Official 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Discussion Thread

[zipazoid]

Yeah, I think the bogey on 13 is what really did Phil in. You can't make a 4 on a 121 yard hole in the final round. He lost a shot & a half right there. A par there meant make a par on 18 for a playoff. A birdie there meant a par on 18 to win the tournament.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by saturday

What amazes me is how difficult the course plays. Although there are some very opportune scoring holes they're masked by difficult rough's and hidden tee locations.. loved it. Merion has won me over. Can't imagine what I would shoot on that course.... 300 strokes? lol

See, I think besides putting, I'd shoot about the same. I'm used to courses that are too lazy or cheap to mow, and I'm always stuck in terrible rough hitting duffs 30 yards out. I would just go there and play my normal game. Haha.

(I'm not serious btw...)

[France46]

It is easy to play Monday morning QB, but Phil has been the 2nd best player in the World over the last 20 years, so it seems like he must be doing something right.  Hard to believe that he has so much more talent than everyone else that he can consistently make dumb decisions and still find a way to win 41 PGA events and 71 million US dollars.

There are guys with better swings than Phil and he is not as good a putter as Tiger.  In fact, he has had 4 seasons with a negative strokes gained putting (meaning he was below tour average putting those years).  Maybe he plays a bit smarter than people think??

[colin007]

did i hear right that tigs was 2nd overall in driving?  god, what an awful bunch of approach shots, chips and putts from eldrick... :(

[iacas]

The 13th didn't play as easy as people seem to think. It played to 2.8 or so all week (2.76 on Sunday). He lost a shot there, but he lost more by doubling #3 (1.7 shots to the field there) and about as many (1.2 shots) for doubling #5.

Interesting to note that his birdie on #4 picked up 1.04 shots even though it's a par five.

[Ernest Jones]

Well Father's Day felt suspiciously like Family Day this year so as a result I really only got to see little bits and pieces of the US Open but I gotta think that Nike can't be too happy with the image of Rory bending his club over his knee. Try working that into an ad campaign...

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by iacas

The 13th didn't play as easy as people seem to think. It played to 2.8 or so all week (2.76 on Sunday). He lost a shot there, but he lost more by doubling #3 (1.7 shots to the field there) and about as many (1.2 shots) for doubling #5.

Interesting to note that his birdie on #4 picked up 1.04 shots even though it's a par five.

It was pouring when Phil was at this tee as well, with some wind.  He may have just hit it too hard.

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by colin007

did i hear right that tigs was 2nd overall in driving?  god, what an awful bunch of approach shots, chips and putts from eldrick... :(

His chipping was awful the whole open.

[Motley01]

OMG poor Phil. That was very sad to watch him blow a US Open once again.

When he slam dunked that wedge in, I thought that was gonna be his momentum shift to finally win this thing.

All he had to do was shoot even par yesterday. All those putts were grazing the hole, some of those should have dropped.

That was his best chance, as he gets older, his chances of winning are dwindeling. He was 75% on fairways hit with that 3WD he played all week. So he must have learned something, for him to put the driver away.

[geauxforbroke]

I wouldn't say he blew it. Just got outplayed by Rose.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by boogielicious

It was pouring when Phil was at this tee as well, with some wind.  He may have just hit it too hard.

He hit a pitching wedge. I can hit a wedge that far so there was no reason for Phil Mickelson to have a wedge in his hands on that tee. He probably could have hit his 64. Phil mystifies me sometimes.

After spending all week there as a marshal, I don't believe the USGA needed to make the course as penal as they did to keep scores down. The greens were all they needed to protect the golf course. I saw very few guys making putts over 10 feet and, when they did, they were just lucky they hit the hole because they would all gone 10 feet past. The grain on those greens is confounding, something the best players in the world could never figure out.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

I wouldn't say he blew it. Just got outplayed by Rose.

I like this statement a lot.  they all played 4 rounds, they got what they got, everyone had ups and downs, and picking apart one hole after another is pretty pointless.  I'm sure every pro in the comp had dozens of holes where they could have eliminated just "one more stroke".  All those 'shouldas' and 'couldas' add up pretty fast.  Rose just handled the grind better than the field,....this time.

Tiger said it in an interview - (roughly)  "It's the grind - saving that up and down, making that putt in one instead of two, recovering that par, or even a bogie, after a bad shot" - and doing that on every hole, hole after hole after hole.......all four rounds.

Coming in 2nd 5 or 6 times sounds pretty bad.  Coming in "top 2" 5 or 6 times at the US OPEN sounds pretty good.

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

I'm sure every pro in the comp had dozens of holes where they could have eliminated just "one more stroke".  All those 'shouldas' and 'couldas' add up pretty fast.  Rose just handled the grind better than the field,....this time.

Exactly.

[zipazoid]

I wouldn't say Phil 'blew it' either. It wasn't a replay of 2006 where he was standing on the 18th tee needing a par to win. This time he stood on the 18th tee needing a birdie to tie, which given how difficult that hole was playing was very remote.

Having said that though, the club selection on 13 was definitely a head-scratcher. Rain or not (how does that reduce distance?), to have only 121y & hit a draw PW...it just seems like his thought process short-circuited there. I can hit a draw PW 121...in the rain.

Yes, he had early mistakes, like the doubles on the front 9, but those were early enough in the round to overcome & he did. The jarred wedge at 10 for the eagle put him back in the lead, and I believe he stood on 13 tee, the shortest hole on the course, playing under par for the field, either still leading or tied (can't recall)...and proceeds to not only miss the green but air-mailing it by 20 yards & carding a 4.

That was his Winged Foot moment this year, sadly. The absolute wrong play at the absolute wrong time.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by iacas

Because it's not 30 yards, it's more like 10 according to Phil.

I don't doubt that Phil stated it, but I'd guess that those numbers are best case.  He has to be assuming maximum roll out with the 3Deep to compensate for it's lower carry distance otherwise he'd have no reason to ever carry a driver.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by phan52

After spending all week there as a marshal, I don't believe the USGA needed to make the course as penal as they did to keep scores down. The greens were all they needed to protect the golf course. I saw very few guys making putts over 10 feet and, when they did, they were just lucky they hit the hole because they would all gone 10 feet past. The grain on those greens is confounding, something the best players in the world could never figure out.

I would disagree with this simply because of math.  As I understand it, the USGA's goal is always to get a winning score as close to even par as possible.  Seeing as how the winner was +1, I'd say they pretty much nailed it.

And I was disappointed with the way a lot of guys were making their bogeys.  I expect a lot of bogeys at the US Open because of tough greens, rough and pins, but I don't expect a lot of bogeys because guys can't hit fairways with 5 irons and can't hit greens with wedges.  Seems like there was way too much of that this weekend.  Phil at 13 was only 1 example.  I guess it could have just been Open pressure, but it surprised me.

[tmac20]

What will be the winning score next year at Pinehurst? -5? E? +5?

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by tmac20

What will be the winning score next year at Pinehurst? -5? E? +5?

My guess would be within a shot of par. Last two US Open's held there finished -1 and E.