"The majors are what golf's all about." Nick Faldo

Canadian Len Ganz says that he is "A bit of a slow reader and regular subscriber. Just read April 2007 and Lorena Ochoa's tips for breaking 90. She wants to show me how to fade a ball. Don't know about you but as someone who is trying to break 90 I need more practical tips. I can already fade it into the trees off of the 1st tee. What I need to know is how not to hook it into the pond on the left of that short par 3 or how to line up that 3rd putt on the 18th to win the match. These are tips that I can use."

Len, your letter arrived just in time, if you want to talk about Lorena Ochoa. This is a big weekend for the Best Female Player Never to Have Won A Major. But first your comment about her tip. Most of the time I'd agree that How to Hit a Fade may not be ideal instruction for amateurs trying to break 90, but think of it this way: It's the experience of some good players and teachers that when we hackers try to hit the fade, we tend to drop the club farther "inside" on the downswing and actually create a better swing path. Doesn't work for everyone, mind you, but it's why some good players revert to fading the ball when things go wrong. So there's a method to that madness. By the way, she also teaches you how to draw the ball...

On the subject of Ochoa and majors, Yahoo's Mike Arkush, who last year profiled Ochoa for Golf For Women, takes a pretty tough stance today:

"Ochoa was standing on the 18th tee in the final round of the 2005 U.S. Women's Open with a share of the lead. All she had to do then was get one more par and she would be in excellent shape. Instead, she snap-hooked her drive into the lake, leading to a triple. It was the worst shot at the worst possible moment. She finished sixth.

"A year later, Ochoa lost in a playoff to Karrie Webb at the Kraft Nabisco in California. Webb eagled the final hole to get into a playoff and won it with a birdie. That's the type of heroics Ochoa needs to pull off....

"It doesn't matter that the computer says she's the No. 1 player in the world.

"What matters is majors, and she doesn't have any.

" Okay, Mike. It may not be this week, but Ochoa is no Monty. She'll win many majors it says here.

--Bob Carney

"Right now all I need is confidence to play well." --Michelle Wie

She shot 82, but a lot of the talk--yours and the press room's--today remains with Michelle Wie, for whom golf isn't loads of fun right now.

The St. Pete Times site had this snipey quote from former Wie instructor Gary Gilchrist: "What I saw on the range the day before she teed off for her first round, I was absolutely blown away that she even teed it up the next day, " Gilchrist said. "I would've had to have had a few drinks before I teed off. She was hitting it everywhere. She couldn't hit a driver at all." Ow.

Gilchrist makes it sound like a technical problem but in Ron Sirak's report for our web site, it sounds like confidence is the big issue: "The part of her game that seems to be suffering most is trust. What appears to be going on is more a crisis of confidence than it is the result of an injury."

On the range, David Leadbetter, Wie's coach, had Michelle swinging with a Gary Player-like step-through move in which she would follow the flight of the ball by taking a step toward the target. "It's forcing me into trusting my shots," Wie said. "Because right now all I need is confidence to play well."

Lead did a tip like that for Golf Digest and former Digest Schools instructor Ed Bowe suggested that very drill in our Breaking 100, 90, 80: "Try Player's walk-through drill If you are taking big chunks of turf or skull the ball when you swing, you may be hanging back on your rear foot at impact, trying to scoop it in your anxiety to get the ball off the ground. Instead, let the club's loft get the ball airborne. As a drill, try Gary Player's classic walk-through swing. When you make contact, continue moving on as if you're walking after the ball."

If you don't trust your swing, in other words, you hang back, flip the wrists or block it, which is what Gilchrist was seeing. Misses both ways, a pro's worst nightmare.

Nevertheless, I'm betting, against all odds, that Wie wins one this year.

--Bob Carney

The last round is a tournament in itself. Andy Plummer

Had Aaron Baddeley held on Sunday to win the Open (big if!) , the most-talked about swing in golf would be on every golfer's lips this morning. But Stack & Tilt didn't quite make it. All three of the players who subscribe to Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett's New Tour Swing of our U.S. Open issue made the cut, and Badds, of course, led after three rounds. He finished T-13; Mike Weir was T-20, and Dean Wilson, T-51.
Pretty impressive.

In the case of Baddeley, the big question is, did the swing give out, or was it simply the nerves of a 26-year-old faced with the baddest course in America. On Saturday, Baddeley gave credit to Plummer and Bennett:

Q. Can you take us through the maturation you referred to of when your swing and confidence kicked in, when you got better, why you're better and so forth?

AARON BADDELEY: I would say in October, November, 2005, I was out working with Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett, and ever since I started working with them, there's really been an upward curve of improvement of driving the ball in the fairway, hitting better iron shots. Yeah, I mean, that's just been a constant improvement, and I feel like every time I go to practice with them or even by myself, I know exactly what I need to work on. And I just feel like I'm going to keep improving because of what I'm working on.

So editor Peter Morrice got back to Andy Plummer yesterday to get Plummer's recap....

Plummer talked about how the swing stacked up against the Oakmont rough:

"If you know the mechanics, if you get the tilt right, the angle of descent into the ball gets steeper, so it's perfect for hitting out of deep rough.Then, the standing up to the finish helps the club get out of the rough."

"With Aaron, it was one of those cases where the ball got rolling in the wrong direction. He hit a couple of bad drives, but so did everyone else.You see how a few missed putts can really be the difference. The triple on the first hole derailed him, but he was still right there. He hit his driveright, then tried to play to the right-front of the green because the ball feeds left from there. Maybe he made a tactical error there, trying to gettoo precise with the second shot, and the ball got hung up in the rough. From that spot, he knew it would be tough to make bogey."

"The lesson for Aaron is to understand how long a major really is. It's like 10 tournaments in one. So much drama happens just in a final round, so many ups and downs. The last round is like a tournament in itself."

—Bob Carney

(photo: J.D. Cuban)

Angel Cabrera, the winner of the 107th U.S. Open, has, up until Sunday, not gotten the credit he rightfully deserves. He has never missed a cut in the U.S Open in eight career starts, and he has T-4 and T-7 finishes in the British Open to his credit.

The 6’0’’, 210 pound Cabrera, who led the field in driving distance this week is a certainly a big-game player. “I definitely usually play very well in the U.S. Open,” said Cabrera through his translator Manuel Tagle. “Most of the time I'm not making any putts, but this week it was like everybody was missing the putts. So that gave me an advantage.”

Tiger Woods definitely falls into the category of players who were not able to get putts to fall. “For most of the week, I kept having these big, breaking putts and I had to be real defensive and basically feed the ball down there,” said Woods. “Hopefully it went in, but the majority of the putts didn't. … I hit the ball good on that back nine [on Sunday]. I just needed obviously to make one more putt.” Cabrera, though, wanted to make it clear that it was more than just Woods he beat this week.

“The good thing is that I beat everybody here, not only Tiger Woods,” he said through his translator. This is true. Cabrera, the 41st ranked player in the world coming into the tournament, beat the number one, two, three, all the way to 40th best players in the world (except for no. 17 Choi-Kyung-Ju, no. 27 Brett Wetterich and no. 34 Richard Sterne who failed to qualify for the championship). Despite the monumental achievement, the humble Argentine, still tried to downplay the significance of his victory. “[San Antonio Spurs’ guard Manu] Ginobili is still going to be there on the front pages because he has accomplished things that no other Argentine has,” said Cabrera in Spanish. “What I have done has already been done by [Roberto] DeVincenzo, so what [Manu] has done will be more recognized.” When asked where he was going to put his new trophy, Cabrera said in Spanish, “With me, in my bed. It's going to sleep with me.”

It has been a long week, playing a brutally difficult golf course. No wonder sleep was on the champion’s mind.

--Jeff Patterson

A female black bear and her cub were spotted on the seventh fairway this morning, around 10:45 a.m. Golfers were already into their final rounds then, but the first player off, Kevin Sutherland had not yet reached the 479-yard par 4, which has a large wooded area on the right side of the fairway.

Marshals called for security and a law enforcement official came to the seventh hole with a taser gun, but by the time he arrived the bears had already returned to the woods. They were never found again and no one was bothered.

It is not the first time that a bear had been on the course, but it is believed to be the first time since 1994 that a bear, Golden or black, has been on the seventh fairway during a U.S. Open.

--Jeff Patterson

Aaron Baddeley spent most of his youth watching golf on television, imagining that one day he would get to kiss a major championship trophy. Entering Sunday’s final round with a two-shot lead, he has that opportunity.

“I've watched so much golf, I can tell you about what people wore, what they shot, everything,” said Baddely. “I loved watching the majors. I taped them and watched them over and over. I can recite commentary from when Nick Price won. I saw myself in that [winning] position, absolutely.”

When he established himself as an up-and-coming star, by winning the Australian Open as an 18-year old, Baddeley made a conscious effort to watch the top players, alongside them in their practice rounds. “When I was young, I remember asking Greg Norman for a practice round,” said Baddeley. “I remember asking David Duval for practice rounds, because these guys were the best players in the world.” Even with two PGA Tour victories to his credit, Baddeley still makes an effort to watch the top golfers win. This April, he was watching the Masters finish on CBS, when he returned to Augusta National to see Zach Johnson win the Masters, in person. “We were at home watching the coverage, and when he birdied -- I think when he birdied 16, we were like five or ten minutes from the course,” said Baddeley. “We drove straight back to make sure we were there on the 18th.”

Today, as the leader heading into the U.S. Open’s final round, all the eyes will be on him. “Obviously I'm going to deal with some emotions because I've never been in this position before,” said Baddeley. “But I play golf, I've worked my whole life to be in this position so I'm going to embrace it.” But will Baddeley’s eyes be on the leader board? “It's not like Tiger and I are seven shots ahead of the rest of the field,” said Baddeley. “There's a few other guys at 5-over. I think it would be a mistake not to look at the boards.”

--Jeff Patterson
(Photo: Getty Images)

All rounds should take less than three and a half hours. Royal Dornoch Golf Club

Mathew Goggin’s new nickname should be the Tasmanian Speed Devil. The native of Tasmania, Australia went around all 18 holes at Oakmont in two hours and 45 minutes this morning. He teed off the first hole at 10:05 a.m. and was done before the seventh group of Kenneth Ferrie and Nick O’Hern had reached the ninth green.

“He usually goes pretty quickly,” said Goggin’s caddie Brian Sullivan. “I think he was actually trying to go slowly.” Goggin was offered a marker, when he was the last guy on the course to finish at 10-over par, but he said that he preferred to play by himself. The reason? “So I could get done quickly,” he said. “I really didn’t give it too much thought.”

The Speed Devil has actually played alone two times before, once at Callaway Gardens and once at Disney, with mixed success. “I’ve had the worst score making the cut before, that’s nothing new,” said Goggin. “I’m just glad they didn’t do it in reverse, where you get to tee of last on the tenth tee. . . . It was actually a lot of fun because I play quickly.”

When asked if his putting suffered — he had 32 putts including miss of a tap-in on the ninth — because he was unable to see other players' putts, Goggin said no. “It’s been suffering all week,” he said. “It’s been a general theme. I’ve seen lots of other guys putt and I’ve still missed those.” Still playing alone was somewhat difficult. It’s definitely not normal. “It’s hard,” said Goggin. “You actually have to slow down just to get in a normal rhythm.”

Sullivan tried everything he could to get his player to slow down. “I was actually conscious of trying to stay back to try to force him to pull it back a little bit,” he said. “I actually started reading greens — I normally don’t — just so he wasn’t like take the pin out and go.” Still there were times where Goggin got way ahead of his caddie and just stood still and waited. “It’s tough, you hit it in the bunker, he’s got to rake, and I’m up by the green waiting,” said Goggin.

Although the round was not as fast as Mark Carnevale’s two hour and 28 minute round in 1994, it still was pretty fast. “I actually need a couple of caddies to keep up with me, one up front and one behind,” said Goggin.

--Jeff Patterson
(Photo: Getty Images)

With rounds of 79 and 81, Andy Matthews won’t win the U.S. Open this year, but he has definitely won over young Cooper Schechterle.

Schechterle, a 3-year-old born 27 weeks premature, met the Canadian Tour pro in Oakmont’s clubhouse during Wednesday’s thunderstorm. Matthews entertained the awestruck boy during the delay as the entire Schechterle family smiled.

Despite the rigors of Matthews’ first U.S. Open week, he was extremely generous with his time. “We were even e-mailing [Wednesday] night,” said Cooper's mother, Melissa, whose son is Massachusetts’ ambassador baby for the March of Dimes. “I was like, ‘You need to be preparing for the U.S. Open tomorrow.’ ”

At night, back in the hotel, all Cooper could do was think about Andy. “He kept saying, ‘Andy golf, Andy golf,’ ” said Melissa.

On Thursday, Cooper watched Matthews’ first round from a stroller. When the family arrived at the 11th hole, Cooper ran under the ropes — he did not need to duck — toward his new friend. “He saw the blue shirt [Andy was wearing], and he just ran right toward him,” said Melissa.

Cooper made it about halfway to Matthews before being called back by his parents. If his mother had not told him, “You'll see him later," he probably would have kept going.

Cooper and his parents came to the Open this week to get signatures from professionals on Oakmont flags. One flag was going to be auctioned for the March of Dimes, and the other would be for Cooper to keep. But after obtaining more than 35 signatures from the likes of Ernie Els, Chris DiMarco and Todd Hamilton, the flags were stolen.

When Todd Hamilton heard about the family's misfortune, he promised that he would get a golf bag signed for Cooper. Matthews offered to get two other flags signed.

“There are so many nice people on the PGA Tour,” said Melissa.

— Jeff Patterson

Aaron Baddeley shaved two strokes off his score from Thursday with a second-round 70 despite what many players thought were much tougher conditions.

“Since I’ve really started working with Andy [Plummer] and Mike [Bennett], my ball striking has improved,” Baddeley said. “My driving accuracy has improved a lot, which makes it easier to play the game. . . . My driving is actually one of my strengths now, where it was never like that.”

Playing well in a U.S. Open requires extreme accuracy, and it has taken some getting used to for Baddeley, who had never made the cut in this championship. “In Australia, you just blast away, and if you hit in the fairway, great, and if you hit it in the rough, it’s no problem,” he said. “But it’s not like that here at all.”

Click here to read Peter Morrice’s article on Plummer and Bennett from Golf Digest’s June 2007 issue.

— Jeff Patterson

Even at the U.S. Open, players are helping each other with their games.

“I had a real good lesson from Thomas Björn yesterday on the chipping green,” said Graeme McDowell, who followed a 73 on Thursday with a 72. “I want to see him again this evening to see if he can help because I find it very difficult to get the ball up-and-down from this rough.”

The same teacher-student relationship has existed with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson. The two have been companions in early-morning practice rounds. “This week I asked him what does he write in his yardage book,” said Watson. “I just ask him a bunch of questions like a little dog chasing a bulldog. I’m just napping at his feet to see how he works and how he ticks. He’s let me do that, I guess, and I’ve been lucky so far.”

In both cases the students are beating the teachers. Watson is in second place after two rounds; Woods is four shots back and tied for 13th. McDowell is tied for 13th as well, but Björn missed the cut.

To see Bubba Watson’s powerful swing and get David Leadbetter’s analysis click here. It is so powerful, Watson even thought about trying to drive the 358-yard 14th today, before his caddie persuaded him not to.

— Jeff Patterson

Jeff Brehaut, playing in his first major championship in 21 years as a professional, shot rounds of 73-75 and should make the cut.

“The biggest thing is I haven’t been great, but I’ve been out here a while and not played in a major,” the 44-year-old said Friday. “This is a little bit of validation.”

Brehaut finished his second round by making a tough six-foot putt for bogey at No. 8 and five-foot par putt at No. 9. Yes, he knew he was flirting with the cut line.

“I knew I was around the cut,” he said. “I was grinding over every shot.”

Brehaut said second-round conditions were much tougher than the first round, but knows tournament officials can make it even tougher by tucking the pins.

“We haven’t even seen it hard yet,” said Brehaut, who lives in Los Altos, Ca. and is good friends with Juli Inkster. “They (USGA) can make us look foolish, but I don’t think they need to do that.”

Brehaut, who has split time on the PGA Tour and Nike-Nationwide Tour during his career, tried to qualify for the U.S. Open about 12 times before succeeding this year. Oakmont pro Bob Friend, a good friend, found him a house near the course for $5,000 for the week, enabling Brehaut, his wife, two kids, parents, brother and caddie to all stay together.

“I’m a little claustrophobic with everybody,” he said. “But it’s a pretty special place.”

Assuming he makes the cut, Brehaut hasn’t put any limitations on himself.

“If I can make the cut at my first U.S. Open, that’s something I could be proud of,” said Brehaut. “I’d love to do something heroic on the weekend.”
 
Steve Stricker, after shooting 73 for a 36-hole score of 8-over:

“Once you get on the greens around here, the fun has begun. You look like a fool sometimes.”

He three-putted three times Friday.

“One little miss-read and the ball ends up five-feet away,” he said. “Everybody is stumbling on the greens.”

--Mark Soltau
Contibuting Editor, Golf Digest.com

Paul Casey shot a 60 before, but today’s 66 at Oakmont tops even that.

“The 60 I shot in college was a great round of golf,” he said, “but it’s not at a U.S. Open golf course, not quite the same kind of pressure…right now because it’s fresh in the memory, without a doubt, it’s the best round of golf I’ve ever played.”

Casey, after a long session on the range last night, did not try to do too much. “The goal today was to go out and shoot something level, a couple over maybe if I could do that and finish below 10-over or so,” he said. Instead, he kept a level head — “a sandy divot lie on two didn’t really bother me,” he said — and shot four-under par.

It was such a good round that other pros clapped for him as he finished on the ninth, his final hole. “Nick Dougherty walked off the green and pointed at me and gave me the thumbs-up,” said Casey. “Ricky Barnes followed.”

Brandt Snedeker, who went around in 73 said, “I feel like I shot 65 or 66.” Imagine what a 66 feels like. The round was almost too good to be true, especially after opening with a 77. Casey joked that fellow competitors, “will think I walked off after 14.”

--Jeff Patterson

In addition to lugging the heavy golf bag around for 18 holes, reading greens and calculating yardages, caddies do even more out on the golf course. This morning two different caddies have saved their bosses two strokes.

On the second hole, D.J. Brigman's shot out of a fairway bunker ricocheted off of the lip and nearly hit his bag. Caddie Ben Hartman grabbed the bag and maneuvered both it and himself out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit.

Later, on the ninth tee, Paul Goydos teed his ball up in front of the tee-markers as was about to play, until his caddie Scott Sajtinac spoke up. Goydos re-positioned his ball back and to the right, avoiding a penalty.

Both Brigman and Goydos are in jeopardy of missing the cut. Every saved stroke is important.

--Jeff Patterson

Pink seems to be the color of choice at Oakmont after Steelers' black and yellow.

Shingo Katayama, who is playing with Ian Poulter just teed off on the first hole wearing a pink hat.

Poulter, as you might guess, has on pink pants to match his pink and white shoes. 

As Bubba Watson, who has a pink-shafted driver said yesterday, "If I outdrive you with a pink driver, you can't make fun of me." Watson averaged of 300.5 yards off the tee yesterday and ranked 25th in the field. He certainly should be able to have a realistic shot of driving the par-4 17th today where the tees have been moved up to 308 yards. — Jeff Patterson

Nick Dougherty is leading the U.S. Open. After a 68 in the first round, he could not be happier. “The U.S. Open is my favorite tournament to play,” he said, “which is unusual because I’m British…I love the fun, you Americans are noisier than us, and I like that. I love the atmosphere, the way the tournament is run.”

Dougherty and some other players credit surprisingly easy course conditions as the reason for their success. “I think the course is — I hate saying it — easy, especially if a USGA official picks up on that,” Dougherty said. Tiger Woods, who trails the by three, agrees. “It was the easiest pin in each section,” he said. Later on, Dougherty wanted to take back what he said about the course being easy. “Goodness, I shouldn’t have said that,” he regretted.

“No, absolutely not.” Graeme McDowell certainly would not call Oakmont easy. “I have never felt so uncomfortable on a putting surface in my life,” he said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re ten feet, 20 feet, 50 feet, they are awful. They are scary. They are really scary.”

--Jeff Patterson

In recognition of Golf World's 60th anniversary, golfdigest.com has collected all 60 of the magazine’s U.S. Open covers and made a slideshow. You can see the 1947-1977 U.S. Open covers and the 1978-2006 covers in their Golf Digest Photo Gallerys.

As you flip through each year, you will notice that over time the cover price has gone from fifteen cents to $2.95. The picture quality has too! Pay close attention to the Opens that were played at Oakmont. By now, mention of Johnny Miller's win in 1973 and Ernie Els raising the trophy in ’94 have been repeated and repeated, but you may not have heard about Ben Hogan’s win here in 1953 or Nicklaus beating Arnold Palmer in a playoff in ’62 or Larry Nelson taking the title in ’83.

In ’53 Hogan was lucky just to have been in the field, let alone win. He came back with a 73, after shooting 77 in the opening round of qualifying. Hogan and Sam Snead, who finished one-two, were the only players in the field to break 70 in any round, and each only did it once during the tournament.

Nicklaus’ victory in ’62 came after his 71 in the 18-hole playoff which was three shots better than his rival, Palmer. Despite playing a course he had first tackled at age twelve, the King had eleven three-putts over the four regulation rounds, while Nicklaus only had one over all five. Take a look at Gerry Dulac’s fine piece in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for an in-depth account of this tournament.

Nelson came to Oakmont without his golf clubs after they were lost on his flight to Pittsburgh. Rather than spend time at the driving range, or even play full 18-hole practice rounds, he spent his practice time putting. The work paid off and he defeated defending champion Tom Watson by a single stroke, making up a six-shot deficit in two days.

--Jeff Patterson

The Chicago White Sox don’t play the Pittsburgh Pirates until 7:05 Friday night, so several members of the Sox came over to Oakmont to watch some golf.

White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, has been following the action since the early morning. “We’ve been here since like eight o’clock,” he said. “We watched Tiger for a couple of holes and some other guys, but it’s hard to follow — especially him, there are too many crowds.”

Adam LaRoche, the first baseman for the Pirates, has a game tonight against Texas but was still at the course taking in the tournament. “I played this course two or three weeks ago and it was pretty miserable,” he said. “The greens were concrete…It was awesome to see the course. We wanted to come out to see how these guys compare.” LaRoche, who sports a four handicap, is tied for 73rd in Golf Digest’s ranking of athlete-golfers. He mentioned that he was planning to watch Tiger, the world’s number one. “I’ve played with him during the last three Spring Trainings down in Florida,” LaRoche said, “so I’ve gotten to know him.”

When asked about his own golf game, Pierzynski said, “It’s not that good, it’s not that bad — I play as often as I can. I wouldn’t even want to attempt to walk out here though because it would be real ugly.”

--Jeff Patterson

Honorary Chairman Arnold Palmer addressed the media Wednesday afternoon and spoke at length about the preparation required for players succeed at Oakmont. His familiarity with the course stretches back to when he first played it as a 12-year-old boy, but even that amount of time, he says, is not enough to really know the course.

“There are golf courses that I've played over the years that I could play a practice round or two and feel pretty comfortable that I knew how to play it,” said Palmer. “In this case, Oakmont just doesn't happen to be that kind of golf course…I'm not even sure now that I know every shot that I should hit if I could hit it.”

Although Phil Mickelson’s wrist might disagree, there are a lot of benefits to getting extra practice in at Oakmont. “If you go back and you read about Sam Parks in '35 when he came out and spent a lot of time out here practicing and just had a tremendous advantage by knowing the golf course and knowing how to putt the greens and knowing where to put the ball,” said Palmer. “There are holes that you can say, well, how do you -- 10, if you get to the left of the pin you're in much better position than you are if you are to the right and if you're to the right, chipping from the right side or putting down that slope the ball is going to keep going. Same thing at one. Actually you're better to be a little long there than you are short, and so on through the entire golf course.”

At 6:30 p.m Wednesday evening, Palmer toasted Golf World’s 60th anniversary at a gathering in the Media Center’s dining area. Editor-In-Chief Geoff Russell introduced the seven-time major champion, saying, “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but you were my grandfather’s favorite golfer, my father’s favorite golfer, you were my favorite golfer, and God willing hopefully you will be my son’s favorite golfer.” Palmer’s speech was brief, but he concluded by joking, “I don’t think there will be a 63 this year.” The audience laughed and raised their glasses of champagne.

--Jeff Patterson
(Photo: J.D. Cuban)

Golf Digest reader Derrick Spatorico from New York is willing to challenge any complainer about Oakmont’s setup to a match at his course, Cobblestone Creek, in Victor.

He writes: "The U.S. Open is going to be great. It seems that much of the pre-event publicity is focusing on the pros and their opinion that the course is lovely, but prohibitively difficult. My response, as well as many people I play with is ‘bring it on’. Either get up for the challenge or get out of the way. This is the same whiny mentality that has caused the U.S. team to get walloped in the Ryder Cup. We’d be better off sending top amateurs into Ryder Cup Battle.

The pros’ complaints about the difficulty of Oakmont, even before the first tee-shot has been struck, are not that bad of an idea after all. By now, most of them know that if they insult the difficulty of the USGA’s course setup, they will have to pay for it during their rounds. If everyone in the field said, “Bring it on,” the tournament might have to end on the Tuesday after Fathers’ Day because everyone would be still finishing.

The greens here are so treacherous, Ernie Els spent five minutes trying to cozy up a benign-looking five-footer on the sixth green Tuesday. He was unable to do so, and he is the last person to win a U.S. Open here. The rough is so deep you can't even see the top of your shoes when you walk in it.

Arnold Palmer told a crowded interview room Wednesday afternoon, “I don't think this golf course is going to be even close to as hard as they could make it.” Given the severity of the greens and the thickness of the rough, that could get scary. “It won't be,” said Palmer, “because then it wouldn't be much fun and it wouldn't be as entertaining of a golf tournament as we want to see.”

--Jeff Patterson

The people of Western Pennsylvania certainly love their Pittsburgh Steelers. Even though the first game, September 9, is months away, many fans at Oakmont showed support for their team yesterday. Quarterback Ben

Roethlisburger is rumored to be in attendence this week, although we have not seen him yet.  Last year Roethlisburger told Golf Digest's Brian Murphy, "I've had about 20 opportunities to play [at Oakmont], but something always comes up. I think the wait to become a member there is longer than trying to get Steelers season tickets." Even some of the pros' bags match. The Nike staff bags have been black and gold all year, but Stuart Appleby's Bridgestone bag and Kirk Triplett's Super Shuttle bag are also comprised of Steelers' colors this week.

U.S. Opens are so narrow that straight hitters almost lose their advantage. Everyone is in the rough. I'm used to that. -Geoff Ogilvy

No one quite goes off on the USGA and its Open set-ups like our European Correspondent John Huggan. Huggy is at it again today on Golf Observer with the suggestion that the Oakmont set-up is far too closely resembles disasters past. So it's no surprise, this early in US Open week, that most of the talk is of the course rather than the upcoming championship.

Has Oakmont, almost universally feared and revered as the toughest, most brutal and most unforgiving track on the US Open rota, been prepared in a way that will allow the best to prosper? Or has the USGA blindly done what it normally does and eliminated any semblance of strategy and flair in a misguided effort to make America's national championship 'fair,' while at the same time producing a winning score some way north of par? 
Sadly, the initial signs are that the latter policy has yet again reared its tedious head.

Worth a read. As is John's interview with Champion Geoff Ogilvy in our Open section.

--Bob Carney 


Although the King (Arnold Palmer) won’t be playing at Oakmont this time around  — Arnie shot 77-81 and missed the cut in ’94 — you will see a Duke (Ken), as well as a Palmer (Ryan) this week on the course.

Seven, the number of majors Arnie won in his career, seems to be a central theme in this major. Among the 156 players in the '07 U.S. Open, there are seven former U.S. Open champions, seven former U.S. Open runners-up, seven former U.S. Amatuer champions and seven former NCAA Division I champions. Tiger Woods is the only one able to say he has accomplished all four.

At Oakmont, from the first Green (Nathan) to the last, the conditions will be firm and Fasth (Niclas). You won’t witness many players Cink (Stewart) downhill putts. If someone happens to Block (Michael) his tee shot and ends up in the rough, he’ll certainly need an Ax-ley (Eric) to get out. The number of players under-par will be Small (Mike).

Small, the head men's golf coach at the University of Illinois, knows what it is like to see high-level amateur golf. This year's U.S. Open will be no different. There will be 12 amateurs competing — the most since 1982. The youngest, Richard Lee, is 16 and he plans to turn pro after this week.

Although there are Weekley (Boo) events on the PGA Tour, this tournament is like nothing Els (Ernie). It will be a Daley (Joe) grind for even the best players.

Play will begin at 7:00 a.m on the first and tenth tees on Thursday, with a purse of $7 million.

-- Jeff Patterson

This week at Oakmont has to be special for Johnny Miller. In 1973, the now-turned NBC announcer, shot a 63 here in the final round to win the U.S. Open by a single shot. This weekend, he will be watching players attempt to break par from the television tower, knowing full well that his record-setting score will stand up.

Rich Lerner of The Golf Channel sat down with Miller and asked about him everything from his style behind the microphone to his record setting round at Oakmont in 1973. The program which is called "Johnny Miller Open and Honest" aired last night and will re-air on The Golf Channel today at 1:30 p.m, Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and Saturday at 11:30 a.m. This is must see TV for golfers.

During the commercials, you could turn to page 70 in the June 2007 issue of Golf Digest for Miller's thoughts on this year's tournament.

--Jeff Patterson

Interesting post by Vartan Kupelian of the Detroit News on his Chip Shots blog about a little green speed research Phil Mickelson did yesterday. Kupelian says Mickelson went out with a "Pelz-Meter" to measure the greens....

It's basically half the size of a stimpmeter but is calibrated to a Stimpmeter. Mickelson said Dave Pelz, his short game guru and a former NASA scientist, spent $150,000 on a computer chip to develop the device that measures green surfaces.

How fast were they? "I had one as fast as 15.6," Mickelson said. He also had one at 11.2, and in that difference lies the real challenge: knowing which is which.

—Bob Carney

(Photo of the fifth hole by Stephen Szurlej)

Holes like one and ten, those holes were designed in hell, okay, the greens. Either that or the back part of them fell into hell. --Johnny Miller

When asked if he had really shot 85 in a practice round last Monday, Geoff Ogilvy, the defending U.S. Open champ told those gathered in the Interview Room, “That’s an exaggeration. I think I shot 83… It was really hard, I thought there’s no way — I didn’t think there would be one score in the 60s at all and I thought there would be scores in the 90s.”

Since then, the Pittsburgh-area weather and a trimming of the rough has helped make the golf course a little more reasonable, but the difficulty of the layout and the greens, still has players predicting high scores. “I guess this one is not too bad,” said Sergio Garcia, “for a par-78.” Garcia, who ranks seventh on the PGA Tour with a 67.79 scoring average, is quick to point out that even the holes that appear to be easy on the scorecard can be challenging. “A hole like number two, it’s a short hole — you’re hitting like a 4-iron off the tee and a wedge to the green — so you think that’s a birdie hole,” he said, “but depending where the pin is, it can be even hard to make par.”

Since World War II, the highest winning score in a U.S. Open was Julius Boros’ 293 at The Country Club in 1963. Forty-four years later, fours on every hole would be a good score.

“I would take four 72s,” said Padraig Harrington on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t be putting my house on that 8-over par is going to win this tournament. But I certainly think it’s got a chance.” In last year’s tournament at Winged Foot, Harrington bogeyed his final three holes to finish two shots out of first, but he says Oakmont is even harder. “It does make Winged Foot seem very, seem very pleasant, let’s say,” said Harrington. “you can find a bogey out there anywhere.”

Tiger Woods was asked if there are any fun holes on the course. “Yeah, the 19th is great,” he said.

— Jeff Patterson
(Photo: Jeff Patterson)

Oakmont is back to being penal, to be sure baldly and unapologetically so. But with all that airspace above its hourglass fairways, treacherous greens and bottomless hazards, it's a perfect venue for shotmaking, not target practice. Ron Whitten

Sometimes you readers procrastinate as much as we do. Steve Glaser's letter from Texas just arrived on what the changes have wrought at Augusta?!????:

A great tournament nearly spoiled? You know what is missing from this tournament now? The roars. As Augusta National makes its course more and more difficult, the big losers are becoming the fans. You don't hear the huge roars when Phil rolls in a 10 footer for par, or Ernie chips back from over the green to save another par. As a televison fan a big part of the enjoyment was listening to the huge roars as contenders made some birdies and mounted a charge on the back nine on Sunday at the Masters. Now a "charge" is someone hanging in with pars as others fall by the wayside. Not quite the same thrill is it?

Well, you're late, Steve, or early, as the case may be. My question is, have the changes at Oakmont, removing all the trees, bringing the wind back into play (if it can maneuver around the small city of tents and grandstands) firming things up, will all that set us up for roars or groans in Pittsburgh? (More groans than usual that is). Most golf insiders LOVE the changes at Oakmont, most of the members have come around. But how will it play with the fans? To use Steve's measurement, will a "charge" of pars deliver thrills? And if the winning score for the second major of the year also hovers at par or over, how will that sit with you folks?

Get a good look at the "new" Oakmont with our virtual flyover at golfdigest.com. Also check out the photo gallery of course shots, Ron Whitten's analysis of why the changes have restored the course to its previous glory. And made it, perhaps, the toughest course in the country.

One last thought. Oakmont planted the trees because it wanted to be prettier. My impression, having played after most of the tres were removed—they've removed more than 5,000—is that it is absolutely beautiful in its new state. Walk it early in the morning, as we did, or late in the afternoon, and Oakmont's as pretty as any links. The removal of trees and shrubbery around the greens allows you to see the movement in the land. Gorgeous.

But whether it's groan gorgeous or roar gorgeous may come down to the weather. Right now, there's not much rain in sight. You could say the same thing about birdies.

—Bob Carney

(Photo: Stephen Szurlej)

'Play it as it lies' is one of the fundamental dictates of golf. The other is: 'Wear it if it clashes.' Henry Beard

Is it just me or did some of you think you were watching a five-year-old replay when you saw Woody Austin walking up 18 yesterday, about to shoot a 62 in the final round of the Stanford St. Jude Championship ? First, Woody was winning. When has that happened lately? Second, that shirt he was wearing, they don't still make those anymore do they? Half the field was wearing big blousy bowling shirts with the geometric shapes on the back (which I like, by the way), and here comes Woody with a shirt I think my wife suggested I give to Goodwill. But wait. What do I know about fashion? I called Golf Digest's Mr. Style, Marty Hackel, and here's what he said about Woody's wardrobe:

Woody's shirt, which is made by Chiliwear the owners of the Tabasco license, is pretty old. The scenic print shirt was made (un)popular by Ryder Cup Captain Ben Crenshaw who used a similar technique when he had Jeff Rose shirts printed with the images of prior Ryder Cup teams created a huge outcry "bad shirt."

Funny I have seen the original of the Ryder Cup shirt and it looks great, just not great on TV. Chiliwear based in New Orleans is a fun great company run by Sidney "Copy" Pulitzer and they have other scenic shirts at $49.50 SRP in the line just not the one worn by Woody. It's not in the last three catalogs I looked at.

I stand corrected. And congratulations to Woody for an amazing final round. He'll be wearing anything he damn well pleases from now on, I suspect.

—Bob Carney

(Photo: AP, Mark Humphrey)

I always thought that if I could make the perfect golf club with my own hands, with my perfect swing, I could make perfect golf shots.....Arnold Palmer

For those of you who missed the long, interesting interview with Arnold Palmer by Allan Dodds Frank of Bloomberg Television over the weekend, a few highlights, based on my imperfect stenography:

Asked if he preferred Oakmont with or without trees, Palmer said liked it without the trees and found it "awesome" now. Palmer agreed that under the right conditions it could be the hardest golf course in the world.

On his loss to Jack in 1962 at the Open, compared to other disappointments:

It was much more important….I thought I had things pretty well under control at Oakmont. I played it good it in ’62. I thought that I would be able to putt as well as any pro coming in, and I didn’t. I three putted numerous times. Jack didn’t three-putt once. I was beaten on the greens and Jack did it.

I’m sorry I didn’t win at Oakmont because it was home. ….I wanted to show (the local fans) that I could win….and my father. But he always said, "Remember it’s just a game." I tried to do that.

On the game and technology:

If I have a concern in golf and technology now, it’s the ball. The ball goes too far.

Palmer said the only downside to rolling back the ball and playing a single ball at tournaments was less competition between manufacturers ("I like that competition.") Nonetheless, he said he hoped that the ruling bodies of golf "bring the ball back".

Reflecting on a go-for-broke style of play that won him four Masters, an Open and two British Opens and lost him a few more:

Some gambles I lost. …I’ve had my heart broken.... I’ve lost some Opens (but) had as much fun after it was over as I did when I won.

On his love of puttering around in his workshop, where he still goes to be by himself and make clubs, Palmer said, with a twinkle in both eyes....

I always thought that if I could make the prefect golf club with my own hands, with my perfect swing, I could make perfect shots.

Well, based on the reaction to our My Shot with Palmer in June, most Golf Digest readers would say that the Honorary Chairman of the 2007 Open has come as close as anybody to doing just that.

—Bob Carney

(Photo by Dom Furore)

We're playing Betty Boop golf. David Leadbetter on his advice to Michelle Wie

In the middle of her woes this past couple of weeks Michelle Wie made the point of saying that her coach, David Leadbetter, did not speak for her. If the press wanted information from the Wie camp they should talk to her parents, her manager or her publicist.

That led to skuttlebutting on some LPGA blogs that David's days may be numbered.

Boy, I hope not, for the teenager's sake. As Ron Sirak points out in his latest report from the McDonald's, it's David that is talking sense now. He gave her a sound, no-driver, strategy to get through the first two rounds and survive the cut on a gimpy swing.

"We're playing Betty Boop golf," Leadbetter said as he followed Wie, who finished the day six strokes off the lead. "We boop it here, we boop it there." He said he decided to leave the driver in the bag because less lofted clubs are the most difficult to hit at less-than-full strength. Noting the large crowds that filed into Bulle Rock in advance of Wie's 2:16 p.m. tee time, Leadbetter said: "I hope they aren't NASCAR fans coming for a crash."

Leadbetter's strategy outside the ropes is also to take things down a notch, lower expectations and get Michelle back to the task at hand: Playing golf againts the top women and playing well. Sirak describes the situation well:

The kid is truly backed into a corner, in a no-win situation that perhaps only an apology can rectify. One thing is clear: Wie creates buzz when she plays. Oh yes, one other thing is clear: wouldn't you like to see her get healthy and be paired with Annika Sorenstam in the final group of a tournament somewhere down the road? In fact, one thing Wie has managed to do over the last week is create a tour full of rivals. Bring on Act II.

It's time to play. Well.

—Bob Carney

Golf lacks something for me. It would be better if once in a while someone came up from behind and tackled you just as you were hitting the ball. Red Grange

More angry golfer letters about Dan Jansen's comment in the June issue that golf can't be a sport if you can smoke cigarette while doing it. Here's one from, puff, Shane Weber of Dry Ridge, KY:

It's a shame that whether golf is a sport is still debated. It definitely is!! I think it is quite clear that the golf swing is a extremely athletic move that requires stamina to repeat consistently under pressure. Walking the course is also a big part of the stamina aspect. Certainly the final swing on #18 is not the same as the first swing on #1 if you are tired or your swing has no stamina. Strategy, mental toughness, athleticism are all part of sports. Golf definitely belongs in that family!

Absolutely, Shane, and I think most other athletes get that. And some of them get darned good at it. Lee Glenna, of Edina, MN, where they may still be playing hockey come to think of it (Have the ponds melted yet, Lee?) points out we missed a couple of Stanley Cuppers on our list of athlete golfers:

Ben Clymer, +0.4 at Olympic Hills CC, member of Tampa Bay Lightning 03-04
and
Brian Bellows, 9.2 at Interlachen CC, member of Montreal Canadiens 92-93.

Thanks, Lee. That would land Clymer in the Top 20, somewhere between Brett Favre and John Smoltz. Bellows would be down there with Rick Barry, at No. 153. Oh, and Roger Clemens, before he came out of retirement yesterday, was tied for 84th with a 4.6 index.

We bring this list up once again for goof reason: We've found some cool old photographs of golfer athletes. Here are three you may not have seen, from the old American Golfer:

First, Walter Hagen, working out with the Tigers in the mid-thirties....

Then a fellow who won the Grand Slam playing catcher and looking like an umpire...

And, of course, the Babe, playing his other favorite sport...

—Bob Carney

I wish the decorum around our game was better. If we just dressed a little neater, I'd be happy. There's a trend in some circles to not care at all—wear your hat backward, don't tuck your shirt in, don't iron anything. That isn't style, it just not caring.
--Arnold Palmer

David Jones of Palm Harbor, Florida writes about our newest Playing Editor, Arnold Palmer and Editor Jerry Tarde's comments about Arnold in the June issue:

Just finished reading the Editor's Letter in your June issue and would like to add a perspective.  I've witnessed Mr. Palmer signing autographs on numerous occasions.  Not only does he honor every request, he thanks you for asking for it as he hands it back to you.  I have a Masters flag signed by 20 champions.  It's my most prized collectible, because I've met every one of them.  A certain striped animal ranked #1 in the world wouldn't only not sign it, he literally turned his back to me and wouldn't even acknowledge that I'd asked him (no one else was within 30 feet of us).  Class v. classless.  I'd rather watch Mr. Palmer shoot 110 than watch that other guy shoot 59.  I guess some people think everyone wants their autograph for profit. Mr. Palmer's signature might be worthless on eBay, but it's priceless to those who have personally met this great man and icon.

Couldn't agree more, David. Arnold's My Shot interview in June underscores your point. In this age of brow-furrowing over "growing" the game, we have a model. Arnold. He was the nutritional supplement under which golf in the U.S. sprouted. It's interesting that as the Open comes to Oakmont, Bloomberg television chooses to interview Palmer in a piece to run this weekend by Pittsburgh native Allan Dodds Frank. Frank says there is a funny bit with Palmer and his dog, Mulligan (right).  Palmer also predicts that 280 will be a "good score" for winning at Oakmont. The piece will air at 5:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 11:30 am EST tomorrow and at 6:30, 9:30 and 12:30 on Sunday.

In the midst of her struggles, Michelle Wie might look to Palmer for inspiration. Ron Sirak uses Tiger as a role model for Wie in his from the McDonald's. But his advice that Wie embrace the LPGA echoes the kind of willing ownership Arnie took of the big tour. Still, Palmer the player had more than charm, he had guts and Wie showed that yesterday. There were many of us following her round who thought it would be "tears in the fairway" as one of our editors said, after she went plus+4 after six. She proved us wrong. Good for her.

--Bob Carney (Photos by Dom Furore)

It’s been a bit of a circus, I guess you could say. Morgan Pressel

On the heels of