the likes of Mickleson stuff it in the bunker or in the rough.
Some were even taking 3 woods...!!
220 yard 5 iron and a flick with a wedge - can it really be that difficult to find the short stuff?
There's a par 3 of 120 yards and it's not a miniscule green - some of them are missing that too.....
I get annoyed if I miss our 2 120 yard par 3 greens - it's a flick with a wedge for these guys and some of them are completely messing it up.

As usual, the US Open will be won by whoever makes the least mistakes, not necessarily by the best Golfer....
That's why it has a role-call of so many obscure names.....
You want these guys to be hitting drivers, knowing they have reasonable run-off areas but will get penalised if they go too far off line. Wasn't it Thursday that somone (Bradley?) had 120 odd yards to a green, was all of a yard off the fairway but had to chip sideways as he couldn't do anything else..?
By all means bring the rough in, but at least make the ball playable from it
4-6 inches of rough as soon as you miss the fairway by any distance is crazy...

I want to see the best golfer win, by that I mean the player who hits the best shots, gets rewarded for them with a birdie not a par! But what we'll get is someone who "cosys" the ball around, trying to not make mistakes, playing to not lose rather than playing to win.
 
fundy said:
Sounds like the rough is as brutasl as was expected. Keegan Bradley just missed a fairway with an iron off the tee, was wedge length into the green and chose to chip out sideways!
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Isn't that bordering on being against the spirit of the Rules? Surely he should be going for the pin, or at least green, not trying to make the lowest score on any hole! :confused::whistle:
 
Imurg said:
Agreed but some of the shots they're playing are really really poor.
For the best players in the world to miss a fairway with a 5 iron, knowing that going in the rough is probably going to cost them a shot, is dreadful play.
The first hole is, what, 340 odd yards
Fairly wide fairway to aim at with an iron in your hand
And the likes of Mickleson stuff it in the bunker or in the rough.
Some were even taking 3 woods...!!
220 yard 5 iron and a flick with a wedge - can it really be that difficult to find the short stuff?
There's a par 3 of 120 yards and it's not a miniscule green - some of them are missing that too.....
I get annoyed if I miss our 2 120 yard par 3 greens - it's a flick with a wedge for these guys and some of them are completely messing it up.

As usual, the US Open will be won by whoever makes the least mistakes, not necessarily by the best Golfer....
That's why it has a role-call of so many obscure names.....
You want these guys to be hitting drivers, knowing they have reasonable run-off areas but will get penalised if they go too far off line. Wasn't it Thursday that somone (Bradley?) had 120 odd yards to a green, was all of a yard off the fairway but had to chip sideways as he couldn't do anything else..?
By all means bring the rough in, but at least make the ball playable from it
4-6 inches of rough as soon as you miss the fairway by any distance is crazy...

I want to see the best golfer win, by that I mean the player who hits the best shots, gets rewarded for them with a birdie not a par! But what we'll get is someone who "cosys" the ball around, trying to not make mistakes, playing to not lose rather than playing to win.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I don't want to see driver off every par 4, and sometimes the sensible shot is to leave yourself a shot that's 180 yds to the green and if they play it that way and do a great second shot then that's good golf for me. Too much golf has resorted to bombing it off the tee and still having a rough shot to the green regardless of where you're at, and it's very very limited shot making. This Open is showing a much bugger variety of shots being played and very good course management off the tee which has been lost. If players want to bomb it miles and everyone goes woooh when I'd rather see great approach shots. This is why the scoring is high cause players don't have to practise that type of game so much these days and its become all about driving distance which is also ruining courses.
I agree there should be a little kinder with the rough and been a bit more strategic so there is more risk reward but then hindsight is a wonderful thing.
 
I also think that some of these 'poor' shots off the tee and with wedges are due to need to hit the exact spot in the fairway and on the green. If you put the ball in the wrong place, even more shots will fritter away...:)
 
Imurg said:
Agreed but some of the shots they're playing are really really poor.
For the best players in the world to miss a fairway with a 5 iron, knowing that going in the rough is probably going to cost them a shot, is dreadful play.
The first hole is, what, 340 odd yards
Fairly wide fairway to aim at with an iron in your hand
And the likes of Mickleson stuff it in the bunker or in the rough.
Some were even taking 3 woods...!!
220 yard 5 iron and a flick with a wedge - can it really be that difficult to find the short stuff?
There's a par 3 of 120 yards and it's not a miniscule green - some of them are missing that too.....
I get annoyed if I miss our 2 120 yard par 3 greens - it's a flick with a wedge for these guys and some of them are completely messing it up.

As usual, the US Open will be won by whoever makes the least mistakes, not necessarily by the best Golfer....
That's why it has a role-call of so many obscure names.....
You want these guys to be hitting drivers, knowing they have reasonable run-off areas but will get penalised if they go too far off line. Wasn't it Thursday that somone (Bradley?) had 120 odd yards to a green, was all of a yard off the fairway but had to chip sideways as he couldn't do anything else..?
By all means bring the rough in, but at least make the ball playable from it
4-6 inches of rough as soon as you miss the fairway by any distance is crazy...

I want to see the best golfer win, by that I mean the player who hits the best shots, gets rewarded for them with a birdie not a par! But what we'll get is someone who "cosys" the ball around, trying to not make mistakes, playing to not lose rather than playing to win.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure this happens every week doesn't?

Joost and Harris both won last weeks tournaments but i dont think they were the best golfers in the field.

I think the set up is perfect. It rewards the golfers for using the brain as well as their ability. Too many times, mainly on the PGA tour, a player can smash a driver on a par 4 and regardless of where it ends up they have a shot to the green.

This set up means they get punished for such poor shots.

Bring on the weekend!
 
But they also get punished for good shots
A reward for a good shot should be a birdie, or at least a chance
Mostly at any US Open a good shot rewards you with a par.

Each to their own but I don't want to see Tour Pros hacking out of 6 inch rough that's 3 inches off the fairway just as much as I don't want to see the driver come out on every hole.

I find US Opens boring to watch.
 
Imurg said:
By all means bring the rough in, but at least make the ball playable from it
4-6 inches of rough as soon as you miss the fairway by any distance is crazy...
Click to expand...

Try telling our head greenkeeper that! Only 4-6 inches would be an absolute blessing!!

I've got a sneaky feeling Donald could come through this weekend. He played really poorly on his back nine yesterday and is still right in the mix. I'm betting he won't play that badly over the last two rounds. And Rose is striking it really nicely. So maybe, just maybe.......
 
Piece said:
I also think that some of these 'poor' shots off the tee and with wedges are due to need to hit the exact spot in the fairway and on the green. If you put the ball in the wrong place, even more shots will fritter away...:)
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I don't think that's anywhere near as important as it seems to be being made out.

Greens are the usual frighteningly quick, but there are plenty of long putts being made and the 'good areas' of greens seem pretty large. There are certainly some places where you don't want to be on greens.

Not hitting Driver should ensure more good places on fairways found, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

I think it's the very few real opportunities for birdies that are making them attack some pins more than they would like - yesterday's 13th for example.

I think it's great to watch - and to see how they take on the challenge. I wouldn't want to see this type of challenge every week and if it wasn't a Major, I'm sure many would simply not play it. I'm not a fan of relentless bomb and gouge courses! Plenty of variety tends to find the best overall player imo.
 
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Howller must be gutted, looks like he will miss the cut by a shot having had a 9 in the first round.
Good to see Paul Casey slowly clawing himself back, not sure if he qualified for Muirfield.
 
Foxholer said:
I don't think that's anywhere near as important as it seems to be being made out.

Greens are the usual frighteningly quick, but there are plenty of long putts being made and the 'good areas' of greens seem pretty large. There are certainly some places where you don't want to be on greens.

Not hitting Driver should ensure more good places on fairways found, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

I think it's the very few real opportunities for birdies that are making them attack some pins more than they would like - yesterday's 13th for example.

I think it's great to watch - and to see how they take on the challenge. I wouldn't want to see this type of challenge every week and if it wasn't a Major, I'm sure many would simply not play it. I'm not a fan of relentless bomb and gouge courses! Plenty of variety tends to find the best overall player imo.
Click to expand...

I think the pin positions will change now to favour the guys playing the best and spread the scoring. Last few days, guys playing poorly have managed to scrap around and score ok.

It's fine balance between boring and fascinating golf. Good change from the norm, I agree.
 
My 5 selections are way out the window now so I might back stricker and Donald for some extra intrest in the last 36 holes.
 
Doon frae Troon said:
Howller must be gutted, looks like he will miss the cut by a shot having had a 9 in the first round.
Good to see Paul Casey slowly clawing himself back, not sure if he qualified for Muirfield.
Click to expand...

Cut is +8 so Howeller gets in - very pleased for him.
Manny bogeys 2 of the last 3 to miss by 1......
 
So the World No.1 goes OB on the 2nd
World No.2 misses the fairway on the first with an iron in his hand

= Simply not good enough
 
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