I remember the late great Christy O'Connor looking out from the safety of the clubhouse at the rain and wind blowing over the old course at St Andrews, with more of the same in the forecast for the 1960 Open Championship saying " Give me 3 over par right now and I'll take it and run"
On Thursday the ninth edition of the US Open at historic Oakmont gets underway just outside Pittsburg, home of this year's Stanley Cup champions!!
There is rain in the forecast for Thursday and possibly Friday but this tough and traditional layout will play close to par in any conditions.
Craig Connelly is the 2014 Caddie of the Year and he was on the bag for Martin Kaymer when he won the US Open at Pinehurst that year and he also caddied for Paul Casey at Oakmont in 2007 and he had this to say to the europeantour.com about the test faciing the field this week
"The key is making sure you hit the fairways and give yourself a chance to then put your ball in a good spot on the green. Once you miss the fairway, you’re out of play. You’ve literally got no shot into the green. So you have to have a clear strategy and be able to accept a bogey is fine sometimes."
“Even if you find a lie, you’ll still struggle to find the green. The rough is not as bad as what I was expecting though and I actually believe it was worse nine years ago. Some spots you can get lucky, but you don’t have control of the golf ball from anywhere out of the rough, so getting up and down becomes very difficult.
“Even if you find a lie, you’ll still struggle to find the green. The rough is not as bad as what I was expecting though and I actually believe it was worse nine years ago. Some spots you can get lucky, but you don’t have control of the golf ball from anywhere out of the rough, so getting up and down becomes very difficult.
Casey carded a second round 66 back in 2007, on a day when many of the sport’s big names were struggling to break 80, and the average score was close to 77.Amazingly, 154 of the 156 man field failed to break par that day.
“There are less trees here now than when I was here in 2007 with Paul. From 1994 to 2007 this place changed dramatically in the way it looks – I think they’ve taken every tree away. In terms of the actual golf course, it’s pretty much the same – tough!
The greens are expected to roll at around 14 on the stimpmeter, keep in mind Tiger Woods couldn't make one putt over 11 feet on them in 2007 when Angel Cabrera won with a final score of +5. The fairways are narrow and the rough is lush and here's what Rory McIlroy had to say about the course.
“There are less trees here now than when I was here in 2007 with Paul. From 1994 to 2007 this place changed dramatically in the way it looks – I think they’ve taken every tree away. In terms of the actual golf course, it’s pretty much the same – tough!
The greens are expected to roll at around 14 on the stimpmeter, keep in mind Tiger Woods couldn't make one putt over 11 feet on them in 2007 when Angel Cabrera won with a final score of +5. The fairways are narrow and the rough is lush and here's what Rory McIlroy had to say about the course.
"It's a great test of golf. Every shot you hit, you're under pressure to hit a great shot because you can't really miss it. You have to get the ball in play.You just have to be so disciplined. I'm an aggressive player as well. So there's just going to be times where I'm going to have to rein it back a little bit"
Rory is paired with Danny Willett and Rickie Fowler at 8.25
There have been great champions at Oakmont, Ernie Els at won at -5 in a playoff in 1994, Larry Nelson edged Tom Watson by a shot in 1983, Johnny Miller won with -5 buoyed by a course record 63 at his peak in 1973 when Oakmont was a par 71, Jack beat Arnie in a 1962 playoff and Ben Hogan beat Sam Snead by 6 shots in 1953 when it was a par 72 with a score of 283.
Oakmont is described as the toughest test in golf, Jordan Spieth is the defending champion, Rory, Jason and all the rest of the world's best will begin their examination of this storied course tomorrow, and don't be surprised if it turns out to be the story at the end of Thursday's play.
Bryan Angus
Rory is paired with Danny Willett and Rickie Fowler at 8.25
There have been great champions at Oakmont, Ernie Els at won at -5 in a playoff in 1994, Larry Nelson edged Tom Watson by a shot in 1983, Johnny Miller won with -5 buoyed by a course record 63 at his peak in 1973 when Oakmont was a par 71, Jack beat Arnie in a 1962 playoff and Ben Hogan beat Sam Snead by 6 shots in 1953 when it was a par 72 with a score of 283.
Oakmont is described as the toughest test in golf, Jordan Spieth is the defending champion, Rory, Jason and all the rest of the world's best will begin their examination of this storied course tomorrow, and don't be surprised if it turns out to be the story at the end of Thursday's play.
Bryan Angus
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