2020 US Open

RedOctober3829

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It's finally here. Should be a great event at Winged Foot. Most betting sites have DJ, Rahm, Xander, and JT as the top 4 favorites. Local weather looks to be beautiful all week with the execption of 30% chance of showers on Friday. Temps will in the mid to high 70s on Thursday and Friday and falling into the mid 60's for the weekend.

Television info
Thursday 7:30 AM-2:00 PM(Golf Channel), 2-5 pm(NBC)
Friday 9:30-4:00 PM(Golf Channel) 4-7 pm(NBC)
Saturday 11:00 AM-7:30 PM(NBC)
Sunday 10-12 pm(Golf Channel) 12-6 pm(NBC)

Streaming is available at certain times on Peacock and featured groups on USOpen.com.
 

TFP

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The course looks incredible.

Gonna be a phenomenal week.
 

Dan Murfman

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Majors at Winged Foot

2006 US Open Ogilvy +5
1997 PGA Love -11
1984 US Open Fuzzy -4
1974 US Open Irwin +7
1959 US Open Casper +2
1929 US Open Jones +6

Also might be interesting to just me but since 1923 Winged Foot has had a total of 7 head pros.
 

TFP

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Here's a good look at the Winged Foot greens. I wasn't a big enough golf fan in 2006 to really appreciate it so this is really my first go round with the course. I think I'm in love.

View: https://youtu.be/Qfx86KMkBy0
 

jercra

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Here's a good look at the Winged Foot greens. I wasn't a big enough golf fan in 2006 to really appreciate it so this is really my first go round with the course. I think I'm in love.

View: https://youtu.be/Qfx86KMkBy0
Damn, that looks amazing. I'm really, really looking forward to this US open. Sadly I'm mostly going to be watching on DVR. I have a 2-day club championship this weekend and practice rounds on Thursday and Friday.
 

ezemerson

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yea i really dont remember this place either and was doing some research yesterday. crazy that the green complexes are essentially rectangles
 

TFP

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Tiger/JT/Morikawa as a featured group? Yes please.
 

Average Reds

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Here's a good look at the Winged Foot greens. I wasn't a big enough golf fan in 2006 to really appreciate it so this is really my first go round with the course. I think I'm in love.

View: https://youtu.be/Qfx86KMkBy0
In 2006, I went to the final round and was there from about 9am to the last shot.

While we focused on a few key locations for when the leaders were coming through, I was there early enough to get good looks at most of the course. (Especially in locations like the intersection of the greens at no. 2 and 5, which are maybe 15 yards apart.) The greens are simply monstrous.

As an aside (and I’ve said this before, so apologies for the repetition) the guy who had the biggest blowup that year wasn’t Phil - it was Colin Montgomerie. People forget that he was in the middle of the fairway at 18 tied with Phil at +4. And he badly mishit his iron (chunked it, really) leaving himself short-sided in brutal rough, which is how he took a 6 there.

Phil was in the next group and his meltdown was spectacular enough that people have forgotten all about the choke job by Monty.

Edit: Here’s a great write up about the 2006 finish that I just found.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pgatour.com/news/2020/09/13/phil-mickelson-winged-foot-us-open-18th-colin-montgomerie-jim-furyk-padraig-harrington.amp.html
 

ezemerson

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Tiger/JT/Morikawa as a featured group? Yes please.
afternoon one has to be DJ, Bryson, Finau.....although i wouldnt mind seeing any of the groupings from 1:16 to 1:38 = six stacked pairings
 
As an aside (and I’ve said this before, so apologies for the repetition) the guy who had the biggest blowup that year wasn’t Phil - it was Colin Montgomerie. People forget that he was in the middle of the fairway at 18 tied with Phil at +4. And he badly mishit his iron (chunked it, really) leaving himself short-sided in brutal rough, which is how he took a 6 there.

Phil was in the next group and his meltdown was spectacular enough that people have forgotten all about the choke job by Monty.
All of this is absolutely right, except for the suggestion that "people" have forgotten about Monty - maybe that's more true in the US, but there are plenty of us who remember Monty's out-and-out choke job on the 72nd hole that year. The crazy thing is that he holed a ridiculous putt of maybe 80 feet for birdie on the 17th and then hit that perfect drive at 18; his swing that followed was right up there with Greg Norman's 2nd into the 18th at the 1986 Masters when it comes to hideous pushes by very good golfers on the 72nd hole of major championships.
 

Zomp

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My memory of that US Open in 2006 was 18 was playing stupidly hard. AR is right that Montgomerie choked like Phil, needing par to finish in the clubhouse lead and bogey for a playoff. I also distinctly remember when Phil was imploding on 18, Ogilvy was in the scorer's tent or clubhouse next to Ian Poulter. When Mickelson hit the tree with his second shot, Poulter shot Ogilvy a look with his eyes wide open like "Dude I think you're gonna win".
 

Average Reds

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You know, I’ve seen replays, but that’s the first time I’ve actually watched most of that in broadcast form.

I was on 17 green when Monty made the putt, and we quickly ran up to the dogleg to be in position to watch second shots on 18. My view of Monty was the camera view. (Meaning, I was somehow able to find a position right behind and slightly to the left of the camera man right on the rope.)

When he switched clubs after all that waiting, I turned to my friend and said “no way he doesn’t chunk this.”

Hope he didn’t hear me ... :)

And to your point CP, I stand by my contention that no one (on this aide of the pond) remembers Monty’s choke job. Phil obliterated it in the minds of the US golf viewer.
 

cshea

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"You don't have to run down the last stretch on a white stallion. Just limp in and say thanks for the tropy"

I miss Johnny. Wish they'd bring him back for the big ones like this.
 

cshea

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Also, to AR's point, I have no recollection of Monty's choke. I was stunned when I re-watched the final round a few months ago. I remember Phil, do not remember Monty whatsoever.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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I went on Thursday in 2006. I was amazed at the rough, and how players were hitting wedges out of it only 10 feet from the fairway. The 6th hole was a fun watch, seeing the players mess up a short hole in many different ways. I watched Tiger on a few holes, and recall he did not do well, missing the cut IIRC. Memorable tourney for me, as I got my "V" card the next morning, and got to watch the US Open and World Cup on the couch with the Oxy pills and frozen peas the next three days with the wife having no basis to complain, as she cared for the 5 year old and 9 month old.

I had tix to take that 9 month old to Saturday this year, but alas...

Clears Cleaver was nice enough to invite me to play the course about a decade ago when the people who asked him to play needed a fourth. Just an incredible place. Rough wasn't nearly these conditions, but still tough. I somewhat stupidly played from the tips with the other three in the group, who were good golfers, but didn't want to mess with the group logistics. Greens and bunkers were crazy. Had a caddie, which helped a lot. The toughest course I've ever played by a decent amount. Enjoyed walking over the the area on 18 where Phil hit his drive to get the view, too. It was juuuuuuust a bit outside. Also sort of surveyed the areas around the 18th green where Monty and Phil had to hit the ball out of the rough to get a flavor of what they faced.

Looking forward to seeing how the players handle the challenge this year.

I do recall Monty's choke, but Phil's is such an big event, it gets most of the attention. After the drive, his best case scenario probably a bogey and playoff, which doesn't necessarily guaranty the W. But it would have gotten him the Grand Slam. Oh well.
 
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joe dokes

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I was thjere on Fri-Sat-Sunday. My most vivid memory, aside from the dull thunk of Phil's ball on the tent and the thwack of him hitting the tree ((audible across the fairway onto the ridge where we were standing), was that the rough nearly took off one of my sneakers when I tried to shuffle a few steps backwards on sunday morning to make way for a sweaty, smoking Tim Herron racing up an adjacent fairway, where he was playing with a marker.
 

Average Reds

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I was thjere on Fri-Sat-Sunday. My most vivid memory, aside from the dull thunk of Phil's ball on the tent and the thwack of him hitting the tree ((audible across the fairway onto the ridge where we were standing), was that the rough nearly took off one of my sneakers when I tried to shuffle a few steps backwards on sunday morning to make way for a sweaty, smoking Tim Herron racing up an adjacent fairway, where he was playing with a marker.
That’s pretty funny. I was on the same side of 18 and probably 20+ yards away. And yes, the “thwack” of Phil hitting the tree on his second shot sounded like a gunshot.

IIRC, Herron decided to play without a marker because he was first out and just wanted off the property as soon as possible. He shot a 77 and finished hours ahead of the twosome who followed him.
 

TFP

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Will Zalatoris a huge value pick. Guy has been dominating the KFT Tour and the Data Golf guys say he's already a top 30 player in the world. He likely won't win but could get some odds on a top 10/top 25.
 

TFP

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Frankie is your classic boom or bust golfer. He has very high potential, but his bad is BAD. He's definitely shot high 70s/low 80s before, and has also shot high 90s. So it really just depends on what his last 20 scores are.

Lurch is the best of them all by far. He absolutely smashes the ball and understands how to golf. He just can't putt.
 

cshea

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Frankie is your classic boom or bust golfer. He has very high potential, but his bad is BAD. He's definitely shot high 70s/low 80s before, and has also shot high 90s. So it really just depends on what his last 20 scores are.

Lurch is the best of them all by far. He absolutely smashes the ball and understands how to golf. He just can't putt.
Fair enough. I've only really seen Frankie play 3 times, the 2 Kiz videos and this one. Two of which were played on US Open layouts so it's probably not the best way to view his game.

Anyways, looking forward to the week. I think we're going to get carnage.
 

cshea

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Not sure what it means, but Rahm won the two toughest set ups post-shutdown this year at Muirfield and Olympia. He's also got a win at Torrey in the past, so he can handle himself on the difficult tracks.

I like JT too but he hasn't had a great US Open career. T9 at Erin Hills on the back of a Saturday 63. Erin Hills was more of a PGA Tour stop than a US Open though. JT only has 3 major top 10's in 18 starts so he hasn't played his best golf in majors. He lights gettable courses on fire but hasn't had the same success when the conditions aren't pristine.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Hole 6, the 321y par 4, is going to be the most interesting hole in the tournament.

There will be pressure to birdie that all four days, but there is a lot of risk hitting a 3w or driver.
 

TFP

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Who’s ready for Patrick Reed to win this weekend?
 

TFP

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Hole 6, the 321y par 4, is going to be the most interesting hole in the tournament.

There will be pressure to birdie that all four days, but there is a lot of risk hitting a 3w or driver.
So for the longer par 4s they’re going graduated rough with the intermediate cut. But for the short 4s and the 5s it’s fairway right into the rough. Makes the club choice off the tee even more critical on a hole like 6, you could see 6 or 7 irons off the tee from some guys.

It’s gonna be awesome.
 

TFP

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Also - The Athletic is ramping up their golf coverage. A ton of great articles being posted this week. If anyone wants a free invite let me know.
 

Average Reds

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The idea that they would open the telecast by focusing on the (implied) economic devastation visited on Mamaroneck, NY by the pandemic made me bust out laughing. Also amused at the idea that these “typical New Yorkers with their thick accents” have anything to do with Winged Foot.
 

Average Reds

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A friend texted me “odds on Spieth basically missing the cut by 9:30?”

Would not take that bet. (Or, more accurately, I wouldn’t take the other side of that bet.)
 

johnmd20

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I thought this was only viewable on the NBC Sports app, which put me in a bind because for some reason I have not been able to sign into any App that requires a spectrum log in.(showtime, NBC sports, basically any app that requires authentication via a browser where you input your log in, it just sends you to a loop and webpage not found).

But this is on the golf channel. Crisis avoided. Spectrum really is a piece of work.