McIlroy zings USGA on U.S. Open setups
CHICAGO — Since 2004, the USGA has held its signature championship in New York (Long Island), North Carolina, New York (Westchester), western Pennsylvania, Southern California, New York (Long Island), northern California, Maryland, northern California, eastern Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington, western Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York (Long Island) and northern California.
Its next eight U.S. Open sites are determined. Oakmont, outside Pittsburgh, is the closest to Chicago, in 2025.
The 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields was, let’s be honest, a dud. Jim Furyk bogeyed the final two holes to win by three.
But here’s a thought: What if the course was not to blame? What if the organization setting up the course deserves the spanking?
Enter Rory McIlroy and the reason I could not resist writing this column.
Asked if Olympia Fields could be a good U.S. Open venue, McIlroy said yes and added this zinger: “I think what they could do is hire the Western Golf Association to set (it) up. Yeah, this would be a wonderful test for a U.S. Open.”
The numbers bear that out. Do they ever.
A week ago Dustin Johnson tap-danced at TPC Boston to the tune of 30-under par.
The leader of the BMW Championship after Round 2 on Friday is sitting at 1 under. Make that leaders — McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay.
Only two are at even par: Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama.
Tiger Woods needed to hole a 37-footer on his final hole to shoot 75. He’s 8 over.
Here’s the wild thing: The players love it.
“I think it’s a fantastic setup,” Cantlay said. “You have to think your way around.”
Olympia Fields is playing the way Willie Park Jr. designed it nearly 100 years ago, save for the extra length and deepening of the bunkers.
“I have examined thousands of places adaptable for the ideal golf course, both in Europe and America, but I have never seen a more natural setting for a championship course,” the esteemed Park said.
The fairways are narrow — 30 yards on some holes — and hard to hit because of crosswinds. The rough is thick enough to hide a bottle of sunscreen. The greens are so firm, Paul Casey hit a long iron into the 215-yard eighth hole that hit the front and then bounced and rolled all the way to a chipping area.
“We’re not used to it on the PGA Tour, but I love these cours
es,” said Billy Horschel, who is tied for fifth at 1 over. “I mean, this is a very fair golf course and it’s set up very fair by our tournament staff.
“I’ve always been a fan of 8- to 12-under par being a winning score of a tournament, and then with 1 under leading, some people might say, well, it’s not fair. Our tournament staff does a really good job of putting pins in the right spot, putting tees in the right spot, and it’s very fair. You’ve just got to execute the golf shots perfectly
every time.”
Olympia Fields has the pedigree — 100 years of championships and a trophy/photo display case featuring a shot of Walter Hagen holding the Wanamaker Trophy for the 1925 PGA Championship and Jack Nicklaus receiving a trophy from Chick Evans after winning the 1968 Western Open.
It has room for parking, spectators and hospitality, thanks to its South Course. It has public transportation, courtesy of the Metra line. It also has female members, something the spectacularly challenging Butler National cannot
say.
Olympia Fields fell horribly out of favor with the USGA, in part because of the recordlow scores for the first three rounds in 2003 and in part because Cook County officials stuck the organization with a last-minute security bill just south of $1 million.
The only USGA event to come to Chicago’s far south suburbs since then was the 2015 U.S. Amateur, and executive director Mike Davis did not appear.
Bryson DeChambeau did, and he dominated. He closed out his final singles match on the 12th hole.