June13 Openthecourse

The locker room at Oakmont is like a Women’s Institute meeting as the world’s best golfers gossip about the set-up of this week’s US Open.
Some love it, others think it’s over the top – but every single one of them agrees this is one ultra difficult golf course.
Here are some of the views of the guys after the practice rounds. The bad news for them is that over the next five days, the course is only going to get harder…

ADAM SCOTT
This is not what the game is about. It’s got to be fair in every area. I think everyone is so hung up with par; there’s an obsession with par. If you put the world’s best players on a golf course, they should be able to break par.

GEOFF OGILVY
It’s a great property. It looks fantastic without any trees on it. Collection of the best greens I’ve seen anywhere. The bunkers are tough and the rough is really tough. It’s a great golf course. It’s completely different from Winged Foot, a different type of property, a different type of golf course.

TIGER WOODS
These are by far the most difficult greens I’ve ever played. I thought Winged Foot’s pretty tough, Augusta’s pretty tough. But both golf courses have flat spots. You know, Augusta may have these big, big slopes, but they have these flat shelves that they usually put the pins on. Here, I’m trying to figure out where a flat shelf is. And most of the greens here are all tilted. Some even run away from you, which is not the norm in modern course design. Overall, these greens — like I said, depends on how the pins are set; if they give us a chance to play, or if they are going to make it really impossible. We’ll see.

PHIL MICKELSON
I had a chance to play nine holes today. It was the first time in a while and it was nice to get out on the course and get to hit some shots. As you know, I’ve had a bit of a wrist injury the last two weeks. And since Memorial, I took four or five days off and had two doctors look at it. Fortunately I had the same diagnosis from both doctors; that it was inflammation. I took four or five days off and tried to play last Tuesday and hit balls and just wasn’t able to do it. I didn’t hit any shots out of the rough. I don’t want to aggravate it. Tried not to hit too many drivers yet. I don’t want to go at it full speed just yet. I think I hit one or two drivers at the most. Just kind of easing into it. I’ve got a really good game plan mapped out for the tournament. I’m just not sure if I’m going to be ready to implement it because I haven’t had the normal practice and preparation that I would have going into it a major. But I’m still looking forward to being able to play and hopefully implement or put together the game plan that I had hoped.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON
I don’t think I’ve played a golf course with as many hazards as close to both sides of the fairways. A lot of times there are severe bunkers down one side and maybe a drain on the other. They are just off the fairway, so they are maybe 25-30 yards apart, which is narrow for hazards. Normally we have ten yards of rough and the hazards are on the other side.

SERGIO GARCIA
It’s a par-78, and the only birdie chance is the 288-yard eighth, a par-3. I’m not joking. There’s not much room to bail out and the putting is going to be tough. I don’t think it’s possible that somebody comes out this week without having a three-putt. I absolutely think it’s impossible.

ERNIE ELS
It’s as severe as I have ever seen it. This is a classic US Open set up. If you miss a shot, whether with a driver or a 3-wood, you’re not getting to the green with your second shot. If you make a birdie, you’ve got one hell of a bonus. I’m going to try and get the ball in play and take it from there.