The conclusion of the US Open at Oakmont was a stirring
finish to a great tournament. First, we had
Dustin Johnson winning his first major.
We also had a bizarre rules fiasco going on during the final round. And then we had some of the most treacherous
greens on the planet.
Before we get into that let’s look at the golf course. Oakmont is my favorite inland course I’ve
played in the United States. I’ve walked
Augusta, but I have never seen Pine Valley, so I can’t judge those right
now. Cypress Point is my favorite US
course, but it is hard for any course to compete with that setting of ocean,
dunes, and woodlands. They could play
the US Open at Oakmont every year and I’d be happy with that.
DJ
Dustin went out and won this tournament. He played great the whole week and bounced
back from any bad holes. I think he
learned a lot from last year’s lost to Spieth.
He kept in the moment, even when the rules infraction was brought up on
the twelfth tee.
I don’t know if anyone would have picked DJ to win a US Open
at a course like Oakmont. Tight fairways
and fast greens. He can bomb it out
there, but most thought he wouldn’t be able to keep it in play. It just shows that with talent like that, you
can always put it together for one week.
He did that.
The USGA
I waited an extra day before writing this to see more
reaction on the ruling put in place for DJ’s ball moving on the fifth
green. I’m now glad I did. We have heard many pundits reaction, fan
reaction, and now even the USGA reacted again.
Their latest stance was that the ruling they made was correct, but they
should have enforced it right away instead of waiting until the end of the
round.
I can agree with that.
Why have all of this hanging out there for all the golfers. What I don’t agree with is that the movement
of the ball warranted a penalty. Yes, he
soled his club on the side of the ball. So
how does that cause the ball to move backwards?
I think it was more a result of the course conditions. I'm sure everyone is glad it didn't impact the final result.
Green Speeds
Oakmont is known for fast greens. They are some of the best around. When I played there you were put in awe with
the slopes and speed. You do get used to
the speed, but you are putting defensive all day. The saying is true that when putting at
Oakmont, you worry about your second putt before you hit the first one.
But are we at a point where speeds are getting out of
control. Nicklaus said when he won there
the speeds were 10 and that was fast. In
2007 there were at 12. This year they tried
to get them to 14. If you are triple cutting
and rolling each green to achieve a speed, you may be letting your ego to
protect par get the best of you. I hope
we are not heading down a slippery slope on these speeds. (Pardon the pun.)
I think these speeds and conditions are what caused DJ’s ball to move. When you have them that smooth and fast there
is not much there to keep your ball in place.
I’m surprised it didn’t happen more out there. Perhaps if it hadn’t rained on Thursday.
In conclusion, it turned out to be a great US Open. We had many in contention at the end, most of whom have not won a major. It came down to the guy that kept his head. My only regret was that the rain impacted the play of the course. It would have been a lot of fun seeing these golfers play on firm and fast Oakmont. Maybe that will happen when they return in 2025.
