Hyler is confident players will appreciate the attempts to maintain difficulty in a more intelligent way and points to the lack of complaining at the last two Opens. Still, some of the ideas being discussed for Torrey Pines will differ so much from what players are used to that there may be cries of trickery.
Veteran caddie Mark Long has put together the official U.S. Open yardage book since 1999 and believes the timing is right for Davis' approach, particularly with the championship being played at the home of a regular PGA Tour event. He notes that in preparation for the recent Players championship, his boss, Fred Funk, spent 45 minutes putting to each of the four likely hole locations at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
"That's one of the things that can be a bit boring about the tour," Long says. "Something isn't quite right when you pretty much know three of the four holes will be almost identical to the previous year, and the tees will be in the same spots, too."
Davis does not "dot" the next day's hole location or tee placement, but he does believe afternoon players who check out the morning television coverage—as Tiger Woods suggested he did in 2007—will be helped out "big time." Factor in practice round word-of-mouth, Long's information loaded yardage-book and the opportunity to hear television announcers dish, and there should be plenty of opportunity to prepare.
Still, as Long points out, if Davis throws a curve in the way of a drivable par 4 where the players least expect it, this will "be his first big risk as a set-up guy."
To Davis, the reward of a more cerebral and exciting U.S. Open is worth it.
- Text Size:
- Small Text
- Medium Text
- Large Text
