Official US Open Thread

[GrahamD]

Mcdowell or Havret, who will it be?

[duckkiller76]

Mcdowell deserves it. He has grinded the hardest through it

[topspin4hand]

Mcdowell deserves it.

havret really surprised me. I was telling my friend I thought he grinded it the best today. 2 solid rounds by he and McDowell today.

I was surprised Ernie refused to give an interview afterwards ... you know Tiger would've been blasted if he'd done the same. I totally understand Dustin's decision not to give an interview. I'll be rooting for the kid the rest of the season.

[GrahamD]

Well done Mcdowell, you did the irish proud

[Nike Markiie]

Like I said, for DJ, you don't get many chances at winning a US Opens and he just choked it in 3 holes! Don't be surprised if you never see this guy again on Sunday at a major. I think after today he will never been the same.

[pandp]

Going to wonder will this round affect Johnson for the rest of his career? Its like Boxing.....once you get knocked out bad once your never the same fighter......... Go ask Roy Jones Jr.

I was thinking the same thing. He'll never win a tournament now. This final round today will always be in his mind. He will have to give up golf and move to China for a few years and work in a chopstick factory, climbing mountains in his spare time and experimenting with opiates. A good 3 to 4 years of that and he might be able to pick up golf again and put together something under 85 on Sunday.

And I can't f*ing stand Johnny Miller. He is so incredibly negative and pompous. I really like how he tried to take away from Mcdowell's round by saying he should be thankful that "some of the best players in the world are giving him help". He was about the only one that didn't shit in his pants today and outplayed everyone in the field. The end.

[senorchipotle]

Senor. You called it, Dustin seems to have imploded.

yeah, but i take 15% of winnings. ;)

[Easy]

Like I said, for DJ, you don't get many chances at winning a US Opens and he just choked it in 3 holes! Don't be surprised if you never see this guy again on Sunday at a major. I think after today he will never been the same.

Yeah that's definately going to be tough. Either he will never be the same or he will come out stronger. At least he knows what rock bottom, flat out chokeage feels like now. Suck it up and move on son!

[Easy]

I was thinking the same thing. He'll never win a tournament now. This final round today will always be in his mind. He will have to give up golf and move to China for a few years and work in a chopstick factory, climbing mountains in his spare time and experimenting with opiates. A good 3 to 4 years of that and he might be able to pick up golf again and put together something under 85 on Sunday.

Yeap that's what Batman did. Minus the opiates and look what happened to him!

[TopWalker]

Congrats to McDowell. A very classy winner and a well-earned victory.

And also congrats to the USGA. The U.S. Open winner should be right around even par and McDowell won at Even. A great test of golf.

(The boys can go back to shooting -20 next week at the Travelers).

TW

[dhanson]

Johnny Miller ... is so incredibly negative and pompous. I really like how he tried to take away from Mcdowell's round by saying he should be thankful that "some of the best players in the world are giving him help". He was about the only one that didn't shit in his pants today and outplayed everyone in the field. The end.

I would agree with Mr. Miller, at least in a limited regard. Dustin Johnson lost the championship, Tiger had to shoot even par to get into the clubhouse at -1, and Phil would've tied with even par. I don't know how difficult the course was today (or for the entire weekend for that matter) compared to other Open courses over the years, but I know it was pretty short and the rough (along the fairway, at least) was fairly short in comparison to past US Open courses. And on top of that, the wind, which generally makes Pebble significantly tougher, wasn't blowing more than what, 15mph all weekend? The greens were fairly slick (13.5? -- crazy) but when tour professionals have anywhere from an 8i to wedge in their hand fairly consistently on par 4's I kind of expected people to be a little closer. McDowell won it by others losing it. Maybe I'm just a little pissed that this is the 10th non-American to win the US Open in the last 40 years.

Well, the Open Championship is less than a month away. Here comes another month of "Tiger has won the last two Championships at St. Andrews." God I hope he wins. (no sarcasm)

[Fat Slice]

If if's and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas!

McDowell won because he WON. He had fewer strokes than the rest of the field who were playing with the same rules and on the same course.

Of course he won it by others losing it...only in the sense that it applies to every winner of every event. On the other hand, they lost because he won it. I see no reason to denigrate his effort - he went up against the best and he beat them. I am sure the others were trying their hardest and they just didn't have it today and he did.

As for the French guy, he was steady and gave a great humble interview after the round and I hope we see him in some more events. He just plows away like Westwood or Choi...without the fading!

[The Recreational Golfer]

Did you hear Tiger's poor-me-I'm-out-of-here interview with Mark Rolfing after he finished playing?

The contrast between Tiger's interview and Phil's interview could not have been more telling. Then there were the petulant expressions and body language when things weren't going his way in the middle of the round. I have no idea why people appreciate Woods beyond the way he hits golf balls (on a good day).

[Titleist_ProV1x]

Grats to MCDowell on the win, that was HUGE!

DJ, an 82 WTF???? that was hard to watch as I followed him hole to hole

[CG031]

Really was some of the worst golf I've ever watched on TV in a professional tournament. God, that course was tough + with the Open pressure. No one played well. If Johnson could've just shot a 76 he would've won...lol.

When they set up the course like that, I think it's lame. When you're bouncing it in to the greens, and can't get a damn shot up and down out of the rough, and the greens don't stop...

I don't know, I just wish it was more normal conditions so we could see more great golf shots.

[golf1234]

Congrats to Graeme McDowell. He was very steady and was the only one who shot even par, everybody else shot shot over par, so I think he has won it rather than others handed it to him. If you said that Ernie, Phil, or Tiger handed the championship to McDowell, then what about Gregory Havret? Ernie, Phil, and Tiger didn't even shoot a better score than Havret. It would be nice to see Ernie, Phil, or Tiger winning, but it is also nice to see a new major winner. I think McDowell deserves more credit from Johnny Miller.

Harvet was pretty impressive, he didn't really do anything too exciting, but he was steady all along and didn't make too many mistakes.

As for others, nice to see Ernie playing well again in the major. Before this season, people were even questioning whether Ernie would win again on the Tour, let along the major. Tiger is coming around, but he isn't sharp enough to win yet. Tiger is just like another good player out there at the moment, not really better than others like he used to be. Phil just didn't putt well enough. Not sure if Phil will ever win the US Open, he is a little too wild and inconsistent to win one in my opinion. Who knows though, I hope Phil will win one before he retires.

Dustin Johnson probably will get over it. He is only 25 and has a long career ahead of him. To win a major, he needs to improve his scrambling, and not to miss some short putts. A lot of guys don't win their first major until they reach 30 or older. He learned his lesson today and I expect him to get better.

[holeinon3]

Congrats to Graeme McDowell. He was very steady and was the only one who shot even par, everybody else shot shot over par, so I think he has won it rather than others handed it to him.

He shot +3 today..

Either way, congrats to him even though I really wanted to see Tiger win it.

[live4u120]

That was the most anticlimactic round of golf I've ever witnessed. I pray to god the rest aren't so boring to watch. Nobody made any clutch putts, no shots were stuck close, nobody did anything interesting at all. The tournament all came down to whoever didn't suck that bad.