Golfing Major time
For the second time in three years, the U.S. Open will be held at a course hosting its first Major championship and is unfamiliar to many players
Going somewhere new is starting to get old at the U.S. Open.
For so many years, everyone knew what to expect at the U.S. Open. With few exceptions, its identity was a traditional, tree-lined golf course with tight fairways and thick rough, fast and firm greens and tough pars. That's what the players would see at Oakmont and Olympic, Winged Foot and Oakland Hills. But for the second time in three years, the U.S. Open is headed to a place no one has ever experienced in a major championship.
This year's stage is Erin Hills, giving Wisconsin its first U.S. Open. The only similarities between Erin Hills and Chambers Bay two years ago are that both were built as public courses and are mostly devoid of trees. Erin Hills was molded over pure pastureland about 40 miles northwest of Milwaukee that dates back to the Ice Age when glaciers in retreat naturally created the rolling terrain. It's not a links course, even if it might look like one. There is no rough around the greens, rather the mounded slopes of mown grass found at places like Pinehurst.
Jack Nicklaus wonders if the U.S. Open has gotten away from its identity. The four-time U.S. Open champion knows nothing about Erin Hills, though Nicklaus wonders what was wrong with the old Opens that tested every shot in the bag and earned the reputation as the "toughest test in golf." Mike Davis, the executive director of the USGA, argued that only the nature of the test hasn’t changed. The overall exam is still strong.
"What Erin Hills doesn't have is history yet," Davis said. "But everybody had to start somewhere."
This one starts on June 15, and adding to the mystery of the golf course is the form of some of the best players. It was different at the Masters two months ago because all the biggest names in golf were winning _ Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler and rising Spanish star Jon Rahm. But since Sergio Garcia slipped on a green jacket, no one inside the top 40 in the world has won a tournament.
Johnson remains the favorite at No. 1 in the world for the last four months. He never made it to the first tee at Augusta National after bruising his back from a slip down the stairs on the eve of the Masters. And he hasn't won since then, either, which is only noteworthy because for the longest time he couldn't seem to lose. Johnson took his first tour of Erin Hills after missing the cut at the Memorial and declared that he liked it. Eight players in the field were at Erin Hills six years ago for the U.S. Amateur.
DEFENDING CHAMP
"You think?" Curtis Strange said sarcastically when asked if he was worried about his place in history as the last player to go back-to-back in the U.S. Open. Strange did it in 1988 and 1989. Tiger Woods never repeated in his three chances, and he is the only defending champion to even finish in the top 10. Only one player has ever been close, and that was Retief Goosen. He had a three-shot lead going into the final round in 2005 and shot 80. Strange has seen enough of Johnson _ and of Erin Hills as a member of the Fox Sports broadcasting team _ to realize it was in jeopardy. Adding to Johnson's ability is his record. He was runner-up at Chambers Bay after three-putting the 18th hole from 12 feet. He won handily at Oakmont. "I've finished second and first," he said. "Two-one-one would be nice."
TIGER & PHIL
For the first time in 25 years, the U.S. Open will be played without Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods had a fourth surgery on his back in April and is out for the rest of the season, making this the second straight year he won't play a major. This is the fourth time in the last seven years he doesn't play the U.S. Open. Mickelson, with a record six runner-up finishes, says he will be going to his daughter's high school graduation during the opening round and said he would withdraw. Lefty last missed a U.S. Open in 1993 when he lost in a two-man playoff for the final spot. The U.S. Open remains the only major Mickelson hasn't won.
THE RULES
Davis concedes that the USGA is feeling more pressure than usual to have this U.S. Open come off without a hitch. A year ago, the USGA was publicly criticized when it did not decide whether Johnson should be penalized for his golf ball moving on the fifth green. That meant Johnson played most of the back nine without knowing the score. He was penalized one shot and it didn't matter. A month later, the USGA decided to penalize Anna Nordqvist during a playoff in the U.S. Women’s Open after her club nicked the sand on the previous hole. Two years ago, Chambers Bay had hardly any grass on the putting surfaces. And now? "There is some of that," Davis said on the USGA's pressure to get it right. "Those things could have happened anywhere. But they happened to us."
THE MONEY
The USGA, which in 2015 began a 12-year deal with Fox, raised the prize money this year to $12 million. The winner will earn $2.16 million, or 18 percent of the purse. The runner-up would get $1,297,500, which is more than Angel Cabrera earned when he won the U.S. Open 10 years ago.