The fate of golf would seem to lie in the hands of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the United States Golf Association. Can we expect that they will protect and reverence the spirit of golf?
MAX BEHR
They do tee off eventually...3:50 and weather permitting we'll finish. Anything to help give Minute To Win It a strong Saturday night lead-in.
In related bitter thoughts news, the tournament running long tomorrow with the help of a weather delay could cut into the Miss USA telecast!
So Pinckney waited for McIlroy to register on Monday. And waited. And waited. He said he kept going to the registration desk, asking, “Has Rory registered yet?”
Soon after, they met by chance on a clubhouse elevator. The scene smacked of something out of a sappy movie.
That night, they went to dinner, with Pinckney’s father joining. The next morning, they went to a shopping mall together, just the two of them. They had coffee there. They shopped. Pinckney said he bought some underwear briefs. McIlroy, who looks like he doesn’t need to shave, bought shaving cream.
“He hasn’t changed,” Pinckney said. “He’s completely down to earth. It was like nothing had changed, like we were best of friends.”
Obvious question of the day: can Rory hang on this time?
We can't possibly know how much pressure the 22-year-old is feeling, but looking at Congressional's architecture and setup this week, the early speed horse has an advantage over the late chargers even if the Championship Committee follows through with their expected late-charge-friendly Sunday setup. (Something I explain more about in this Golf World Daily prognostication.)
In other words, the combination of soft greens and the Rees Jones pre-vent design makes this course much easier to hold a lead on than Augusta National.
Before we get to the Tiger references, the general coverage of Rory McIlroy's 131, 36-hole all time low performance at Congressional. Lawrence Donegan swoons:
What does a man do after he has made the fiendishly difficult look ridiculously easy? What does he do after he has tamed the US Open and reduced the best players in the world to the status of bystanders. "I'm going to spend a couple of hours watching The Hangover 2," said Rory McIlroy.
And with that the young Northern Irishman wandered off into the haze of a humid afternoon with the merest hint of a gunslinger's swagger, leaving the locals — or in this instance his peers — in awe over what had just taken place.
"It's amazing. Incredible," said the American Steve Stricker, who finished with a two-round score of 144, 13 shots adrift of the Northern Irishman.
In just about any other Open, Mickelson would have been right in the mix to win the championship with 36 holes to play.
Instead, he's fighting to be relevant in the B Flight, six shots back of Y.E. Yang -- which is really about where you would expect the leader of the tournament to reside.
Dave Kindred says that Rory's first 36 "has passed beyond fantasy into phantasmagoria."
Rory McIlroy! We want us some more Rory McIlroy, and we want it now. He puts up a 66 after the 65 and we want two more 60-somethings. Here's a vote for Rory McIlroy to run away and hide in this U.S. Open.
And now the Tiger mentions. Doug Ferguson, filling for AP:
Not since Tiger Woods humbled Pebble Beach in the 2000 championship has anyone come so close to owning this maddening game. Yet McIlroy's timing this week may be even more impeccable than his golf.
With Woods still in free-fall since plummeting from grace 19 months ago, and now sidelined for who knows how long by a bum leg, McIlroy has awed the galleries and his competitors with a blend of power and touch unrivaled since Woos was at the peak of his powers. He's brought buzz back to the sport for at least two days in nearly the same measure.
There are still two rounds to go but this Open’s probably over.
Now it becomes about the next one.
And the one after that.
Earl Woods thought his son didn’t need a challenge.
I think he was wrong.
Tiger Woods has lost his way.
The question now becomes whether he rises to the challenge.
Gene Wojcichowski says Rory is doing a "killer impersonation" of Tiger in 2000.
Who said Tiger Woods isn't at the U.S. Open? I've seen him all week.
You know who I'm talking about: Irish accent ... hair as curly as a telephone cord ... almost has the field lapped after two rounds. That guy.
Wait -- sorry, I meant Rory McIlroy. Woods is on the golf disabled list with a bum knee and Achilles. Nobody knows when he'll be back.
Golf is fickle, and golf is cruel, and for those reasons the field still has a chance here. Thirty-six holes is a long time in a major championship.
“He's striking it flawlessly and putted great on the greens,” Mickelson said. “His first two rounds were very impressive.”
AP's Joseph White on bureacracy gone awry just outside the gates of Congressional.
Children from two families put up the stand on private property—a neighbor’s yard that just happens to be on a corner across from a spectator entrance to Congressional. During Thursday’s first round, they received three visits from county officials, twice with a warning. The third time, a citation was issued for operating the stand without a permit. It carried a fine of up to $500 and required a court appearance.
“Does every kid now that sells lemonade have to register with the county?” Carrie Marriott, whose children were selling the drinks, asked a county official in an exchange caught on video by WUSA-TV.
Someone figured out this was not going to look good...
Since fining kids over a lemonade stand can be a public relations nightmare, a deal was worked out. On Friday, the stand was moved down the street and the citation was rescinded. The county also waived the need for a permit, which would have cost about $38.
A homemade sign at the old location announced: “Grand Reopening: 25 Feet Down.”
The course is softer and the forecast not great, but let's hope we see as much golf possible. Rory's off to a great start though!
;)
Davis putts on the 18th Friday morning. Click to enlarge.I watched the back nine setup team of Mike Davis and Tom O'Toole prepare a few Congressional holes for today's second round and picked up a few things worth adding on top of my Golf World Daily item about why the putting surfaces look the way they do.
--Most of the greens are noticeably better looking today. Davis says the overnight rains and accompanying lightning delivered a nice nitrogen punch that has given the beleaguered surfaces some more color and life.
--The greens are faster. Davis attributes this to the normal increase that comes with daily U.S. Open preparation practices. He estimates several greens are over 14 feet on the Stimp and that the early afternoon will have most greens around 13 to 13.5
--The 17th green is not getting any better either agronomically or architecturally. Davis still intends to use his planned for Sunday hole location and while it'll look awful on television, the ball should roll okay.
--The 12th hole figures to throw players for a loop today. As warned about in our GolfDigest.com hole by hole setup tour, Davis has moved the tee up about 60 yards to accompany a tight left hole location. The change gives players the option of a 230 yard layup or the chance to hit a risky draw around the corner to setup a flip wedge approach.
--The course received 1/4 of an inch overnight, which combined with yesterday's rain means .4 inches in the last 24 hours with more storms forecast for this afternoon.
Thursday felt like a survival day for all of the rookies and the course setup team. It appeared that several undesirable hole locations were used because of their proximity to stress areas, while the back tees were used on the three par-5s in likely effort to keep play moving.
During Wednesday's USGA press conference, Mike Davis said Congressional would range each day between 7,200 and 7,400 yards. The official course setup memo for Thursday's first round pegged the distance at 7,514. Eight holes listed at more than the scorecard yardage, four on each nine. That included 18 yards over the card at the sixth, which played 573 yards.
The setup was extremely straightforward with a nice move of the 7th hole to a shorter tee and forward left hole, but otherwise seemed to be designed to move players through and to set the stage for some more aggressive setup touches the next few days.
On the unfortunate side for those hoping to see classic U.S. Open difficulty, a wicked thunderstorm came through the area in the later hours, drenching the course and eliminating any firmness that might have existed earlier in the week. Congressional the long slog will be back and that has to favor the longer drivers.
As for the tournament, I enjoyed following the 2:41 tenth tee Brian Locke group which also featured amateur Brett Patterson and Bennett Blakeman. I've come to enjoy watching a lesser known group like this much more than a celebrity threesome. The emotions are raw, the pressure immense and the joy of family and friends impossible not to savor. I'll be out again tomorrow watching to see if Locke can make the cut after his opening 75. And also to see just how well Congressional fared in the heavy overnight rain.
Rory McIlroy's opening 6-under 65 stole the show at a Congressional vulnerable to a low round in the morning and less so by the afternoon when greens got bumpy and the wind gusted, meaning his afternoon round was all that much more impressive.
Maybe it is all of that and the fact that in this age of self-entitled, overpaid underachievers in sports he holds out the promise of being the real deal with the added value of being a nice guy in the process. Here is a young man who may not only live up to the hype, but also not allow his genuine goodness to be altered by his success.
Steve Elling writes that Rees Jones wasn't surprised his patient was vulnerable.
Noted golf architect Rees Jones had been hanging around the 111th U.S. Open premises all day, and like many others, he figured that somebody was sure to light up the scoreboard at Congressional Country Club.
The conditions were right, the world's best players were on the grounds and the greens were running slower than traffic on the traffic-choked Beltline, compared to the Open's baked-out norm. Hours passed.
History has shown that when mega-low scores crop at major championships, it's frequently in the first round, before the pressure builds. Jones assumed somebody would make a wicked run at Congressional, maybe even threaten the Grand Slam scoring record of 63. Then absolutely nothing happened.
Late in the afternoon, Jones, who redesigned Congressional in advance of the Open, looked up as Ulsterman Rory McIlroy was making yet another birdie.
"All day we've been waiting, and now it looks like he might do it," Jones said.
Bob Harig looks at Rory's recent run at the last four majors.
He shot a major championship record-tying 63 at St. Andrews last summer to hold the first-round lead in the British Open, only to be undone by a gale-induced 80 in the second round. He still finished third.
At the PGA Championship, he was tied for the lead on the back nine and had a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have put him in a playoff. He tied for third.
The Masters, of course, became legendary for his Sunday meltdown. Tied for the lead on the 10th tee, he shot 43 on the way to an 80 and finished 10 strokes behind winner Charl Schwartzel.
And here he is again, contending at his fourth straight major.
Robert Lusetich explains how Rory is feeding off supportive comments received from Jack Nicklaus.
“It’s a nice pressure to have knowing that the greatest player ever at the minute thinks that you’re going to do pretty good.”
McIlroy will do well to heed Jack’s advice.
“He emphasized so much to me about not making mistakes. That was his big thing.
“He said people lost a lot more majors and gave them to him than he actually won. It was a good piece of advice to have.”
John Paul Newport ran the numbers and the verdict is in: some Americans just love their Rees Jones rees-do work. Thanks reader JB for this.
An American Advantage?
Since 2007, the golfers in this U.S. Open with the lowest averages on courses completely remodeled by golf architect Rees Jones (min. 25 rounds).
GOLFER/COUNTRY ROUNDS ROUND AVERAGE
Jim Furyk USA 44 69.12Camilo Villegas COL 34 69.41
Anthony Kim USA 32 69.66
K.J. Choi KOR 32 69.69
Hunter Mahan USA 44 69.90
Phil Mickelson USA 34 70.00
Steve Stricker USA 40 70.18
I'll be on the course quite a bit Thursday but will welcome any and all observations from round one of America's national championship. It's wide open and there are some tremendous qualifier stories. So many and so few obvious contenders that it would not surprise me if we see an unknown stick around the leaderboard through Sunday.
Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 09:34 AM
