2018 U.S. Open--Shinnecock

Papelbon's Poutine

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Dec 4, 2005
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Can’t wait to hear Chamblee rant and rave. He thought Tiger should have DW’d himself at the Masters.
Hats because he’s had a hard on for Tiger for about a decade. He loves talking shit about Tiger. It’s quite literally personal for him. Not sure what happened, but it’s like his signature. He’ll comment but I’d be mildly surprised if he rants and raves about Phil. He is pretty righteous though, so it wouldn’t shock me.

I love Phil and I absolutely think he should have been DQed. That was utter horse shit. Don’t care how frustrated you are, can’t do that. Just withdraw if you’re that over it.

As to course set up, I said it Thursday and maintain it, this is far too penal and an over correction for last year. Look, I know we all have our thoughts but imo, as someone mentioned, it’s basically luck that is going to decide this. I’m all for people having preferences of rather seeing a winner at -1 or a winner at -20, but ‘they all have to play the same course’ doesn’t fly for me when it gets down to set ups like this. Not when literally a foot or two means holding a green or rolling back or over by 30 yds. That’s luck. And it’s not like they didn’t know it would be windy; it’s always windy there. The fairways and rough are perfectly fine. The green complexes I think are kind of dumb the way they mowed them so close and the greens can defend themselves just fine in this course without being so short and wind blown. Ymmv.
 

CodPiece XL

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I would bet on Phil being DQ'd. He thought he was being clever with his response, but he basically was admitting to a disqualifying offense.
I’ve only seen the Fox interview, he said something along the lines of gladly taking the two shot penalty rather than going back and forth or something like that. Are these the comments or something else he said after?
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

RIP Dernell
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Mar 24, 2008
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Usually when you're tied for the lead in the tourney, you want to have more holes left to go lower. This is the first time I can remember wanting to just be done with the round already.
 
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Average Reds

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By the by, what have you seen from John Daly that was worse than what Phil did? (What Phil did was pretty egregious...and him trying to justify it rather than apologize for it afterwards was even worse.)
Daly has done what Phil did today numerous times. (Including at a US Open, I believe.) He’s also been suspended for antics like driving the ball over the gallery, as noted above.
 
Daly has done what Phil did today numerous times. (Including at a US Open, I believe.) He’s also been suspended for antics like driving the ball over the gallery, as noted above.
Thanks - I didn't remember any of this. Although interestingly, if Daly did what Mickelson did today at a previous US Open and wasn't DQed for it, that makes it all the more likely that Phil escapes further censure.
 
Back to the tournament...what we now have is a real free-for-all in store tomorrow. Anyone back to even +8 or +9 could win it with a 66 if course conditions are comparable to today. And if the course was playing today like it was playing yesterday, I feel fairly confident that DJ would have had a big lead going into tomorrow. So there is some upside to today's carnage.
 
That Koepka shot is exactly what I'm talking about. Hit a wedge to 8 feet and are probably making bogey. A fucking wedge shot can't even get rewarded.
You can argue that 8 feet right of the hole is a miss - if you know you need to play for the center of greens today, probably best to play for the center of greens (e.g., like Rose did at #14).
 
You can argue it, but it would be a dumb argument.
On my home course here in Scotland, there are bunkers from which going straight toward the hole is a fool's errand: sometimes you have to take your medicine and play out sideways or diagonally or even backwards. There is also one short par 4, the 15th, with a fairly small green surrounded by deep bunkers and tricky slopes, and in playing with a many-time club champion and former Scottish international, he said he always aims at the middle of the green no matter where the hole is and no matter how short his approach is, because the penalty for missing the green is so severe that it just isn't worth taking the hole on. Not every course in the world has holes and hazards like this, but Shinny certainly is one of them. Is the pin at #15 too far back on the green today? Yeah, I think so. But can you afford to miss your approach to the right *at all*? No, you can't - not even with a wedge. So just don't hit it there.
 

johnmd20

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This is the best US Open in years.
Definitely. 2015 was pretty good but the US Open has had some clunkers(2017, 2016, and, the worst golf tourney ever. in 2014, in particular) in recent years. At least watching today, you've got a lot of people to root for. Could be very tight tomorrow.
 

Catcher Block

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That putt on 15. Jesus. Piercey's body language walking after his ball as it fell off the green reminded me of the highlight packages they were showing from the last US Open here.
 

johnmd20

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Man, all this talk about how hard the course is is tiring me out. Who cares, play your shots.

So they show Piercy's shitty putt as an example of why the course is unfair. Here's an IDEA Pierce, don't hit a lousy putt.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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On my home course here in Scotland, there are bunkers from which going straight toward the hole is a fool's errand: sometimes you have to take your medicine and play out sideways or diagonally or even backwards. There is also one short par 4, the 15th, with a fairly small green surrounded by deep bunkers and tricky slopes, and in playing with a many-time club champion and former Scottish international, he said he always aims at the middle of the green no matter where the hole is and no matter how short his approach is, because the penalty for missing the green is so severe that it just isn't worth taking the hole on. Not every course in the world has holes and hazards like this, but Shinny certainly is one of them. Is the pin at #15 too far back on the green today? Yeah, I think so. But can you afford to miss your approach to the right *at all*? No, you can't - not even with a wedge. So just don't hit it there.
Cool. Trouble with that is this isn’t a home course for these guys. They play it once every ten years or so. Maybe they get a couple others in between those but when they do it isn’t set up like this. A couple practice rounds isn’t going to give them the knowledge hat you or your club champion has at a course they’ve played hundreds of time.

There’s ways to protect a course without going this far. Plenty of people are fine with the scores being close to par, I don’t think that’s the issue. It’s that small* misses shouldn’t be so severely penalized that if you don’t hit a three foot circumference you end up with a 30 yard pitch to a turtle back green to try to save par with an up and down. Because then it’s just luck, no one is that accurate and course management isn’t overcoming that. They mowed it too close and ignored what could easily have been anticipated for weather conditions. They could have gone the other way and rolled and mowed after a round or two if it was playing too easy. Or they could make pin placements more approachable. They chose neither.

Some love it, some hate it, some fall in the middle. My biggest complaint with the result is that easily ten guys that would have made tomorrow a hell of a lot more entertaining are already home and another half dozen are in double digit deficits.
 

Revkeith

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Apr 23, 2010
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Man, all this talk about how hard the course is is tiring me out. Who cares, play your shots.

So they show Piercy's shitty putt as an example of why the course is unfair. Here's an IDEA Pierce, don't hit a lousy putt.
This. I get the course is tough but this is day 3 of the slick greens. Hit a putt that doesn't go 40 feet past the hole
 

yeahlunchbox

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That Koepka shot is exactly what I'm talking about. Hit a wedge to 8 feet and are probably making bogey. A fucking wedge shot can't even get rewarded.
It's the Daytona 500 on a golf course. Tune in for the wrecks and hope that by sheer luck it's a guy you like winning in the end
 

dcmissle

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And Joe Buck gets on his self righteous soap box
His “That is a disgusting act” sanctimonious best. But hey, a golf tournament since broke out. A tremendous one. Without Tiger no less. Will wonders never cease.
 

johnmd20

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Some love it, some hate it, some fall in the middle. My biggest complaint with the result is that easily ten guys that would have made tomorrow a hell of a lot more entertaining are already home and another half dozen are in double digit deficits.
So Rory playing horribly isn't the reason he missed the cut? It was the course.

And Spieth three putted on 17 yesterday and then missed a moderately short putt on 18 to make the cut. That was the course.

This course is the bogeyman. Thrashing children while they sleep.
 

johnmd20

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Par is an excellent score today, but damn it sucks to leave a birdie putt short. (Johnson on 16.)

I love watching them contend with a course like this.
NO! It's unfair. Players are being punished and it's unfair. This isn't golf, it's luck, and anyone playing well is just ultra lucky and obviously rubbed a rabbit's foot this morning and the star players who missed the cut were just screwed over by the course.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Feb 22, 2004
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NO! It's unfair. Players are being punished and it's unfair. This isn't golf, it's luck, and anyone playing well is just ultra lucky and obviously rubbed a rabbit's foot this morning and the star players who missed the cut were just screwed over by the course.
I'm with you, man. Maybe these guys shouldn't have treated this thing like the Whatever Classic at TPC Who Cares? It's the national championship and it's like they showed up expecting to play just another golf course.

This the best US Open since Merion and already a strong contender for a classic precisely because the players are whining. The players always used to whine at the US Open. It was an annual tradition and then the tournament got soft.
 

Phragle

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NO! It's unfair. Players are being punished and it's unfair. This isn't golf, it's luck, and anyone playing well is just ultra lucky and obviously rubbed a rabbit's foot this morning and the star players who missed the cut were just screwed over by the course.
This place still doesn't have a like button?

I'm blaming the course. I want a like button. Stupid course.
 

Phragle

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I'm with you, man. Maybe these guys shouldn't have treated this thing like the Whatever Classic at TPC Who Cares?

This the best US Open since Merion and already a strong contender for a classic precisely because the players are whining.
And the leaderboard is packed w stars and also Jim Furyk