OT: US Open

Submitted by BluByYou on

My observations:  NBC sucks at most everything, but couldn't they at least get golf right?  Chris "WOW!!! Berman??  This is the US Open fergodsakes-Chris Berman?  Miller is good (not popular with many, but I like his honesty), but the rest are either bad or marginal.  The course is not fit for a national championship, narrow, slanted, curved fairways, tiny greens that don't hold a good shot and shaved areas behind the greens, a 670 yard par five-wtf?  Golf courses at that level should reward good shots not lucky shots where a one yard difference in landing spot off the tee is the difference between a crappy lie & a good one.  But the 17 year old kid from Texas, that's something to WOW about.

Hoek

June 16th, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^

I like the course, I hate watching these pros shoot 11 under. It does reward good shots, and it makes a golfer use every part of his game. As for Chris Berman, he needs to retire.

MichFan1997

June 16th, 2012 at 11:55 AM ^

I don't like when players can win a major at say, 10-under par. I'm glad that we are half way done and there are only 3 guys under par, and even that is only 1-under.

And yes, the OP is right about that kid being a wow story. Pretty amazing that someone who just finished his JUNIOR YEAR of high school (that's a 2013 recruit!!) is only 3-over par on a course playing like that one. Here's hoping he keeps shooting great. I'd love to see him and Tiger duke it out on championship Sunday.

Hoek

June 16th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^

That kid is really going to help Texas in a few years. I just feel that when he looked up and saw his name alone at the top of the leader board he became tense and had a few bad shots. He also played the hardest part of the course late in the day.

 

It will be interesting to see how these leaders do throught the first six holes so late in the day.

rbgoblue

June 16th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^

If he stays in it today, he should turn pro, take the pay day, and leave Texas in the rear view mirror.  He has no reason to play college golf if he is as good as he looks right now.  And if he is set on college, I would consider playing for Casey Martin (who just missed the cut) at Oregon.

tigers17fan

June 16th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^

I don't see any good reason for him to not go to college and go pro instead. First, we've seen it time and again where a player has a great tournament and then does basically nothing else near as good ever again. Next, getting a college degree (and the tutelage of the golf coaches there) is something he should definitely do over trying his hand at going pro right now

HELLE

June 17th, 2012 at 1:47 AM ^

College is a really important step in becoming a successful professional golfer. If he is good enough, golf will always be there. I remember Justin Rose turned pro after a 4th place finish in the British Open. We didn't hear his name again until 4 years later. After a quick glance, I couldn't find one top U.S. golfer that skipped college. I couldn't imagine turning pro at such a young age and having your parents follow you around (similiar to what Michelle Wie had to go through). College allows you to live on your own and travel with your team. In the United States, pretty much every golfer goes to college.

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/r/01/27/player-colleges/index.html

WMUgoblue

June 16th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^

It's a typical US Open course, all the traits about the Olympic you just described should be copied and pasted for every course modified for the Open. Entertaining first 2 days, projected cut yesterday for awhile for +4 but that didn't last long and moved to +9, anyone under par will have a chance to win this major.



PS I agree, why on earth is Chris Berman bringing his shtick to golf? Scott Van Pelt is the only Espn anchor that should do golf.

Drew Sharp

June 16th, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^

It's no fun when players shoot 5-6 under every day. The US open is my favorite because it takes all of your effort and capability for four straight days. no other tourney can claim that. Even the Masters...there is always some level of relief at some point. But not in the US open...make the smart shot or pay the price. At least you don't have a ball five feet from the pin roll into the water. That i don't like.

bacon1431

June 16th, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^

This is the first time in my life that I have rooted for Tiger Woods. I just want him back at the top so I have somebody to root against. Golf is probably the only sport where I enjoy a giant at the top. All others I prefer parity.

victors2000

June 16th, 2012 at 7:57 PM ^

but things get bland that way, to me. I like teams to get up for, teams to look forward to rooting against. Hockey is a prime example of what parity gets you, nobody even caring. I want Tiger to get back to winning because I'm a Tiger Man, but I like golf better when the big names are doing well; you can usually hear it from the galleries as well.

ChasingRabbits

June 16th, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^

CB does suck, but he works for ESPN not NBC. I doubt NBC has any say in who ESPN uses for their portion of the coverage.

As for the course, it is great. It rewards great shots, not good shots. As others have said, that is how a USOpen should play.

BluByYou

June 16th, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^

work for NBC, so must be a blend, but still-this is the US Open.  The difference between a great shot and a good shot in my opinion is mostly luck, not what I want to see, not what is fair and right.  Score relative to par means nothing except to us hackers who like to see the pros shoot above par.

tigers17fan

June 16th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^

I'm a fan of the course playing this hard. You actually have to make your shots, darn near perfectly, to stay in contention. This way you have to stay on top of your game or you're done. And thus, you don't have players like Westwood and McIlroy just hanging around a few shots back despite shooting god-awful (I hate when this happens because they don't deserve to be in contention). So, players who are on their game and playing well are rewarded, which I'm a fan of.

Disagree with me if you must, but I like hard courses. It adds thrill to the game that many call boring

thisisme08

June 16th, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^

All I know is that the northern Michigan courses are going go all US Open on me in 2 weeks (havent golfed all year and playing 72 holes over 3 days) so my heart goes out to these guys.  

kenfizzle

June 16th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^

Have you ever watched the US Open? Literally everything you described is what they want. The USGA explicitly tries to make this the "toughest test in golf" and especially after everyone went so low at Congressional last year (Rory finished what, -16?)

mgolf4

June 16th, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^

I played Olympic for the US Amatuer in '07. TV does not do the course justice. Moreover the setup in my opinion offers a great test. The firm and fast conditions reward the best golf in terms of planning, and execution. Factors such as trajectory, shot shape, spin and distance control have to be very specific for players to have success. This is the way professional golf should be, especially during the majors. The backlash to US Open and British Open setups tend to stem from the fact that they are unusual. We are accustomed to the low scores on thr PGA Tour because they play golf courses based on conditioning and infrastructure rather than difficulty. The PGA Tour plays a lot of easy golf courses with soft fairways and soft greens which does not test ball striking in addition to short game like a US Open. Courses such as Warwick Hills, Bay Hill, Doral, TPC Scottsdale, the courses for the Bob Hope, Pebble Beach for the event in February, etc, etc come to mind.

Also Berman and Miller are awful. If you have Direct Tv use the US Open channels, and watch the marquee group coverage sometime along with the network coverage. The marquee group will have commentators dedicated solely to it, and many shots are often delayed for the network coverage to synchronize the shots between the lead groups. As a result Johnny will already know the result of many shots before they are shown on the network coverage and will direct his commentary accordingly. For instance if Tiger is in the rough and hits his approach over the green he often says 'that looks like a flier lie to me' before it is shown on TV in an attempt to establish hos opinion as an 'expert'. I understand why they do it, but while he seems like a decent guy of camera, he is a terrible commentator.

smitty1983

June 16th, 2012 at 1:40 PM ^

Is so great. As for the conditions how many players have you heard bitch? This is the way it should be played I don't want to see players fly the ball spin in 2 ft every hole. This course takes strategy and skill. And right now who ever heads in with the hottest short game should be ur champion.

rbgoblue

June 16th, 2012 at 5:50 PM ^

I kind of like the way this course moves the tee boxes to create "different" holes every day.  Also loving the 104 yd par 3 15th followed by the 671 par 5 16th.  The difference between those holes would still be a par 5!

BlueinLansing

June 16th, 2012 at 7:06 PM ^

the second he/she determined Olympic Club is not worthy of hosting a major championship.  You sir do not know major championship layouts.  The USGA has conducted no less than 8 national championships at Olympic (US Open's/US Amateur's), they seem ok with it.

 

Also the 17 year old, Beau Hossler is going to the Univesity of Texas.  He's from Southern California