The USGA protected their precious score of par and the Oakmont County Club members must have had evil grins on their faces as their course took the best golfers in the world and smacked them silly.
Only one golfer broke was able to break par twice over four days (Angel Cabrera), Saturday’s leader Aaron Baddeley throws up a final round 80, and Tiger Woods still has not won a major when trailing.
This week we have a recap of the U.S. Open plus a Father’s Day story that golfers can really appreciate.
What follows is a transcription of my notes from the grandstands near the 18th green on Sunday at the U.S. Open.
A pair of new drivers from Callaway Golf hit golf shops earlier this spring. Though they share the company’s Fusion multimaterial technology, the two 460cc big sticks couldn’t be much more different.
The USGA’s U.S. Open is, without question, the most difficult tournament in golf. Since its inception in 1895 thirty-two winners have been decided in playoffs. The first playoff was won by Willie Anderson of Scotland in 1901. An eventual four-time U.S. Open winner, Anderson won three U.S. Opens in a row from 1903 to 1905. It is a record that still stands. Hard living Anderson died at age thirty of “hard living.”
The 107th U.S. Open Championship returns to Oakmont, hosting the national championship for a record eighth time.
The U.S. Open is notorious for its idea of par as a standard. The courses that host the tournament are usually set up to be quite penal. “Par is a good score” you’ll hear pros say, and this year’s event at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, PA is looking no different.