When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Driving home today after finally caving and buying a few items at Monday's 50% off sale, it occurred to me just how badly bungled the U.S. Open merchandise selection and pricing was. Though it was delightful to hear from sales reps that numbers were at 50% of the budgeted sales figures through Friday. The public does have limits.
Let's hope that in the USGA contract with the Pebble Beach Company for 2019 that the blue coats take control of the shop to ensure better stuff and pricing that fans have grown accustomed to.
Of course, the 50% off prices still felt like retail prices...in the real world.
From the USGA:
Weather Forecast for Sunday (provide by Greg Quinn with Thor Guard Weather) – Sunshine today starting mid-morning and through much of the afternoon. Winds will be light and variable through mid-morning, becoming north-northwest at 8-12 mph between late morning to early afternoon. Winds will increase to 10-15 mph between about 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. coming mainly from the northwest.
Green Speeds – Today’s speeds are very consistent with what they have been for the last seven days – mid-13s in the early morning, which should settle out in the mid- to high- 12s by midday.
Rough – Given the dry weather and very little growth, the rough has not been mown since Wednesday.
Water Management – Today’s golf course will be a similar firmness to yesterday. Lighter hand-watering was applied to all greens last night to replenish the moisture lost yesterday. The putting green approaches are still very firm (firmer than the greens), so the bounce-in shot will again be a significant factor in today’s play.
Hole-by-Hole Information:
Hole 4 – Tee markers moved up 13 paces to measure 318 yards to the center of the green and 325 yards to the back hole location. The hole should play downwind.
Hole 5 – 205 yards to a back-right hole location. Properly played tee shots should “feed” back to this location. This hole should also play downwind
Hole 7 – 92 yards; the front portion of the front teeing ground was used in combination with a back right hole location in the “finger” that juts out. There should be a right-to-left wind. Additionally, we spread the tee markers out 13 paces (normal width is five paces) to allow player to choose their angle of play, e.g., choose the left side of the tee to better play to the flagstick or choose the right side to play away from the ocean.
Hole 12 – 203 yards to a far-left hole location. This hole should play into a headwind.
Hole 14 – Tee markers moved up 30 paces and kept on the right side of teeing ground to allow players the possibility of carrying the last drive-zone bunker on the right (roughly 270 yards, but into the prevailing wind). However, this will require the player to curve his ball rather dramatically from left to right, due to the cypress trees that block this angle of play. The hole location is in the back right of the upper-left quadrant – the most player-friendly location on the green.
Hole 17 – 219 yards to the approximate final-round hole location from the 1982 U.S. Open. The hole should play with a right-to-left wind.
Hole 18 – Tee markers moved 30 paces forward to play 513 yards to the center of the green. The hole should play dead into the wind and therefore the tee was shortened to encourage a bit more risk-reward. The drive zone is narrower at and beyond the two fairway trees, which will bring the ocean on the left and rough on the right more into play. The hole location is front left – just two or so paces beyond the false front portion of the green and only several paces from the hazard on the left.
The Onion with a Sunday morning exclusive on Phil Mickelson, currently seven back of leader Dustin Johnson.
And one other observation before we get to a smattering of accounts from Saturday's play at Pebble Beach: Johnson and Graeme McDowell play the game as it should be: fast without hurrying. Or at least they did today. Let's see what happens tomorrow under pressure.
Doug Ferguson's AP lede:
Dustin Johnson plays his best at Pebble Beach no matter what month, no matter what stage.
Larry Dorman for the NY Times:
With echoes of the cheers from Tiger Woods’s back-nine charge still rolling over Pebble Beach Golf Links, Dustin Johnson grabbed the lead, kept his composure and birdied the final two holes at dusk to take a three-stroke lead over the overnight leader Graeme McDowell and a five-stroke lead over Woods into the final round of the 110th United States Open.
About that scene at No. 4, Randell Mell writes:
Johnson makes folks gape in wonder. Ask all those spectators along the fourth hole Saturday at the U.S. Open.
That’s where Johnson reached the short par 4 with his tee shot.
He drove the green with an iron.
An iron.
Johnson crushed a 3-iron 290 yards to 5 feet to set up his eagle there.
Gene Wojciechowski does some California dreaming about Sunday's possibilities.
Bob Harig on the Dustin Johnson/Tiger dynamic.
Woods is still a player to be feared, and as he gets more rounds under his belt, more competition, he will become more of a threat again.
But the days of wilting in his presence, if they're not over, should be. Woods has proved to be fallible too many times, scandal or not.
"He's human, too," Johnson said. "I'm going to do my best not to let it affect me."
Ron Sirak on Saturday's setup:
Oddly, and totally consistent with his playful manner, Davis actually shortened Pebble Beach for the third round. The tee on No. 3 was moved up 34 paces and on No. 4 it was moved forward 40 paces, making both par-4s drivable. No. 7 played at 99 yards -- the shortest hole in modern U.S. Open history. All this did was mess with the heads of the players by giving them more decisions to make.
Cameron Morfit also chimed in:
Different is good, the marketers and politicians say, but when did the staid old USGA become Russell Brand? The organization used to be become Judge Smails. That hasn't been the case under wild-and-crazy guy Mike Davis, the 45-year-old former Pennsylvania junior state golf champion who is in his fifth year as senior director of rules and competitions.
Jim Achenbach is ready to blow up the 14th green:
The way it is, the hole often punishes golfers for no good reason. Balls bounce and roll crazily on the green, and players are left with no viable escape options from just off the putting surface.
For a major championship, that’s crazy.
Dave Kindred on Ryo Ishikawa's bright future despite Saturday's tough round.
Ishikawa came to the first tee Saturday -- pardon the movie stereotype here -- looking like one of those little, lean, lithe terrors who can spring into the air, do a backflip, land behind you, and kick you upside the head before you know he has moved. He wore all black, except for silver sunglasses. Suggestions of acne on his handsome face were the only hints he was still a kid though no one much past adolescence, save for the occasional aging rock star, cares to match Ishikawa's glorious mess of black hair rising in curls above his visor and falling to his collar.
And in the good karma department, you may recall Russell Henley's sweet gesture back on Monday (seems like a month ago). Well the amateur is not only vying for low am honors, but as Jonathan Heeter of the Macon paper tells us, Henley has a shot at getting an exemption next year.
“It’s surreal,” Henley said. “I don’t know how they know me or why they cheer for me. But it feels really good when people are pulling for you. I just wish I could let every one of them know how much this has meant to me.”
The energy Henley received from the crowds helped propel the 21-year-old amateur to his best round at the U.S. Open.
Henley shot a 1-over-par 72 on Saturday, and he is 6 over for the tournament. The top 15 finishers receive an exemption into next year’s U.S. Open, and he is in contention for that distinction.
And a few more images from the day...soak 'em up, because you won't see anything like this at Congressional next year. Just a lot of fogged up lens shots. Click on the images to enlarge.
Ernie Els on No. 4 Saturday.
Dustin Johnson on No. 8 tee.
As if it's not hard enough: Charl Schwartzel on No. 14
Fairway bunkers freshly raked on No. 2 after play.
And the men who make it all happen.
Former USGA Executive Director Frank Hannigan shares a few observations after two rounds of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
The official course setup breakdown. Note Nos. 3 and 4 where the Dustin Johnson's of the world may see back to back drivable opportunities.
The following are details on the course setup for Round 3 of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, from Mike Davis, USGA senior director of Rules and Competitions:
Weather Forecast for Saturday (provided by Greg Quinn with Thor Guard Weather) – Winds this morning should be light and variable, mainly from the north at less than 8 mph. As midday approaches, we should see more of a northwest wind of 8-12 mph and this will be the case through mid-afternoon. We should see our strongest winds from the west-northwest at 10-18 mph, with the highest gusts (possibly up to 25 mph) between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
We will still see a good deal of cloud-cover today, with a bit more sun than yesterday, mainly during the mid-to late-afternoon.
Green Speeds – Today’s green speeds are very consistent with what they have been for the last six days – mid-13s in the early morning, which should settle out in the mid- to high-12s by midday.
Rough – Given the dry weather and very little growth, we have decided not to mow the rough for the remainder of the championship. It will still have the characteristics we are seeking.
Water Management – Today’s golf course will be firmer than it was during Rounds 1 and 2 and similar to the practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Lighter hand-watering was applied to all the greens last night to replenish the moisture lost yesterday. In addition, very light hand-watering was also completed this morning (after firmness and moisture readings were taken) to the ninth and 14th greens, as well as small portions of the 12th and 17th greens, in order to keep firmness conditions consistent from green to green. The putting green approaches have become very firm (firmer than the greens), so the bounce-in shot will be a big part of today’s play.
Hole-by-Hole Information:
Hole 3 – tee markers moved up two teeing grounds (34 paces forward). The hole location is in the small, back-right quadrant. A player can either play to the normal drive zone, or play aggressively off the tee over the trees to an area short-left of the green and be left with an unencumbered pitch shot to the hole.
Hole 4 – tee markers moved up 40 paces. The hole plays 290 yards to the center of green (284 yards to the flagstick), making this a drivable par 4. With the west winds, this hole will play straight downwind. The hole location is front left, so a bail-out off the tee to the left (away from the ocean) will short-side the player.
Hole 5 – 181 yards to a front left hole location from the right side of tee. Being downwind, this reverse-Redan-like design will require the player to land short left of the green.
Hole 7 – 99 yards; the front right portion of the back tee has been used with the front left hole location.
Hole 12 – 193 yards; the front right hole location is being used, which requires the player to land his ball in the putting green approach in order to get it close.
Hole 17 – 206 yards; the tee markers are moved left (on the fourth hole’s teeing ground) in concert with a hole location on the right portion of the green up against the ridge. Tee shots played short and right of the hole will leave the player will relatively simple second shots. However, players who miss their tee shot to the left (noting the prevailing wind is right-to-left) will be short-sided.
The Monterey Herald's Jim Johnson follows up on the shuttle bus debacle and what's most interesting is who is charged with responding to the matter. Hint, it's not the USGA but instead, the Pebble Beach Company's R.J. Harper.
Harper said officials were monitoring the flow of the buses Friday, which are used to transport U.S. Open fans and volunteers between Pebble Beach and CSU Monterey Bay, and the system was working well. But he acknowledged that officials vastly underestimated the numbers of fans a day earlier.
"We definitely addressed the situation for (Friday)," Harper said. "The crowds out here (Thursday) exceeded everybody's expectations. We were hit very, very hard in the early evening and we had a depleted supply of buses, which is unacceptable. We took action immediately to make sure the situation didn't happen again. We worked through the evening to resolve the situation.
"We apologize. We messed up and we're up here trying to make amends," he said.
Harper said this is the first time Pebble Beach and the USGA had used Transportation Management Services, the company contracted to provide the shuttle service. But he said he was "not looking to blame anybody" and added that he was pleased with the company's response to the situation.
A far more interesting day Friday and some fun reporting worth checking out before the telecast Saturday.
Larry Dorman on second round leader Graeme McDowell and his early wake-up call Friday.
Cameron Morfit reports on Phil Mickelson's 66.
Mickelson consulted with his putting coach, Dave Stockton, and found he was setting up "a little contorted," in Mickelson's words. He changed his address, and the small fix paid big dividends as Mickelson took only 25 putts Friday, a day after taking 32.
He one-putted the first six holes.
Bob Harig on the impressive play of Ryo Ishikawa.
This kind of success, of course, produces unprecedented media attention at home. Among those following him Friday was Isao Aoki, a former Japanese star who battled Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 U.S. Open and now does television work. Dozens, if not hundreds, of photographers and journalists follow every move.
"I don't see how he does it," Watson said. "It's a constant din."
"It's worse for him at home," said McIlroy. "I've played with him in Japan and he handles himself very, very well. That's one of the most impressive things about him, how he handles everything, apart from his golf."
Steve Elling on the two-chip incident involving Shaun Micheel and the tournament leader who called him on it.
Michael Bamberger says Tiger's Thursday rant about the greens was self-serving excuse making and he features a strong rebuttal from the USGA's David Fay.
He's wrong," David Fay, the USGA executive director, told me yesterday. "They're smoother than they were in 2000." That would be the year the U.S. Open was last at Pebble, when Tiger won by 15. "It was a harsh thing for him to say. I don't want to turn this into a whole turf-surface advisory thing, but the fact is the people who grow this grass are highly skilled, highly educated, and they have so many tools at their disposal. Conditions have been good for growing grass and we're very pleased with the greens. We can take criticism when it's warranted. We have pretty thick skin. Criticism is useful. But this is not useful criticism." No, it was a one-word rant from a deeply frustrated man.
Ron Sirak has this to say about Tiger's second round:
If body language came with captions, television would have had one long expletive deleted when showing Tiger Woods' second round at the U.S. Open. Or, at the very least, the broadcast would have had to carry a warning stating: "Caution, What You Are About to See May Bum You Out." There are never a lot of yuks at a U.S. Open, but Woods walked the course Friday as if he were on his way to root canal.
Randall Mell points this out about Tiger:
If Woods were seven shots behind with two rounds to go in a major championship and said he felt good about his position, you wondered when players would start getting out of his way.
You knew such confidence would sound delusional coming out of most any other player’s mouth except his.
That’s the invincible nature that surrounded Woods when he came from seven shots back with seven holes to go to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am a decade ago. It’s the overpowering aura he possessed a few months later when he won the U.S. Open here by 15 shots.
And John Hawkins is more blunt:
He said he would change, and change he has – for the worse. The clumsy evasiveness with the media is nothing new, nor was the unexplained parting with his swing coach, for that matter, but the neck injury out of nowhere? How about Thursday’s Poa-annua pout? Since when did Tiger Woods start blaming his sloppy play on course conditions?
Sean Martin tells us about Pebble master Dustin Johnson and the improvement he's seen from working with Butch Harmon.
Alex Miceli reports on Erik Compton's next move after missing the cut.
Craig Bestrom on Y.E. Yang's epic back nine unraveling that led to a 49.
Jeff Babineau reviews some of the 14th hole boondoggles.
And finally, Sam Weinman's birdie/bogey column includes this:
BIRDIE: Tom Watson -- The 60-year-old snuck into the weekend on the number, and then had them lined up at least 100 deep for autographs at the Lexus tent. Watson still has some magic, and people want a piece of it.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
