SquirrelNutz

Haha. Glad you are enjoying hammering my pitches iacas. Its been good for me too. Jack Nicklaus was one of the slowest players ever, yet I don't ever recall him being on the clock on the final day of a major. Seems to me like the USGA did a better job of staying out of it in those days and letting the players decide the championship. Both 2016 US Opens were a disaster on Sunday because the USGA got too involved in refereeing.

Hi iaccas. Good point, but it's those in contention on Sunday that are grinding the hardest, trying to figure out all the windy variables. Those playing ahead that have already lost their dream of winning the US Open are much less likely to grind. Grinding mentally, especially if you are leading or within a couple shots of the lead takes extra time, especially on a windy day like yesterday. How bout those Penguins? Congrats, they were clearly the best team in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. Best defense despite not having 1 of the best goalies, that usually doesn't happen. My favorite Penguin championship was when Badger Bob Johnson was coaching in Pittsburgh. Badger Bob was so good he even won a Stanley Cup in Calgary. Used to go to all the Badger hockey games during my Wisconsin years.

Almost everybody on both the PGA and LPGA tours, especially on super fast major greens on a windy day like yesterday, does a lot of backing off and restarting their putting routine, due to the fact that wind gusts greatly move putts on fast greens. Often this causes the player putting to go over the allotted time. It only becomes a concern for the player if their group is on the clock. That is unfair if you were not the reason your group fell behind, but still got put on the clock, as was the case with Seo at the 2011 US Open. The likelihood of a final day injustice like 2011 increases when they play in groups of 3 like the LPGA and decreases when they play in groups of 2 like the PGA.

Hi Gunther. The way the final groups went south immediately after being put on the clock in both the 2011 and 2016 US Opens is why I think it was too much for the ladies to handle, even though they are pro's. Should they have handled it better? Yes. Should the USGA allow extra time for reading the much faster than usual US Open greens and trying to wait for wind gusts to settle down. Again I say yes. Just my opinion.

Hi Newt. You are correct of course, it's clearly speculation my part regarding the caddies. But it's not speculation that the USGA rules folks are getting more involved in recent US Open's than in the past and messed up both the 2011 and 2016 Woman's US Open's and the 2016 Men's US Open. It became a tainted victory for Lang yesterday as it was for Ryu in 2011, and both became flawed championships. Let the players decide the winner, not the referees. You hear that all the time in other sports regarding over-zealous refs, but it's a new problem the USGA must improve upon by revising some of their sacred rules. Just my opinion, not saying I am correct, but I think Fox Sports might be lobbying for the same thing after both their 2016 US Open broadcasts became so ultimately frustrating and unsatisfying for their viewers on both 2016 US Open Sunday's.

Hi Boop. Theoretically, that is true. But in reality, being informed they were now on the clock clearly created a stressful situation for every member of the final group yesterday. Pro golfers are not used to being on the clock and having to worry about how much time they take to read a tricky green. I ask the question again, where were the caddies when they were really needed yesterday to explain the meaning of being on the clock and to help calm Park, Ko & Ji yesterday? A good caddy needs to have a thorough understanding of the rules and be prepared do some mental/psychological coaching in critical situations.

Haha. Good one Dave. Ya, agreed, thanks much to Scotland for Scotch Whisky and Golf, both great contributions to the world. Not sure about the bagpipes, but they do sound good at a funeral.

Yes, Lydia always seems very gracious in defeat or victory and even had the honesty to say she felt bad because it was searching for her ball in the hazard at 9 that put their group of 3 over the edge in terms of falling behind. A touch of class not to throw some of the blame at Park for her pictionary delays, at least not in the Fox/Lydia interview I saw at the end of their 18 hole rollercoaster ride. Lydia, like Jack Nicklaus, is a slow thoughtful player. Great to see Lydia leading the way out if the dark ages of no fun, no laughs Scottish golf to modern have fun with the game and the spectators Gary McCord, David Feherty, JoAnne Carner type of entertaining fun golf.

The on the clock rule would be fair if the 3 players in the group were playing as a team. But since they are playing as individuals, how can it be fair to put the group as a whole on the clock when in some cases, like the 2011 US Open, it's only 1 of the 3 in the group causing them to fall behind? This year it was probably a combination of Park & Ko causing the final group to fall behind, so not as controversial as in 2011, unless you ask Ji, the unfortunate 3rd member of the Park/Ko grouping. Ji was also solidly in contention prior to going on the clock. Kudos to Fox for the graphic showing Park, Ko & Ji as all +2 since being put on the clock and for not being afraid to criticize the USGA.

But what about those in the groups of 3 that were not playing slow? I followed Seo all the way in the final round of her 2010 victory at La Costa. Seo was relaxed and elegant, but not overly slow. It was another player in Seo's group at the 2011 US Open that was struggling and getting into all kinds of trouble that caused the Seo group to fall behind. How was being put on the clock with the lead late in the 2011 US Open fair to Seo and the other player in her group that were not playing overly slow?

Another question I have relating to the on the clock controversy is why Park as the leading winner on the Korean tour, and not knowing English, didn't bring her regular Korean caddy to California for the US Open? Obviously after so many wins in Korea, Park could have afforded to bring her regular caddy. The whole drawing pictures thing to communicate between Park and her caddy must have seemed likely to create a slow play problem and cost her some shots from the start. All the pictionary delays were not fair to anyone in Park's groupings of 3.

I think the fact that the final group in both the 2011 and 2016 US Open's panicked after being put on the clock indicates there is not enough communication between the USGA and the players about what is expected if you get put on the clock. In both 2011 and 2016, the Korean's lack of understanding led to jogging/running. Where were the caddies when they were needed most? Anyone who ever started jogging/running in between shots to finish ahead of a storm or darkness knows it's almost impossible to play well when your heart rate gets way up there.

I think the Fox announcers didn't like the 2016 on the clock controversy either, there were multiple comments by Zinger, Juli, Joe, Brad and others basically saying things like it's hard enough to control your emotions and breathing and adrenaline on a Sunday in the final group of a US Open even without being on the clock. Hi Valley. I agree with you that most LPGA players rely way too much on their caddies. Lang asking her brother over and over and over if he agreed with her shot strategy started to make me pull for Nordqvist in the playoff. I like old style golfers like Juli Inkster who make their own strategy decisions.

Hi Dave. Not as slow as she wants, there has to be limits, but in these in both the 2011 and 2016 US Open's, I think the USGA should have given the final group more time to catch up before putting them on the clock. Note correction from my original post, it was 2011, not 2010 that Ryu won the US Open as a result of Seo's group panicking after being put on the clock.