Recent history in majors has been all about the meltdowns and it really got its start a year ago this week when Dustin Johnson handed away what seemed like a massive three-shot lead on the first tee that vanished quickly on his way to a brutal 82. It remains to be seen if this year’s U.S. Open venue, Congressional, will offer the risk-reward and downright difficult-yet-memorable holes seen at last year’s Pebble Beach.
Length is the defining characteristic of Congressional, made longer by reportedly soft fairways this week. Will that swing the advantage to the big hitters? Or does it play into the hands of a guy who hits it down the middle? With greens heading beyond 14 on the Stimpmeter (if you choose to believe the USGA), will an all-time great putter emerge?
There’s no Tiger Woods, no dominant number one player in the world, and certainly no clear-cut favorite this year. In fact, Las Vegas oddsmakers have installed “The Field” as an 8-1 “favorite,” with a batch of golfers (Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood) hovering around 12-1.
Our staff offer their predictions:
Hello golf fans, welcome again to Hittin’ the Links. Some interesting goings on around the world of golf this week. Some caddy borrowing, some rumors of careers being over, and a long awaited winner to name a few.
Thanks to John Feinstein, everyone knows Mark Twain’s famous quote. You know, the one where he famously called golf a “good walk spoiled.” Sometimes golf is beautiful game between you, nature, and your sandbagging buddies who constantly assure you that inside the leather is inside the leather, even if their belly-putter has a grip that puts Adam Scott’s broomstick to shame.