OAKMONT, Pa. — Does size matter? We can make the argument that it does at this week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
We’re talking about physical size, men of height, who can exert enormous torque, or of big bones, solidly built and with sinewy strength. Athletic specimens with sturdy God-given frames and talent to match.
Weightlifting and strength training might be gaining more devotees in professional golf, but there is no substitute for good genes.
Just look at the players who have won the U.S. Open at Oakmont in what we might think of as the modern era. Or, put another way, consider the respective builds of the men who best handled the itinerant challenges of Oakmont, particularly its machete-defying rough, penal bunkers and terrifying green complexes.
Jack Nicklaus, with his tree trunks for legs, beat the renowned “Pennsylvania Strongman” Arnold Palmer in 1962 in the brawniest battle golf had ever seen. Angel Cabrera, thick and with linebacker shoulders, took the measure of the field in 2007 after Ernie Els, the Big Easy—emphasis on big—survived heat and 92 holes in 1994. And then there was the freakishly flexible and athletic Dustin Johnson in 2016.
But wait, you say, what about Johnny Miller in 1973 and Larry Nelson in 1983? Yes, well, what about them? Miller was a ball-striking genius in unconscious form in the final round of the former. Nelson rallied furiously with a record 36-hole closing kick but still needed a 62-foot putt to beat Tom Watson in the latter. Nevertheless, they were fairways-and-greens kind of fellows who played to type at the right moment.
They are the exception that proves the rule. It takes strength—brute strength—to succeed at Oakmont.
It takes strength to produce length off the tee, either with driver or with other clubs to make concessions to control; strength to advance the ball appreciable distances from Oakmont’s formidable, refashioned deep bunkers. Strength to move it through the rough with something other than wedge, a luxury many opponents won’t enjoy. Strength to hit it high enough to hold what will be, at least for the first few days, some rather firm putting surfaces.
Length is an advantage at Augusta National Golf Club—as it is at most courses. But it doesn’t take strength to win the Masters. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, a two-time Masters champion, understands the difference.
“I think at the Masters you have a lot more shot-making when you get around the greens because it's a lot of fairway, there's pine straw, there's not really the rough factor,” Scheffler said. “When you get here, it's a lot of hacking out of the rough. You still have to be extremely precise, but it's a bit more … when you talk about strength and power, I think that becomes more of a factor at these tournaments because when you hit it in the rough you've got to muscle it out of there. It's just a different type of test than you see at the Masters. Both of them are fantastic tests.”
Warren Little
Scheffler, chiseled and big-boned, is among a handful of players who likely will not weary physically from 72 holes on Oakmont’s 7,372-yard, par-70 gauntlet of sharp edges and spirit-deflating defenses. There is no prototype, per se. Just guys blessed with brawn. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, the aforementioned Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau and Shane Lowry (54-hole leader here in 2016) probably can beat the 16 percent up-and-down par save rate the field posted from the rough in 2016, according to Shot Scope data. And that’s when the rough wasn’t as lush as it is this year.
There are probably a few others in this category. Ryan Fox of New Zealand, a two-time winner this year, including last week’s RBC Canadian Open, has his father’s rugby build and comes to mind as a potential contender.
“It's a long golf course. Any time you have heavy rough and length, just being able to hit a distance, that speed to move the ball forward is always going to be a massive, massive advantage,” said Rahm, who won the 2021 title on the South Course at Torrey Pines. “Length in a major like this, and even now in general in any sport, having that power is always helpful. I would like to see all those champions in common. I would like to guess that that week the driving was very much on point. I think it's obviously nearly impossible to win a tournament here if you're not hitting it well off the tee because, if you keep putting yourself off the fairway, for lack of a better term, you're going to get Oakmont very often.”
Well, he’s right there. Johnson said that his 2016 triumph was largely helped along by a better-than-average week off the tee. Oakmont is manageable from the fairways. For the most part. But no one hits every fairway over four days. Scrambling will be necessary and moving the ball in instances of inaccuracy is a clear advantage.
Still, there is something else, and that is the examination as a whole. The slick, undulating greens offer their own devious defenses. There is no letup, no hiding. Mental strength will be important, too. “It’s a big brute of a golf course,” said reigning Masters champion and 2011 U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy. “You're going to have to have your wits about you this week all the way throughout the bag, off the tee, into the greens, around the greens.”
“This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play, maybe ever,” said Scheffler, “and that's pretty much all it is. It's just a different type of test.”
Which history shows takes a special blend of physical as well as technical talent to conquer. You have to be more than strong but Oakmont strong.