The US Open prides itself on being ‘golf’s toughest test’ and Tiger Woods expects another ‘battle of attrition’ this week at Pinehurst.
Only four players finished under par in three previous U.S. Opens held on the resort’s No. 2 course in North Carolina.
And this week’s 124th staging of the second-oldest major golf looks will be just as challenging, with the speed of the ‘inverted saucer’ greens a big talking point.
Defending champion Wyndham Clark said on Monday that they were already “borderline” in terms of being too quick to put on, while three-time winner Woods said on Tuesday that he, like many other players in practice, had “delayed a lot of greens”. .
“It depends on how strict the USGA wants to make this,” Woods added. “But I foresee that, just like in 2005, I’ll see some guys playing ping-pong back and forth. [across the greens]. It can happen.”
The United States Golf Association (USGA), which organizes the US Open, is keen to avoid a repeat of this, or what happened in 2004 and 2018 at Shinnecock Hills during a week when temperatures are expected to exceed 30 degrees Celsius.
The USGA was accused by Woods in 2004 of “losing course” after failing to water the greens after round two. Greenstaff was forced to hose down the putting surface on the seventh hole between the groups in the final round as it had become largely unplayable.
In 2018, Phil Mickelson hit his ball while it was still in motion on Shinnecock’s 13th hole when the USGA was again criticized for the course’s layout.
‘A lead in the first round could be a winning score’
Woods, 48, was in his prime when he played the first two U.S. Opens at Pinehurst in 1999 and 2005.
He finished third in the first, when the late Payne Stewart was the only man to beat par. Six years later, Woods missed what would have been his 10th major when he bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes in the final round to finish second, two shots behind New Zealander Michael Campbell, who won on par.
Woods was absent with a back injury as German Michael Kaymer romped to an eight-shot victory in 2014 on a course that had undergone major renovations.
The heavy rough and narrow fairways of the US Open were omitted, leaving sandy ‘native areas’ and ‘turtleback’ greens as the course’s defense.
Americans Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton were the only other players to break par, however, as Kaymer, who had been 10 under after the first round, triumphed at nine under.
And Woods sees a similar theme developing this year.
“This could be one of the Opens wherever the leading score is [after round one]that is probably the lowest level we will ever reach,” said the fifteen-time national champion.
“We were joking that by the end of the week the greens could get so slippery that you bend down to read a putt or bend down to fix a ball mark and your putter slips.”
Designed by legendary architect Donald Ross, who grew up playing and working on the legendary links of Dornoch in northern Scotland in the 19th century, the course was opened for play in 1907.
He had worked with Old Tom Morris in Scotland at the turn of the century and, using only wheelbarrows and shovels to move the earth, their orbits are characterized by being largely shaped by nature.
“When Donald walked this golf course and made the greens so tough, I don’t think he intended for the course to run at 13 on the stimpmeter (a device used to measure green speed),” Woods said.
“They had the speed of fairways. They are very strict and we play in faster conditions.
“It’s more of a test. It’s going to be a great test and a big battle of attrition this week. It’s going to be a lot of fun for all of us.”
‘Walk-off areas create more excitement among fans’
The green environment also provokes much discussion among players about whether they should conquer the steep run-offs with putters, wedges, irons or even fairway woods.
Rory McIlroy thinks the variety of shots players will have to conjure will “make it more exciting to watch” for fans “instead of watching guys chopping from four-inch rough all the time,” as happens on the PGA Tour.
Speaking on Tuesday, the 2011 Northern Ireland champion said he had “36 hours” to “figure out what I feel comfortable with around the greens”.
This view is shared by world number one Scottie Scheffler, who said he “places more value on the playability of the run-out areas than the rough around each green”.
“It provides a little more variety, a little more excitement and a little more creativity around the greens,” said the two-time major winner.
“It’s a better test than just heavy roughing over the back of each green.”
Woods says he has ruled out using wood, while 2020 champion Bryson DeChambeau prefers his wedges, “hitting the ramp and bouncing it up and rolling over the top of hills,” unless he gets a bad lie, in which case he .
Norway’s rising star Viktor Hovland says he’s leaning more towards the putter.
“If you average 20 strokes, the putter is going to be much better than the chip,” he said. “Maybe it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-40 with putter.”
Xander Schauffele, who won his first major at the US PGA Championship last month, says he “usually defaults on putting”.
“The Texas wedge is definitely my friend,” he said. “I’ve never hit so many putts. I joked with my caddy that I should get it checked. I’ve never swung so hard on my putter for nine holes just to get up and down hills.”
However, Kaymer, who putted superbly on and off the green on his way to victory a decade ago, says his approach this week “might be a little bit different.”
“I might use the rescue a little more or the hybrid around the greens because of the length of the grass,” he said.
“It’s a little higher, a little thicker, so it’s not as tight as it used to be.”
And that’s coming from the only man to hit double figures under in a US Open at number two Pinehurst.
