Congrats Tiger - take that Johnny Miller! (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

High scores do not seem to hurt the US Open's ratings. Watching last weekend, though, the course just seemed to be playing too easy. Even with the lengthening of some of the par 4's, there were too many that were drivable. The course's only remaining defense seems to be its large ungulating greens. I guess if the wind had been more brisk for most of the weekend it would have played tougher. It's sad, because there is no other place that says "golf" quite like the Old Course.

 

[Mike Wladyka]

Well, the wind wasn't really blowing that hard all week. Most of the good scores were shot on thursday and friday with less good scores on the weekend because of some extra wind. Had the wind been blowing at 20 mph instead of the 10-15, the scores would be higher.

I like to see Tiger win as well, and I can't stand Johnny Miller. I thought Nick Faldo did a pretty decent job in commentating, I think once he gets a little more used to it and not back down from the points he makes so easily then he will be good.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Nick Faldo has impressed me as a commentator, too. He always appeared so stoic and rigid as a player, but he's actually quite personable and funny. This has really come out since he's been working for ABC.

 

[Drew Bethel]

They're all playing the same course so I don't see a problem with this. If they can drive par 4's...then the best amongst them will have eagles and the lesser thans, birdies. I don't care if the score is -25 or -1, the best player will still win the tournament.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Then why not just have them play at the local 6,200 yard muny course? I would just like to see a tougher test for the best players in the world than a course that was turned into little more than a pitch-and-putt.

Augusta National went through a similar situation a few years ago, but they were able to put some teeth back into the course by adding length, moving bunkers, adding rough (or the "2nd cut" as they say there ), and planting trees to penalize wayward drives.

I think there should be some risk involved when a player pulls out the driver on a championship course. That wasn't the case on very many holes last weekend.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think those that play golf often and those that don't play much or not at all will have different opinions as to whether lower scores are more entertaining or not. I found the U.S Open this year frustrating to watch and if it wasn't for Tiger, I doubt if I would have continue to watch it as much as I did on the last day.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

You're probably right, Robert. I'm an avid golfer and love to see great players challenged. I get as much satisfaction watching Tiger think his way around a course as I do watching him bomb a 380 yard drive. It's also the main reason I've never been a fan of Phil Mickelson. His course management skills are some of the worst I've ever seen from a highly ranked player (although he has improved some in the past couple of years).

BTW, I think tougher conditions would actually make it more likely that Tiger would win tournaments. Great players are more likely to make great shots under difficult conditions than lesser players.

 

[Scott_Sch]

I was actually able to watch all four rounds this year (held up in my apartment due to medical issues) and I have to say that even though the course seems to be easy, there are a lot of unusual shot selections and irregularities in the course that really set it aside from the other courses involved in the majors. Yeah a lot of the Par 4's were reachable for these guys (man, reachable for the average golfer takes on a whole new meaning when you get to the pro's doesn't it?) but they generally lucked out with the wind in some instances.

I watched the majority of the rounds Thursday afternoon where there were wind gusts over 20 mph and if that had continued over the weekend, I doubt we would have seen as many below par rounds. Even so, the leaderboard was not that out of control score-wise...you wound up with the majority of golfers (I think 5th place and lower) at 6 under and up, so its not like the BC Open or something like that.

Anyway...for a person who has been playing golf for only 4 years, I can truly say that I was amazed by some of the shots these guys were making. Take Tiger's drive on the I think 380 yard Par 4 (can remember the hole number)...he had to carry his drive over 295 yards or else he would have wound up in what I think they called the "Hell" bunker...add 10 mph winds, nasty rolling contours on the fairways and wacky greens...and you can at least appreciate how skilled these guys have to be to make these shots look so easy. Especially some of the narrow spaces between bunkers ("coffin" bunkers come to mind)...yeah maybe the whole isn't that long but when you have to place your 3 wood within a 10 yard clearing...thats pretty tough, especially with the wind (which the generally could not feel at a lot of the tee locations).

The Old Course is certainly no Pinehurst or Augusta for that matter, but the tradition, history and pure links nature of the course in my opinion still sets it in a class worthy of a major.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I do agree regarding this point. One thing the British seaside links courses have over virtually all American courses is the ability to play a wide variety of approach shots -- bump and runs, high pitches, etc. Where else can you watch someone actually putt from 60 yards off the green?

Most U.S. courses force golfers into a single type of approach shot -- the high carry. For us "normal" golfers, that means very few opportunities to hit low running approach shots to greens. Personally, my golf game suffers in windy conditions because I have difficulty playing low shots, since I rarely have the opportunity to practice/play them.