U.S. Open Drama

Missing a short putt to win a major sucks. As a golf fan with whom the outcome is neutral, watching a player miss a short putt is painful. “I am in shock” was the comment from Jordan Spieth who was the beneficiary of the miss. My heart was in my stomach as Dustin walked up to tap in his par. I did not want to see him three putt from less than fifteen feet to lose the U.S. Open.

Spieth has now won the first two majors of 2015 and he is a worthy winner. I am happy for him. I would just have rather him won it in an eighteen-hole playoff on Monday as he should have. Not because Dustin missed that putt. The drama of the U.S. Open was incredible. Even Dustin’s storyline of being the clear leader, to then a story of him losing it, to then an incredible birdie on 17, to then the deflation of the three putt. It was an emotional rollercoaster.

Watching Jordan’s reaction I think even he couldn’t believe that he had won. My guess is that he was gearing himself up for another eighteen holes on Monday. I would have bet good money that Dustin was going to make the eagle putt rather than miss the come backer. Dustin has putted great all week. In fact it may surprise many people that even with the three putt Dustin had less putts for the week than Jordan. The difference from the statistical point of view was greens in regulation. Jordan hit more.

The greens were a major sticking point the whole week. Many players were unhappy with the conditions. Players like Ian Poulter – the PGA Tour’s resident complainer – and Billy Horschel were very vocal about how bad they were. Billy Ho in fact embarrassed himself in his on course reactions acting more like a spoiled child than a professional golfer. He danced like a snake and also attempted to tomahawk the green. The latter act he apologized for but still he looked very unprofessional.

Being a resident of the Pacific Northwest, fescue grass does not do well cut very short and starved of water. Once it starts to struggle it leaves the opportunity for the weed, better known as Poa Annua, to get a foothold. Most greenskeepers on the west coast just give up and let the Poa take over and use that as the main grass on the greens. Poa isn’t the greatest green surface, but it can be cut short, and starved of water for a week like the USGA likes to do and not face the negative consequences. Fescue likes to be kept longer, it can be a truer surface that Poa, but not when strained. Poa’s biggest negative is how it flowers in the spring. June is still a spring month for northern Washington and so the Poa was probably a nightmare to control. I feel the USGA should have just kept the fescue long and played the course with slower greens to try and fight off the Poa moving in. The Poa may still eventually win but they might have been able to hide the trouble with longer greens. Slower greens however may have meant the USGA would have been unable to protect par. The scores likely would have been very low with slower greens.

I have very serious doubts if the U.S. Open or any major championship will be back to Chambers Bay. I applaud the USGA for giving it a go, trying something outside the box. It was different and I believe the idea of totally different kind of course was a success. The course execution was lacking.

Are the bumpy greens to blame for Dustin missing that putt? Hard to know for sure. I thought it was interesting that Dustin blew off the handshake with Mike Davis after walking off the eighteenth hole. It may have been nothing but from my vantage point it looked like a conscious choice. Maybe they have a bad history together, maybe he was upset about the course set up, maybe Davis had bad breath that day, whatever the reason it seems to me he felt the greens played a role.

I don’t mind him deciding to not shake Mike Davis’s hand, that is his choice. His decision to not show up for the trophy presentation on the other hand was poor one. Finishing second is still an excellent accomplishment and the fans who rooted for him should have a chance to congratulate him on an excellent week of golf. It sends a message to kids that if I don’t win I don’t need to congratulate the person who played better than me. His actions are something I would expect from my child not an adult professional golfer. Being a new father himself he needs to recognize the affect as a professional he has on children and how not going was not a great message to send. He is allowed to feel hurt about not winning but just blowing off the ceremony was a mistake.

I have written before that I believe Dustin has the capability to be a big star on the PGA Tour. To do that he will need to act like one. Phil Mickelson the guy who has had more heartbreak than anyone in U.S. Open’s has collected every 2nd place medal given to him. Even after making quite possibly the dumbest double bogey to lose a U.S. Open ever, he still spoke the media. Dustin should learn. We can accept he is disappointed but he is a professional and should act like one.

Photo credits: © Mike Ehrmann