2010 U.S. Open Second Round Thread

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Let's hope round 2 is more exciting than round 1.

"Other than that, the day was magnificent."

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When I left the course at halftime of the Lakers-Celtics about an hour after the Woods-Els-Westwood group had finished at 7:30, I noticed the first long line of the week for the spectator shuttle buses. From there, reader Cardinal shares this horror story:

I just got home from the opening round.    I got into line for the shuttle bus at 7:19 tonight (players were still on the course) and got into my car at 10:07.  The line to even get on the bus was more than two hours.   Although the crowd was remarkably well-behaved under such circumstances, people did start booing and yelling.  Extra cops were brought in for crowd management.  There would be gaps of 10-15 minutes between buses (yep, that's right, generally only one bus was available for spectators;  when the buses did arrive infrequently, they were used for the volunteers -- understandable priority, but deplorable disorganization). The USGA finally just put out boxes of candy and bottled water, which the crowd passed around.   Extra emergency lighting was set up, as we were still in line after dark.  I assume the USGA expected most people to be in their cars before dark, as the overflow parking lot was completely dark (no lights were turned on).  As no one had cell phones, we could not contact anyone about being delayed/late.  All in all, it was the worst showing by the USGA in my experience (4 US Opens).

 Other than that, the day was magnificent.

Explanation For Oceanside Hazard Marking: Blame The Lefties

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Mike Davis explained the spacious hazard markings along the ocean holes, telling me "it has everything to do with the ten to twelve left-handers in the field."

Davis says the hazard lines are marked several feet off the cliffs to give plenty of room for penalty drops. If the line of entry to the hazard was directly on top of the cliff fall-off, you are allowed just two club lengths relief and with the shaved down area meaning it's more likely a drop could roll toward the hazard, that means there might not be enough space to allow the lefties to have room for a stance (except on 18, where it's an issue for the right-handers).

Hashtags and Amex

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A few of you wrote in wondering why I was throwing a #amexgolf on my Tweets from Pebble Beach. No, I have not signed a sponsorship deal. The reason is fairly simple. In AmEx's on-course experience this year fans have the chance to send Tweets or post on Facebook (and check messages). Their submissions are automatically tagged and posted on a running board in the Amex Experience. It makes for fun viewing. They're also offering instruction there, but so far I've passed up the chance out of sympathy to the onsite instructors.

 

Five Final Setup Hotspots

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The course is on edge, more Sunday than Thursday. This makes setup that much more crucial, particularly if the wind comes up. With this surprising edginess so early in the event, keep an eye on these areas the next few days:

1. 14 green. It badly needs to be expanded to its original size in order to regain lower right hole locations. Four spots up top is just not ideal. Expect to see some high scores here and some oddball antics, though they won't be a product of setup mistakes. This is an architectural evolution problem.

2. 13 green. This sleeper is very steeply pitched and limited in where you can place the hole. Today's middle of the green practice round location proved very treacherous.

This forward portion of 18 tee may get a lot of use to entice players to have a go at the green in two. (Click to enlarge)3.  Driveable 4s. Look for #4 to get moved up and perhaps another hole that will come as a big surprise. I'm not sure which one it is, but I have a couple in mind.

4. 18 tee. I suspect the markers will be up four days, but it will be interesting to see how other changed dynamics play out there.

5. The par-3s. No. 7 will play under 100 yards one day and maybe even under 90 yards. Number 5 figures to be varied dramatically and No. 17 is just plain goofy and in need of renovation.

"Before they had the fairway up the left side of 11 where it should be, now it's over to the right over here."

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Tom Watson was pretty upfront about his dislike for the fairway contour on No. 11 and he was correct to question it.

And you've got to think about putting the ball in the fairway at 11. Before they had the fairway up the left side of 11 where it should be, now it's over to the right over here. That's where you would kind of normally hit it, now you're aiming too far to the right and you're still fanning it off to the right, now you're in worst position.

Some background: 11 is one of those holes always written off as ordinary and I believe set up properly. It's a wonderful example of an architect getting the most out of an awkward transition from the ideal portion of the property to the stretch of land that returns you to the clubhouse.

Its strategy is simple: Drive it left over the bunker and flirt with a small canyon fall off (sadly now bordered by cart path), and you open up the best angle to the green. Drive right and you must play over bunkers, which, after years of build up, make the approach quite difficult. By eliminating the left area of fairway, there is no real strategy.

However, after looking at the sparse left rough today and watching one player roll it up from there while a player in the middle of the fairway caught the bunker backslope and saw his ball take a horrible bounce to the back of the green, the best way to play the hole remains up the left side into the rough.

It's one of the rare instances I've seen Mike Davis take strategy out of the golf course. Thankfully he's injected so much into the rest of the layout that the occasional blip is no big deal.

Here's the view from the fairway, followed by the left rough view.

 

"Pebble Now an Intimate Meeting of Land and Sea"

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Steve Elling (here) and Doug Ferguson (here) both focus their final preview stories on the tight mow along the cliffs, and include player compliments on the move. It's an awesome improvement to the course, though I am concerned about how it will impact the event.

Here's a rundown of the holes and the potential issues.


Hole 4: Looks great and definitely brings the cliff edge into play. Couple that with an awful fairway bunker added to narrow down the landing area, and I think you'll see more players try and drive it closer to the green.


The sixth hole's meeting with the sea (click to enlarge)Hole 6: The loss of two trees coupled with the tight mow has transformed this hole into one of the most beautiful on the course. It's amazing how the simpler hazard edge and opening up of the view into the massive cliff takes this hole to another level.


Hole 8: The fear that someone might drive through the fairway seems unfounded here. The cut is not very tight in most places down the right side where a drive could roll out with a good wind. The only real tightly mown spot is far up the left side where someone will have driven it ridiculously far past the intended distance. The fairway is not very wide and frankly I find that more of a concern than the tight mow by the hazard edge. Tom Watson talked about this fairway width issue today.

 

Hole 10: Definitely in play, and if the fairways dry out more there's a chance this will come into play in shocking fashion to some players. But right now the fairways have a decent amount of thatch and moisture so I don't see anything too strange happening here. There also seems to be a very light intermediate cut to help stop some balls.

 

Hole 18: The situation I'm most concerned about. To be clear, I love the look, I love the concept, but there is a slight ridge down the left side, 10-15 feet from the hazard edge. It's not a natural ridge, but appears to be more of a product of poor finish work from various projects to shore up the seawall. There's a good chance of a drive down the left side teetering on edge, but well struck and seemingly well placed, hitting this and kicking into the hazard.

The other issue is the marking of the hazard. There are several large flat spots where a player could get a full stance and find their ball in the hazard, even though it's fairway cut. I will try to find out from Mike Davis why this was painted that way throughout the course, but on several of the above mentioned holes there is a very good chance someone will be on a level fairway lie and not be able to ground a club. I'm guessing there is a good reason, I just don't know what it is.

 Where the land meets the sea, No. 18 (click to enlarge)

"As they waited to hit, neither Watson nor Woods exchanged glances, much less niceties, their cold shoulders turning the tee into an outdoor icebox."

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Karen Crouse on the lack of Stanford brotherly love when Tiger Woods and Tom Watson shared the 10th tee Wednesday. Thanks to reader Tim for this.

As they waited to hit, neither Watson nor Woods exchanged glances, much less niceties, their cold shoulders turning the tee into an outdoor icebox. The distance between them was accentuated when the golfer Jason Gore made his way to the hole and received a warm hello and a hug from Woods who, like Watson, has won a United States Open here.

Standing between Woods and Watson like a buffer was another Stanford golfer, Joseph Bramlett, who was playing with his childhood idol, Woods, two days after going through graduation ceremonies. It was three generations of Cardinal golfing royalty sharing a moment that could have been captured only by the widest of wide-angle lenses.