US Open 2015 *No betting posts*

HighLine

US Open kicks off this day next week so time for a thread. Chambers Bay looks fairly spectacular from the photos but is throwing up mixed reviews from the pros. Emphasis is on short game apparently and so I'm thinking Mickelson is going to go well. Poulter is obviously less than impressed with the course...

https://twitter.com/IanJamesPoulter/status/593218390849769474
https://twitter.com/IanJamesPoulter/status/609083569403797504

hrigsby2

I'd be interested in knowing what was said about the course that made Poulter make that comment. He's certainly always been one to voice an opinion but it seems odd to condemn a course he hasn't played and then get defensive when people ask him what is wrong with it.

Obviously it's a fabricated layout (the whole moving 100,000 trucks of material) and that's certainly visible in the fairways. The green complexes look vicious and I'm sure the USGA will have them running harder and faster than the slopes dictate. That said, the course seems to offer a large number of shot-making options, which will cater to those who know how to play the strategic game.

That's the kind of golf I like to see and I hope the course proves the venue for it! There's always going to be a stigma surrounding new courses (especially given the 'Golden Age' nomenclature of the early 1900s and the vaunted history of links golf before that). I could name a handful of courses that were designed in those times and are now hallowed grounds of the game that would be criticized heavily if they were constructed today. It's just the nature of the beast.

BooYah

They were very close to getting it right last year (of the USGA versions of "right") at Pinehurst until Herr Kaymer done a number on it. They're looking for it to be the ultimate challenge of golf which I agree with. Good to see a new course getting a go at it instead of well known course. Keep the players on their toes all of the time instead of "Well, back in [insert last time tournament was held here], I hit a 7 iron and I overshot this green" ... leave that to Augusta.

Rikand

Sounds like it could suit Lowry with his short game

Golfgorfield

Rikand wrote: »

Sounds like it could suit Lowry with his short game

No way, shur hes too fat, drinks too much, breaks clubs and generally isn't fulfilling any of his potential! No interest in golf whatsoever!

HighLine

Rikand wrote: »

Sounds like it could suit Lowry with his short game

And by the looks of the greens, he is probably better off using his wedge to putt anyway!

HighLine

Speaking of greens (they are going to look horrid on camera).....Bubba having a little fun...

https://twitter.com/bubbawatson/status/609418048106139648

Degag

Whats the tv schedule like for this? When is play likely to finish up each night?

Chilli Con Kearney

Degag wrote: »

Whats the tv schedule like for this? When is play likely to finish up each night?

Starts at 5pm on Thursday. Presume it will start about 8 most other nights, finishing a good bit after midnight! Maybe 2?

BooYah

Chilli Con Kearney wrote: »

Starts at 5pm on Thursday. Presume it will start about 8 most other nights, finishing a good bit after midnight! Maybe 2?

At least 2am but more likely 3am I'd say because they're 8 hours behind and I'd anticipate a 7pm finish their time.

Howjoe1

https://twitter.com/bubbawatson/status/609418048106139648

coylemj

Groupings and tee times for Thu. & Fri. already published.

The first groups (1st & 10th tees) are out Thu & Fri at 7 a.m. local (3 p.m. Irish). Lowry is the last of the Irish out on Thursday, he's in group 46 (of 52) starting at 2:39 p.m. local (10:39 p.m. Irish).

http://www.usopen.com/en_US/scoring/groupings.html

Barnaboy

Why is there so many TBD's so close to the event?

BOB81

I think its to do with world rankings - Top 60 in the world as at 15 June (unless already qualified) also qualify for the tournament

josey_whale

Barnaboy wrote: »

Why is there so many TBD's so close to the event?

Six slots remain unfilled for players who move into the world top 60 by Monday and haven’t already qualified.

Kevin Kisner (55th) and Andy Sullivan (58th) are going to take 2 of those spots.

ionadnapokot

The Alternating Pars!!

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jun/13/us-open-2015-guide-key-holes-chambers-bay

coylemj

josey_whale wrote: »

Six slots remain unfilled for players who move into the world top 60 by Monday and haven’t already qualified.

Kevin Kisner (55th) and Andy Sullivan (58th) are going to take 2 of those spots.

+1 and there's always the back door for people we can't do without, aka exemption category 15 ....

Special exemptions as selected by the USGA.

http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/qualifying/exemptions.html

Sometimes used to invite players from territories where the local TV company has paid a bucket load of cash for TV rights. Money talks in sport.

coylemj

No special exemptions this year. As per josey_whale post (quoted above), Kisner and Sullivan got in via the OWGR Top 60 list on Monday (June 15th) and the last four slots have gone to players from US sectional qualifying ......

The USGA held a total of six spots heading into championship week. The remaining four went to first alternates from the 10 U.S. sectional qualifying sites: Kevin Chappell, Steve Marino, Jimmy Gunn and Joshua Persons.

http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/articles/2015-06-15/201506151434394605535.html

Smegball

Hi all,

I'm a bit of a Golf noob here. I'm playing a game in work for the US Open in which you select 6 golfers and the lowest aggregate score for the 6 golfers win.

In the event of a tiebreaker, golfers from position 6 on are eliminated until there is a winner.

I have a decent knowledge of the golfers but I'm unsure of form, suitability to the course etc.

Any help guys?

U.P.O.

Smegball wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm a bit of a Golf noob here. I'm playing a game in work for the US Open in which you select 6 golfers and the lowest aggregate score for the 6 golfers win.

In the event of a tiebreaker, golfers from position 6 on are eliminated until there is a winner.

I have a decent knowledge of the golfers but I'm unsure of form, suitability to the course etc.

Any help guys?

Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose are two golfers on form

Rory McIlroy is coming off the back of a couple of bad weeks but is usually there or thereabouts and would have spent the last 2-3 weeks working hard on his game.

Jason Day has a good US Open record finishing 2nd, 59th, 2nd, 4th in the last four.

Other than that i think its pretty open. Id probably take Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson (although Dustin Johnson withdrew from the St Jude last week citing "illness")

Jimmy Walker and Billy Horschel could be two others worth a look at

coylemj

Smegball wrote: »

I'm a bit of a Golf noob here. I'm playing a game in work for the US Open in which you select 6 golfers and the lowest aggregate score for the 6 golfers win.

In the event of a tiebreaker, golfers from position 6 on are eliminated until there is a winner.

I have a decent knowledge of the golfers but I'm unsure of form, suitability to the course etc.

The form book usually goes out the window when you talk about golf, it's not at all like tennis where a small number of players can dominate the majors over several years. That applies even more to the US Open which is organised by the US Golf Association, the tournament moves around and their stated aim is to play the tournament on a very difficult course such that only very few break par over the four days.

This year the course (Chambers Bay) is a complete unknown but by all accounts it's going to be very difficult. The only big tournament previously held there was the 2010 US Amateur championship which was won by Peter Uihlien who is now a professional on the European Tour but has not qualified to play in the US Open his year, he's currently ranked 188 in the world.

Golf is a big money earner for bookies because even in the majors, there is a large pool of players, any one of whom could win. For example, in the four years from 2010 to 2013 (incl), there was 16 golf majors and of those, 12 were won by first-timers. For comparison, in the same four years just four players won all 16 mens' tennis grand slam singles titles and Andy Murray was the only first-timer.

So grab a pin and good luck!

M.T. Cranium

This may go down as the year with two British Opens. Chambers Bay is basically a links course on a hill, and the weather is likely to be dry throughout, making an already fast course super-fast. I would bet this like a British Open, expect a winner from the European contingent. Would expect Els, Jimenez and other experienced Euro players to over-perform. Every tee shot is in play and so driving accuracy means next to nothing.

Smegball

Cheers guys.

alxmorgan

Check out the greens in this link...they do not look good.

http://www.golfwrx.com/309650/chambers-bay-already-on-the-edge/

HighLine

Some more pictures of the said greens... :eek:

https://twitter.com/Dpugh54/status/610960844659142656

https://twitter.com/Dpugh54/status/610960935390351361

slave1

Tom.D.BJJ

Green look pretty bare. I wouldnt fancy this putt.

alxmorgan

Bloody hell

https://twitter.com/LeeMcCoyGolf/status/610934844152016898

Keano

With it that firm +5 would be a great score for weekend! The cut mark could easily be +10!

HighLine

There is a good collection of videos here of the more notable holes on the course. Check out that grass mound in the middle of the 11th fairway... going to be very interesting to see how the pro's temperament copes with that. The course is different, that's for sure.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/tee-green-us-open-chambers-bay/?cid=golfchannel_majorshomepage_us_open_mediaspotlight_position_9_article_headline

Dolph Starbeam

I really hope this is Phils year.

Poker Face

https://igcdn-videos-b-4-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t50.2886-16/11641485_421316071374584_690640303_n.mp4

loadwire

Poker Face wrote: »

https://igcdn-videos-b-4-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t50.2886-16/11641485_421316071374584_690640303_n.mp4

jaysis I really liked the look of the course but the greens seem in very bad nick.

whatstherush

Poker Face wrote: »

https://igcdn-videos-b-4-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t50.2886-16/11641485_421316071374584_690640303_n.mp4

Is it just me or is the ball zig zaging once it gets past the hole.

Ginzo

Great interview with mcginley there! Didn't realise that about the caddy!

slave1

Ha ha, looking forward to this, the course playability will bring these guys down to our level, missing 4foot putts and hearts sinking as it runs 4 foot by, balls not holding on greens, mad fairway run offs.
Bring it on.
Just a shame about the time difference, doubt I'll make the final few holes...

Poker Face

whatstherush wrote: »

Is it just me or is the ball zig zaging once it gets past the hole.

no need to go to specsavers, it wobbles all over the place

BigChap1759

loadwire wrote: »

jaysis I really liked the look of the course but the greens seem in very bad nick.

Same here - really worried it's going to be a bit of a joke due to the greens, really hope I am proved wrong

M.T. Cranium

Latest forecasts for the next four days:

THURSDAY ... Cloudy with a few sunny breaks, mostly dry, possible trace amounts of rain, light winds. High 23 C.

FRIDAY ... Overcast, a few light showers. With drought conditions prevalent in the area, 2-3 mm of rain won't have any effect on the surface at all. High 21 C. Slight northerly breeze.

SATURDAY ... Clearing, warmer. Highs near 25 C. Sea breezes likely to set in.

SUNDAY ... Sunny, very warm. Highs near 28 C. Wind may pick up later from the southeast to about 15-25 mph.

---

As to the greens on this course, I have played some similar courses in the area, the greens may not look as good as they play. There will be a brown tinge but the surfaces can be quite even and while fast they have the means to control the speed to prevent too much of a runaway effect. There will be a premium on mid-range putting as the players attempt to save pars from initial long lag putts.

It's natural in this area for grass to turn a dormant brown colour in dry summer weather but it's still like grass as a playing surface and not straw if you see what I mean.

I would expect -5 to -8 to be the winning score given the weather conditions, and similar scoring to that on day one. Making any further progress will be the challenge.

Chilli Con Kearney

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

Latest forecasts for the next four days:

THURSDAY ... Cloudy with a few sunny breaks, mostly dry, possible trace amounts of rain, light winds. High 23 C.

FRIDAY ... Overcast, a few light showers. With drought conditions prevalent in the area, 2-3 mm of rain won't have any effect on the surface at all. High 21 C. Slight northerly breeze.

SATURDAY ... Clearing, warmer. Highs near 25 C. Sea breezes likely to set in.

SUNDAY ... Sunny, very warm. Highs near 28 C. Wind may pick up later from the southeast to about 15-25 mph.

---

As to the greens on this course, I have played some similar courses in the area, the greens may not look as good as they play. There will be a brown tinge but the surfaces can be quite even and while fast they have the means to control the speed to prevent too much of a runaway effect. There will be a premium on mid-range putting as the players attempt to save pars from initial long lag putts.

It's natural in this area for grass to turn a dormant brown colour in dry summer weather but it's still like grass as a playing surface and not straw if you see what I mean.

I would expect -5 to -8 to be the winning score given the weather conditions, and similar scoring to that on day one. Making any further progress will be the challenge.

So wind and rain won't have as much influence as they might have? That's a pity as it would have been serious links stuff. Half the field would have been written off!!

HighLine

Poulter playing a practice round there on Periscope and he was getting abuse from a couple of guys in the crowd. There really are some f**king morons over there.

kiers47

HighLine wrote: »

Poulter playing a practice round there on Periscope and he was getting abuse from a couple of guys in the crowd. There really are some f**king morons over there.

Yep . Bad form from the lads in the crowd though in fairness.

SaveOurLyric

kiers47 wrote: »

Yep . Bad form from the lads in the crowd though in fairness.

;-)
Harsh on the poor guy !
Ahhhh....time for a Be Nice to Poults campaign maybe ?

Speak Now

HighLine wrote: »

Poulter playing a practice round there on Periscope and he was getting abuse from a couple of guys in the crowd. There really are some f**king morons over there.

What abuse was he getting?? Or was it just a bit of ribbing for his twitter moaning.

Johnny_Fontane

Very interesting to hear Monty's views on the course. He basically said, for a course of such magnitude, the greens are spectacularly bad. goes on to say that we just wont see lots of putts going in, going to be a real grind.

very surprising how honest he was actually.

BraveDonut

I played it a year ago and thought that, at first glance, the greens were terrible - but they had time to get them up to standard. Seems like that was not the plan.

However, I found that you kinda got used to them and it did not take away from the course.

Having said that, they will be set up to be a lot faster than for the green-fee hackers

Mantis Toboggan

Lads 11.5 hours of coverage on Sky later for the US open. That's how tournaments should be covered.

HighLine

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

What abuse was he getting?? Or was it just a bit of ribbing for his twitter moaning.

Na these were proper obnoxious yanks. I heard something about him not winning a Ryder Cup again putting like that and just general shouting whilst he was putting. In fairness, the police weren't long in showing up and they were shut up.

HighLine

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Very interesting to hear Monty's views on the course. He basically said, for a course of such magnitude, the greens are spectacularly bad. goes on to say that we just wont see lots of putts going in, going to be a real grind.

very surprising how honest he was actually.

Just after watching the clip (below) ... fully agree in that I was surprised to see him so blatant! I wonder how many of the other pros are just being PC and keeping quiet about the greens.

Colin Montgomerie labels Chambers Bay greens 'poor' ahead of US Open

charlieIRL

HighLine wrote: »

Na these were proper obnoxious yanks. I heard something about him not winning a Ryder Cup again putting like that and just general shouting whilst he was putting. In fairness, the police weren't long in showing up and they were shut up.

didn't someone recently threat to heckle him on every shot? Was on twitter recently.

HighLine

charlieIRL wrote: »

didn't someone recently threat to heckle him on every shot? Was on twitter recently.

Yeah they said they would be hecking him at Chambers. Idiots, would love to see them thrown out but unlikely to happen.