2020 US Open

Catcher Block

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Mar 7, 2006
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Putts that look like they have perfect speed miss by inches and end up 5 feet past the hole. And the greens haven't fully dried out yet. Yikes.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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306, row 14
If Tiger was not putting well, he’d be 5 over.

Bad ball-striking and terrible luck are a bad combination.
I think the ball striking has been fine, he's just been missing fairways. He's hit good iron and wedges when he's been in the fairway (1,6,7).

It's such a narrow margin here. He's missed a few fairways by less than a foot where the ball has run out on him.
 

Average Reds

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Sep 24, 2007
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His wedge play has been very imprecise. His third on 9 is a perfect example of that.

I do understand that his luck has been awful.

Edit: and his putter bails him out again. This is a round for Tiger not to lose touch with the lead. He’s putting (for 9 holes, at least) as well as he has this year. Which is admittedly not saying much.
 
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cshea

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306, row 14
That wasn't his best, but my count he only had 3 wedges from the fairway on the front 9. 1st hole he hit it to 19 feet, 6th hole where he put it to 7 feet, and then mediocre shot on 9 from 88 yards.

Not gonna be able to do much out of the rough other than gauge and pray.
 

Average Reds

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Sep 24, 2007
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That wasn't his best, but my count he only had 3 wedges from the fairway on the front 9. 1st hole he hit it to 19 feet, 6th hole where he put it to 7 feet, and then mediocre shot on 9 from 88 yards.

Not gonna be able to do much out of the rough other than gauge and pray.
Let’s agree to be friends on this one, because his putter is scalding hot right now. (Edit: and he hit a good wedge in.)

By contrast, Sergio’s meltdown is real and fantastic.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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306, row 14
643 par 5. For me that's a Driver, 3-hybrid and a 6-iron. And that's assuming I find the narrow fairway which is a very large assumption. Yikes.

I guess now that I think of it, I played Waverly Oaks a few months ago and made par on the long par 5 16th (over 600 yards) with Driver, 3-hybrid, 8-iron. But you can land a jumbo jet in the fairway on that hole IIRC.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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306, row 14
I don't think he has much of a shot, but it would be bonkers if Phil hung in this into Sunday

And blows his opening driver way right. Carbon copy of 2006, just hands on the hips instead of grabbing his forehead
 

steveluck7

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May 10, 2007
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I expected more teeth from the course. From the lead-up and all the talk of something well above par could be a wining score to Justin Leonard this morning saying that, given the US Open set-up no one would come close to his 65 from 1997 (PGA, I believe).
I’ve seen guys get balls from the rough onto the green for makeable birdies. (Phil hits a 5 footer for birdie after his tee shot was in the rough)
All bark, little bite so far.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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Another great recovery from Phil.

I think it'll get harder as the week goes on. The greens will firm up and they'll tuck the pins some more. Faldo mentioned that daylight is a concern for today and tomorrow so the USGA might've gone a bit soft with the set up in the interest of getting everyone through the round today.

Edit: NLU tweeted a list of leading scores after the opening round since 200 and -5 would be around the middle of the pack, a hair easier than normal.
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
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deep inside Guido territory
Another great recovery from Phil.

I think it'll get harder as the week goes on. The greens will firm up and they'll tuck the pins some more. Faldo mentioned that daylight is a concern for today and tomorrow so the USGA might've gone a bit soft with the set up in the interest of getting everyone through the round today.

Edit: NLU tweeted a list of leading scores after the opening round since 200 and -5 would be around the middle of the pack, a hair easier than normal.
On the Fore Play video last night, the Winged Foot superintendent said that they hope the lows get into the 50's at night so the course can firm up. Tonight it's only supposed to drop to 59 but Friday and Saturday nights it's supposed to be a low of 49 and 48 respectively. They said they planned on rolling the greens every night. There were other points they made about pin placements that were fascinating but my memory is not recalling the exact things they said. Again, if you have time I'd watch it. It's great.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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306, row 14
Birdie, Birdie, Bogey, Bogey start for Phil and he's way left off the tee again on 5. Fun stuff, he's been everywhere, including being in every commercial break on the stream.
 

TFP

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Dec 10, 2007
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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.
Ahem.
 

johnmd20

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Another great recovery from Phil.

I think it'll get harder as the week goes on. The greens will firm up and they'll tuck the pins some more. Faldo mentioned that daylight is a concern for today and tomorrow so the USGA might've gone a bit soft with the set up in the interest of getting everyone through the round today.

Edit: NLU tweeted a list of leading scores after the opening round since 200 and -5 would be around the middle of the pack, a hair easier than normal.
A fair concern. The US Open usually plays when the sun sets at a little before 9pm. Now it's 7:01pm. And, obviously, the sun goes up at like 5am in mid June and it's 6:40 now. The window is over 3 hours smaller for this Covid related state date.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Every once in awhile, there's a tv shot that gives some idea about how unflat the greens are. But even those don't do it justice. Every made putt over 3 feet is an achievement.
 

LoweTek

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May 30, 2005
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So I went to watch this afternoon on Golf Channel. They are saying I have to subscribe to Peacock to watch?? WTF??
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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306, row 14
Yeah it is dumb. Final 2 hours today and first 2 hours tomorrow are on Peacock. It's free but requires a sign up. Annoying.