The 2016 U.S. Open Still Is Not A Sell Out...

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I'm not sure if this is news or not, since the USGA could announce tomorrow it's sold out and we would not know either way.

Still, considering they were nearing a sell out back in March and you can still get tickets for Monday to Friday play, it begs the question: cost, experience, venue or some combination of all the above?

Oakmont is not quite a boutique venue, but they galleries were to be limited to 30,000 a day, which isn't Pinehurst scale.

Hanging the sold out sign has occurred alarmingly close to the event in recent years.

All but Thursday and a few practice round days were sold out by February, 2010 for Pebble Beach.

All but the first round had sold out at Congressional in May, 2011.

Olympic didn’t sell out until tournament week in 2012.

Merion sold out entirely by June 10th

Chambers Bay sold out except for practice rounds by February, 2015.

Pinehurst kept the streak intact for 28 years, but just barely (June 13).

I know in past threads some of you had noted the experience. I'm curious what you think is the most likely reason?

What is reason #1 the U.S. Open has not sold out?
 
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Ok So Not All U.S. Open Sectional Stories End Happily

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Garry Smits with the bizarro tale of 17-year-old Won Jun Lee getting docked two strokes for fixing a ball mark off the green.

The story gets more awkward given that the playing partner who called the violation on Lee ended up tied with him for second, only to lose out on a berth because of the penalty.

Lee denied guilt but also repeatedly apologized, and as Smits notes, there was a witness to what was apparently a violation more than once.

Tommy Dudley, a Timuquana member and one of the on-site USGA rules officials, said it wouldn’t have mattered.

“There was enough outside evidence to support [Wilkinson’s] contention,” Dudley said.
Dudley said the “outside evidence” was Wilkinson’s wife, Mandy, who confirmed Lee’s actions. Wilkinson said he asked his wife to watch Lee on Tuesday after he said he said Lee flirted with the rule several times on Monday before a rain delay.

Wilkinson said he approached Lee during the delay to tell him that he was close to breaking the rules.

Fun times in Florida!

Video: Oakmont's 11th & 12th

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A case could be made that the 11th is the least interesting hole at Oakmont, playing uphill to a landing area the golfer can't see and forcing a lay-up for most of today's players who have not managed to boost driving distance averages since 2003.

The green slopes from back left to front right but should give up plenty of birdies. A nice thing since there aren't many left after this.

The flyover:

The par-5 12th featured fairway contour issues last time around that let to the field's GIR finishing at only 44% according to the USGA. Those issues have hopefully been fixed. Tees will be moved around here to offer the look of a reachable five a legit three-shotter. The ingredients here are all pretty spectacular and hopefully the setup is better this time around.

For Your U.S. Open Consideration: Conventional Grip McIlroy

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If you were looking for a reason to back Rory at Oakmont, he certainly gave punters all they needed to see on some of the tour's toughest greens.

From Bob Harig's Memorial report on Rory McIlroy's play (-13, T4) just a little over a week before the U.S. Open at Oakmont:

But perhaps more important was McIlroy's putting. Typically a sore spot and the aspect of his game that holds him back, McIlroy was second for the week in strokes gained putting and never took more than 29 putts in a round. (He had more than 30 in each round two weeks ago in Ireland.)

"Off the tee I was really good this week, and I feel like my putting improved a lot,'' he said. "If you look at the stats from my putting, I feel like it's been really good. So all things considered, it's been a decent week. Time to get ready for Oakmont.''

And this from Golf Channel's Justin Ray:

 

 

I think most fascinating about the putter grip change from left hand low to conventional is just how much less he "pops" a putt instead of a stroke. Popping is not a good thing on greens running 14. IMHO.

Tim Warsinskey notes that McIlroy has been preparing by watching the USGA's flyovers.

Apparently he's jumping on the Oregon bandwagon en route to Oakmont...

 

 

Video: Oakmont's 7th & 8th, The Tough Begins

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Not that there has been an easy moment so far, but Oakmont only gets tougher from the 7th tee on. Even more exposed than it was nine years ago, this is one of the more sloped greens and a nice contrast to the flat eighth.



I'm not sure releasing a paper outlining the lack of distance gains and then lengthening the longest par-3 in U.S. Open history twelve or so yards does much to make your argument stronger. Especially when the hole saw only 27% of the field hit the green in regulation last time the U.S. Open was played here.

Nonetheless, the least interesting looking and playing hole at Oakmont is still interesting, a credit to its design.

Video: Oakmont 5th & 6th Holes, Two Of The Best

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It's been a while since I've been to Oakmont but the flyovers and green contour lines in these USGA flyovers remind what a great pair of holes these are.

It'll be interesting to see if that directional post behind the fifth green survives...

Nice to see the 6th green enlarged, as I vaguely recall it played a little too small during the 2007 U.S. Open.