2012 US Open at Olympic Club Discussion Thread

[Stretch]

Imprecise of me. I read that he is getting acupuncture treatments. I presume these are taking place before and possibly after his rounds, since he's not walking around the course looking like a hedgehog. :)

[Zeph]

Tiger is doing well hitting the fairway (75%) but that's mainly because he's hitting 3 wood or irons off the tee which might be the best strategy for the course but not typical of most tournaments.

He hit some drives yesterday, and as I recall, found the fairway too. Outdrove Bubba a few times. When he can hit the fade with his driver, he looks very confident.

[Zwick]

Originally Posted by Zeph

He hit some drives yesterday, and as I recall, found the fairway too. Outdrove Bubba a few times. When he can hit the fade with his driver, he looks very confident.

He hit it one 10, 11, 12 and 16 if I remember correctly. Just missed the fairway on 12, but on the other hand pulverised it on 16. He's hitting fairways with every club in his bag right now.

Woods had some bad breaks (like on 6, 16, 17) and made some unforced errors (5 and mainly 7). It's crazy that he is +1 on the 7th hole but -1 on 1-6 for the first two days.

Toms, Furyk and GMac will be there with Woods at the end and someone out of the +3/4 group will have a big day and join the party (Kuchar or Choi).

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by joekelly

What is in the syringe tube besides the claim that 'it's medicine'?  Many readers here will suggest that no drug can help a golfer, unlike in tennis, cycling, running, etc. Golf is too precise and much too mental. Maybe there is a drug which will block out your fear of failure, but is only secretly available.  I believe that if a pro golfer is taking any sort of injection during a round he/she will need to be investigated.

There is drug testimg in golf.

They won't be able to identify the secret drugs you are suggesting, unfortunately.

[SamCreamer]

A few things. First, I think Boomer is good with golf in my opinion even though he has more knowledge of the NFL. Maltbie is amazing too in the tower but I would've expected that.

Secondly, about Bubba, I just don't think he's a serious player who'll have a serious career. I understand that he has a new family but he just doesn't even seem like he practices golf anymore... just what I see. My prediction is Tiger will win although I guess that's a meaningless prediction at this point

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

No actually IMO he's played better than his score indicates, but the course and greens seem impossible to score on so it's hard to tell who's playing really well and who's getting lucky.

And this is the line USGA seems to like to dance around. They obviously want to have a difficult setup since it's the US Open. But sometimes, in trying to create difficult, they instead create unfair or even ridiculous.

So far, I don't think the USGA has crossed that line with Olympic. The pro's comments seem to be centered around how tough the course is, not how silly it is.

But...

There's still two more rounds to play, and one thing I noticed is those greens are really starting to brown out. If the USGA decides to not water those greens sufficiently, by Sunday we could have ridiculous conditions.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

There's still two more rounds to play, and one thing I noticed is those greens are really starting to brown out. If the USGA decides to not water those greens sufficiently, by Sunday we could have ridiculous conditions.

This was very briefly discussed yesterday evening.  Somebody from the USGA announced they would "spot water" only, which the Golf Channel crew took to mean we were going to be in for some "fast, hard conditions" over the weekend.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

This was very briefly discussed yesterday evening.  Somebody from the USGA announced they would "spot water" only, which the Golf Channel crew took to mean we were going to be in for some "fast, hard conditions" over the weekend.

Hoo boy. 'Spot water'...I can see an official saying 'Water that spot right there'...'But the pin's going to be 40 feet away.'

This could be 7th green at 2004 Shinnecock again. Greens that repel every type of approach shot.

Can't wait for the carnage!

[iacas]

None of the contestants have said it's unfair. So we can all sit here and say "it looks unfair" but if they're not saying it's unfair, then it probably isn't.

[zipazoid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

None of the contestants have said it's unfair. So we can all sit here and say "it looks unfair" but if they're not saying it's unfair, then it probably isn't.

As I mentioned in #492 -

Quote:

So far, I don't think the USGA has crossed that line with Olympic. The pro's comments seem to be centered around how tough the course is, not how silly it is.

But there's still two more days. USGA ain't out of the woods yet.

[mirv]

out of curiosity, does anyone know the slope/rating of the course as the pros have to play it?  golflink is telling me the regular stats are 140 slope and 74.4 rating for the lake course (which sound intimidating enough already), but i'm guessing it's even higher for a major setup?

[iacas]

As I mentioned in #492 -

I wasn't responding to you.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by mirv

out of curiosity, does anyone know the slope/rating of the course as the pros have to play it?  golflink is telling me the regular stats are 140 slope and 74.4 rating for the lake course (which sound intimidating enough already), but i'm guessing it's even higher for a major setup?

It looks much tougher than 74.4.  Given the scoring so far (and without even doing a minimal amount of calculations), I'd say it's closer to 78.

What does the rating represent?  The average score of the scratch golfer, or what the scratch golfer should shoot roughly 25% of the time?

[Shindig]

Bubba just gave up and decided to entertain the crowd with his crazy driver shots off the tee and the deck (why doesn't he carry a 3 wood?).

According to Bubba, carrying a 3-wood is reserved for short hitters. [quote name="bplewis24" url="/t/58696/2012-us-open-at-olympic-club-discussion-thread/486#post_726128"]It looks much tougher than 74.4.  Given the scoring so far (and without even doing a minimal amount of calculations), I'd say it's closer to 78. What does the rating represent?  The average score of the scratch golfer, or what the scratch golfer should shoot roughly 25% of the time? [/quote] Course rating represents the expected score of a scratch golfer. However, I think 74.4 is the rating for the course under normal conditions - if you and I wandered out there in September to play on a normal day. Usually, the USGA posts the CR/SR for the U.S. Open course as they intend to set it up. IIRC, Torrey played to a 78 (CR) and 150 (SR) or something like that when the Open was held there.

[jamo]

According to Bubba, carrying a 3-wood is reserved for short hitters.

I'd imagine Tiger and Phil (and their combined 18 majors) would beg to differ. ;-)

[zipazoid]

Does he really think like that?

Jeez. Maybe he is mildly retarded. Ten minutes to Wapner, dude.

[mirv]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Does he really think like that?

Jeez. Maybe he is mildly retarded. Ten minutes to Wapner, dude.

he's not wearing his underwear.  there wasn't a k-mart nearby.

[newtogolf]

I agree, the Open has always had a difficult set up.  Maybe my reaction to it is due to my spending more time on the course than watching golf so I'm more sympathetic to their challenge than I was in years past.  I don't think the course is unfair, it just seems the course setup (overly narrow fairways, thick rough, heavily sloped and fast greens) is more penal than in the past.   I'm just glad I don't have to play it.

Originally Posted by zipazoid

And this is the line USGA seems to like to dance around. They obviously want to have a difficult setup since it's the US Open. But sometimes, in trying to create difficult, they instead create unfair or even ridiculous.

So far, I don't think the USGA has crossed that line with Olympic. The pro's comments seem to be centered around how tough the course is, not how silly it is.

But...

There's still two more rounds to play, and one thing I noticed is those greens are really starting to brown out. If the USGA decides to not water those greens sufficiently, by Sunday we could have ridiculous conditions.