Today’s US Open round was extremely entertaining. I actually like to see the pros struggle, I admit it. It is intriguing to watch their reactions and how they hold up under the immense pressure and frustration that a US Open produces.
Retief Goosen (the US Open machine) is poised to win his 3rd US Open with a three stroke lead going into the final round at Pinehurst #2. He had a minor speed bump with a bogey on 12 and a double on 13, but followed them up with birdies on 14, 15 and 18. What a great finish to his back 9 today.
Starting the day there were 5 players under par. By day’s end only Retief could break par at -3. Pinehurst #2 is getting tougher each day.
Barring some major mistakes or meltdowns you’ve got to put your dough on Retief. No one in the past few years has played US Opens as well as Goosen, especially on Sunday.
When asked about his chances with a 3 shot lead Retief said “If I shoot 1 or 2 over I’ll win.” I agree. For all the other players it will be a “Goose Chase.”
Retief Goosen seems to be some kind of US Open freak of nature. He’s like a machine specially designed to excel in US Open conditions. He must have a tiny bit of extra control of the golf ball that helps him hit his shots exactly where he needs to and make those 7 foot par putts the other pros gag on. He’s also extremely mentally tough.
Retief is tied with Olin Browne & Jason Gore (Jason who?) at -2. Day one had 9 players under par. Day 2 that number has dwindled to 5. After tomorrow, probably 1 or 2. Sunday zilch. Sticking true to my initial predictions, Browne and Gore will be long gone come Sunday.
The Big 5
Vijay and Tiger are right there in the mix at even and +1 respectively. Els is a ways back at +6. For Phil, please refer to “the meltdown department” below.
The meltdown department
In the meltdown category we have Phil Mickelson who shot 7 over for the day but still made the cut (cut=+8). David Toms had the lead at -3 but had a serious meltdown on 17 & 18 when he went double – triple. Chris DiMarco did his best puffer fish imitation today with an 82. Paul Casey had the worst first round and bailed (he must have been injured) :-).
Notables who missed the cut:
Curtis, DiMarco, Haas, Stuart Appleby, Duval, Lehman, Harrington.
Do you know this face? Neither do I. It’s the face of Olin Browne, the leader after round 1 of the 2005 US Open. He’s tied with more well known Rocco Mediate at -3. At -2 you have Lee Westwood, Brandt Jobe (who’s been playing well lately), KJ Choi and ’96 champion Steve Jones. I honestly don’t think come Sunday any of these players will be in the hunt.
Notables: Tiger at Even par. Els, DiMarco, Furyk, Sergio and Freddy at +1.
Notables circling the drain: Duval at +6, DLIII at +7. Last place belongs to Paul Casey who shot a +15 85.
There hasn’t been anything really surprising. The rough is just right. The greens were perhaps a little softer than your typical US Open. The usual “flash in the pan” players are at the top of the leaderboard but will disappear.
Jay Flemma my golf blogging buddy is on location there. He’s getting a golf blogger’s perspective from the media tent and the course so go check it out.
Johnny Miller had a good quote when talking about Spencer Levin’s hot temper: “He makes Pat Perez look like he’s on Prozac.”
In the bad quote department Chris Bermin needs to stop with his terribly stupid “names” he gives to the players. This isn’t sportscenter dude. Those dumb names you make up like “Roger Chocolate Malt-be” and “Fred Funk Railroad” don’t really fly in golf. We don’t think you are as funny as you think you are. Why do we have these ESPN hacks doing golf anyway? Are they bringing in the “big guns” because it’s the US Open? Give me a break.
After much fanfare, the new TMAG (TaylorMade, Adidas) blog is up and running. This blog looks great. It is nice and clean, and keeps the “theme” of the whole TMAG site. The Carlsbad Confidential link now goes straight to the “people” subsection that I couldn’t find yesterday. The people subsection is one of 4 basic categories at http://www.tmaginsider.com/. The other 3 are: Home, Tour & Products. There is an “about” page and a “media” page as well.
OK, I was a doubter before and I did give them some hell, but for the first few hours it has been up it is looking good. (Much better than the old one). I’m sure as they have time to tweak, it will get even better.
The US OPEN starts tomorrow. The most recent poll regarding your preference for the US Open playing conditions is now closed.
The results…..drumroll please
Medium: Even par should win it. -> 68%
Very difficult: Over par score wins. -> 26%
Don’t care -> 5%
Easy: Give me a shootout! -> 0%
The overwhelming majority of 68% (myself included) prefers the winning score to be EVEN PAR. A few of you wanted to see the pros punshised by a difficult course while NONE of you wanted to see a Bob Hope-esque shootout.
I’m now starting the new poll which will run through the US Open and probably the week following:
The 2005 US Open playing conditions
1. Just right
2. Too hard
3. Too easy
4. Don’t care
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