OPEN ROAD IS ROUGH
Only 2 shot below par in last 5 times West Course hosted tournament
As is regular practice, Gary Woodland was chipping balls out of thick rough during his initial prep at Winged Foot ahead of the start of the U.S. Open. But as his caddie, Brennan Little, retrieved the golf balls and tossed them back to Woodland on Saturday, something became amiss as the defending champion tried to get a gauge on the issue at hand.
“We lost a ball for about five minutes, and it was right in front of me,” the defending champion said. “We didn’t find it until we stepped on it.”
Welcome to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, where, to properly set the stage for the 120th playing of the national championship, one must address the stage — the West Course in Mamaroneck, New York, some 25 miles from the heart of Manhattan.
The particulars: Designed by A.W. Tillinghast and restored by Gil Hanse, the course tips out at 7,477 yards and plays to a par of 70, with one par-3 at 243 yards, two par-4s longer than 500 yards and one par-5 breaking the 630-yard barrier.
The history: In five previous editions of the U.S. Open on the West Course, only two of the more than 700 players finished 72 holes under par (take a bow, 1984 champion Fuzzy Zoeller and runner-up Greg Norman). The last winner, Geoff Ogilvy in 2006, won at 5 over. In the 1974 U.S. Open, dubbed the Massacre at Winged Foot, Hale Irwin won at 7 over.
The observations:
“The golf course is big,” Woodland said. “It’s hard. But I think that’s what you expect when you come to a major championship and especially a U.S. Open.”
“It’s sort of like in boxing where Mike Tyson said everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face,” world No. 2 Jon Rahm said.
Seems like some good old-fashioned U.S. Open carnage is on hand for the 144 players in the field starting with the first round Thursday. An 18-hole migraine headache, if you will.
“I absolutely love the course,” world No. 3 Justin Thomas said. “It’s probably one of my favorites I’ve ever played, to be honest. It’s hard, so it’s a different kind of fun, but it is fun.”