“I think it’s sad they let the golf ball get out of control."

Like you need a reason to root for 55-year-old qualifier Fred Funk, there's also this, as told to Ryan Ballengee.

“I think it’s sad they let the golf ball get out of control,” Funk said Sunday in a telephone interview.

“[The USGA] is going to argue that it’s pure club head speed and increased athleticism, but I don’t think they can make that argument if you look at the game and how it’s progressed in a little more than a decade. There are guys who are great athletes that have a lot of clubhead speed, but they generate so much carry with the golf ball. There’s more dispersion between the average guy and these guys that are really, really long.”

Barry Svrulga fills us in on Funk's Monday press conference and excitement about qualifying this year.

“I might sneak in wearing a cap and sunglasses for one of the practice rounds."

John Feinstein catches up with David Fay, who may make an appearance at Congressional...as a fan.

“I might sneak in wearing a cap and sunglasses for one of the practice rounds,” he said last week. “But I’m not even sure I’ll do that. I mean, seriously, why would I go? At this point in my life, I’m a lot more interested in my own golf game than in the guys who will be playing in the Open.”

"It’s very much a parkland layout, less of an aesthetic joy than a steady, unrelenting test."

Brad Klein files a review of Congressional for Golfweek and he sums up what it is that most players simply don't like about Rees Jones green complexes: compartments for the sake of compartments, with little reward for imagination around those greens.

The greens, all rebuilt in 2009 to US Golf Association specifications and planted in A1/A4 bentgrass, are meticulously sectioned with subtle transverse ridges, so that working the ball across a large part of the green isn’t possible. Shots to back-hole locations or holes tucked behind bunkers will need a parachute to get close. The combination of segmented surfaces and firm, fast greens means that anything hit without spin likely will veer off to the side or go long, leaving an up-and-over wedge shot for greenside recovery.

"I couldn't put the pencil on the card."

Ken Venturi visited the U.S. Open media center Monday and relived his 1964 U.S. Open win at Congressional. Tom Mackin has the highlights including this:

"I had one thing in mind, a girl I knew from Hawaii, Jackie Pung, who won the U.S. Open [in 1957 at Winged Foot, but was disqualified signing an incorrect scorecard]," Venturi said. "And I couldn't put the pencil on the card."

It took USGA executive director Joe Dey, who was also an official with Venturi's group that final day, to get Venturi to sign his card.

"All of a sudden there was a hand on my shoulder, and he said, 'Sign it Ken, it is correct,'" Venturi said. "I looked up and it was Joe Dey and that's when I signed my card."

Venturi never played a full 18 at Congressional again, yet the place remains almost sacred to him. He recently donated the irons from his 1964 win, a few of the scorecards, and two letters from President Eisenhower and Bobby Jones to the club.

A Few Monday Views Of Congressional

With apologies to my Twitter followers for the blast of Tweets, but here's an index page of some videos I posted on TwitVideo of the Congressional back nine. If you don't want the full tour, the real highlight is #16. Wowsers! It could get ugly out there come Sunday.

Update on Monday, June 13, 2011 at 08:12 PM by Geoff

**If my high production value videos aren't for you, check out Rob Matre's black and white gallery from Monday for a classier look at Congressional.

Q&A With Dan Jenkins, Vol. 4

This has become an annual tradition of sorts, checking in with the Ancient Twitterer, inevitable World Golf Hall Of Famer and still the only golf writer to have his own bobblehead. You can read the past Q&A's here, here and here and during next week's U.S. Open, you can follow him on Twitter here. As a friend of mine said yesterday when discussing the marvels of Twitter: "It's like having Dan Jenkins in my living room watching the Open with me."

GS: Any fond memories of the Congressional's U.S. Opens?

DJ: I recall being happy for Venturi at Congressional because I'd covered him losing the Masters 3 times when I was certain he would win it each time---it seemed to me he'd played the best golf. Always rooting for the story, '56 was particularly distressing, In a 30-mile-an-hour wind, he never really hit a bad shot but slowly bled to death with that final-round 80 and denied all of us typists an opportunity to write about the first amateur winning a major since Johnny Goodman at the 1933 Open. And I had my lead ready: "Ken Venturi just got out of the used car business."


GS: It's Saturday of this year's U.S. Open and you have a choice between watching the third round at Congressional or Obama v. Boehner whapping it around at Andrews Air Force Base. What do you choose?

DJ: I wouldn't watch politicians do anything if it was happening in my retina.


GS: Any books in the works you can tell us about?

DJ: I'm working on a "journalism memoir." And it's slow going. You have to be accurate. In fiction, you can just play away and not asking anybody anything.


GS: How have your sleep patterns been since learning of IMG's swift axing of Mark Steinberg and Tiger?

DJ: Life is full of disappointments. First Steinberg and Tiger, then Anthony Weiner. Not sure I'll be able to recover.


GS: Tiger WD's and your injury and bad marriage prediction as the only stoppers becomes even more prescient. Where does this soap opera go from here?

DJ: Tiger's road back should start with firing Sean Foley and never hiring another guru. All of us golfers understand one thing. Those triple bogeys and 42s on nine holes will sure make the old knees and heels act up. Onward to D.C.

"I buried my dad on my birthday."

I finally got around to Steve Elling's story on former high school teammates Christo Greyling and Ty Tryon qualifying for the U.S. Open Monday and it is well worth your time. Warning though, it's emotional and upsetting at times (Greyling's father committed suicide), and downright bizarre when reading about the effects the acne drug Accutane had on their golf games.

But the ending is a happy one and it'll be impossible not to be rooting for these two this week.

They propped each other up at the qualifier last Monday in Rockville, Md., and when Greyling saw Tryon slogging up the 36th hole, shoulders slumped and dragging, he assumed the worst.

"I thought, 'Come on, Ty, you can do this,'" Greyling said. "We didn't come all this way not to make it."

All this way, that way, every which way, actually. The pair charted their own separate paths but never much diverged.

As nearly everybody knows, at a point in time where every top American prospect went the college route, Tryon turned pro during his junior year of high school and became the youngest ever to earn a PGA Tour card, at age 17.

"I was the original 'young guy,'" Tryon laughed.

Stevie Only On Loan To Adam Scott; Not That This Will Stop The Reckless Speculation!

Bob Harig quotes Tiger ten-percenter business partner Mark Steinberg as saying that Steve Williams' appearance on Adam Scott's bag at the U.S. Open is only temporary.

"He's just helping him out this week," Steinberg said. "Adam is between caddies right now."
Woods' last tournament was the Masters. He played only nine holes at The Players Championship before withdrawing due to the injuries he said would also keep him out of the U.S. Open. Woods said he hopes to return to the AT&T National, which begins on June 30.

Reached by Robert Lusetich at FoxSports.com, Stevie confirmed.

“No, no,” he told FOXSports.com, “Of course I’m still working for Tiger.”

Ron Sirak couldn't resist speculating that Stevie picking up a bag means Tiger may not be playing for some time.

The knee-jerk reaction would be to assume that Woods and Williams are going to go their separate ways after 12 years and 13 major championships. That would be a fascinating story, to be sure, but there is another, more troublesome, possibility. Having Williams on Scott's bag could very well mean that Woods' return to competition is going to take longer than we all thought.

Could this mean that Tiger is going to shut it down for the year to get his left leg healthy? Could it mean that Woods is going to have yet another operation on his knee, perhaps even a knee replacement? With three more majors to play this year, and with Scott rediscovering his once-promising form, it would seem odd he would sign on a caddie for just one tournament.

Yes, The Planned Green Speed Is 14.5

I've been caught up in other things related to the U.S. Open setup, but in reading Rex Hoggard's look at Mike Davis's first Open as Executive Director, I just couldn't get past the projected green speed number for next week.

With green speeds expected to approach 14 ½ on the Stimpmeter during the championship, Davis’ best, and most demanding, work may come on Congressional’s putting surfaces.

The club, at the USGA’s suggestion, had Jones soften some of the slopes like on the fourth green to accommodate such speeds and Davis examines each possible location with the eye of a player, as well as an administrator.

Yet for all his success as set-up man, Davis knows the blue blazer comes with a bull's-eye. One bad weather forecast or a single pin position too close to the edge can mean the difference between a successful Open and something less than that.

“You get a green 14 ½ (on the Stimpmeter) trying to lag to that, you’re going 6-7 feet past,” Davis says as he studies a potential hole location on the fourth green. “That’s pretty good.”

Commence The Search For Deep Hidden Meaning: 2011 U.S. Open Groupings

Far Hills, N.J. – Groupings and starting times for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open Thursday (June 16) and Friday (June 17) at the par 36-35--71, 7,574-yard, Congressional Country Club Blue Course in Bethesda, Md. (A=amateur)

All Times EDT

Thursday (June 16), hole #1; Friday (June 17), hole #10

7 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. - Daehyun Kim, Korea; Chez Reavie, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Shane Lowry, Ireland

7:11 a.m. - 12:51 p.m. - Greg Chalmers, Australia; Kirk Triplett, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Tbd

7:22 a.m. - 1:02 p.m. - Marc Leishman, Australia; Alex Cejka, Czech Republic; Kevin Streelman, Scottsdale, Ariz.

7:33 a.m. - 1:13 p.m. - Fred Funk, Ponte Vedra, Fla.; A-David Chung, Fayetteville, N.C.; Michael Campbell, New Zealand

7:44 a.m. - 1:24 p.m. - Matt Kuchar, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Paul Casey, England; K.J. Choi, Korea

7:55 a.m. – 1:35 p.m. - Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; A-Peter Uihlein, Orlando, Fla.; Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa

8:06 a.m. - 1:46 p.m. - Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Johan Edfors, Sweden; Fredrik Jacobson, Sweden

8:17 a.m. - 1:57 p.m. - Ernie Els, South Africa; Davis Love III, Sea Island, Ga.; Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

8:28 a.m. - 2:08 p.m. - Justin Rose, England; Tim Clark, South Africa; Jason Day, Australia

8:39 a.m. - 2:19 p.m. - Jeff Overton, Bloomington, Ind.; Ryan Palmer, Amarillo, Texas; Tbd

8:50 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Brandt Jobe, Westlake, Texas; Nick O'Hern, Australia; D.A. Points, Windermere, Fla.

9:01 a.m. – 2:41 p.m. - Christo Greyling, South Africa; Adam Hadwin, Canada; Joey Lamielle, Sarasota, Fla.

9:12 a.m. - 2:52 p.m. - Michael Tobiason Jr., Wilmington, Del.; Jesse Hutchins, Cincinnati, Ohio; Michael Smith, Lafayette, La.

Thursday (June 16), hole #10; Friday (June 17), hole #1

7 a.m - 12:40 p.m. - Chad Campbell, Andrews, Texas; Harrison Frazar, Dallas, Texas; Marc Turnesa, Jupiter, Fla.

7:11 a.m. - 12:51 p.m. - Justin Hicks, Royal Palm Beach, Fla.; Marcel Siem, Germany; Sunghoon Kang, Korea

7:22 a.m. - 1:02 p.m. - Thomas Levet, France; Brian Gay, Windemere, Fla.; Gregory Havret, France

7:33 a.m. - 1:13 p.m. - Heath Slocum, Alpharetta, Ga.; A-Russell Henley, Macon, Ga.; Nicolas Colsaerts, Belgium

7:44 a.m. - 1:24 p.m. - Padraig Harrington, Ireland; Angel Cabrera, Argentina; Stewart Cink, Duluth, Ga.

7:55 a.m. – 1:35 p.m. - Ryo Ishikawa, Japan; Anthony Kim, Los Angeles, Calif.; Y.E. Yang, Korea

8:06 a.m. - 1:46 p.m. - Luke Donald, England; Lee Westwood, England; Martin Kaymer, Germany

8:17 a.m. - 1:57 p.m. - Jonathan Byrd, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Bill Haas, Greenville, S.C.; Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C.

8:28 a.m. - 2:08 p.m. - Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla.; Adam Scott, Australia; Robert Karlsson, Sweden

8:39 a.m. – 2:19 p.m. - Sam Saunders, Orlando, Fla.; Tim Petrovic, Austin, Texas; Scott Piercy, Las Vegas, Nev.

8:50 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. - Matthew Edwards, Las Cruces, N.M.; A-Brad Benjamin, Rockford, Ill.; TBD

9:01 a.m. – 2:41 p.m. - Bud Cauley, Jacksonville, Fla.; Adam Long, St. Louis, Mo.; A-Michael Barbosa, St. Petersburg, Fla.

9:12 a.m. - 2:52 p.m. - Michael Whitehead, Sugar Land, Texas; Will Wilcox, Ashville, Ala.; John Ellis, San Jose, Calif.

Thursday (June 16), hole #1; Friday (June 17), hole #10

12:40 p.m. – 7 a.m. - Ty Tryon, Orlando, Fla.; Maarten Lafeber, Netherlands; Scott Barr, Australia

12:51 p.m. - 7:11 a.m. - Geoffrey Sisk, Marshfield, Mass.; A-Cheng-Tsung Pan, Chinese Taipei; Matt Richardson, England

1:02 p.m. - 7:22 a.m. - Bo Van Pelt, Jenks, Okla.; Kyung-Tae Kim, Korea; Ben Crane, Beaverton, Ore.

1:13 p.m. - 7:33 a.m. - Mark Wilson, Elmhurst, Ill.; Martin Laird, Scotland; Peter Hanson, Sweden

1:24 p.m. - 7:44 a.m. - Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Alvaro Quiros, Spain

1:35 p.m. – 7:55 a.m. - Francesco Molinari, Italy; Matteo Manassero, Italy; Edoardo Molinari, Italy

1:46 p.m. - 8:06 a.m. - Hiroyuki Fujita, Japan; Todd Hamilton, Westlake, Texas; Kevin Na, Las Vegas, Nev.

1:57 p.m. - 8:17 a.m. - Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif.; Ian Poulter, England; Hunter Mahan, Colleyville, Texas

2:08 p.m. - 8:28 a.m. - Camilo Villegas, Colombia; Aaron Baddeley, Australia; Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn.

2:19 p.m. - 8:39 a.m. - Kevin Chappell, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Dohoon Kim, Korea; Robert Rock, England

2:30 p.m. - 8:50 a.m. - Jon Mills, Canada; Andreas Harto, Denmark; A-Scott Pinckney, Scottsdale, Ariz.

2:41 p.m. – 9:01 a.m. - A-Steven Irwin, Arvada, Colo.; Ryan Nelson, Dickinson, Texas; Elliot Gealy, Salisbury, N.C.

2:52 p.m. - 9:12 a.m. - Christopher Deforest, Cottekill, N.Y.; A-Chris Williams, Moscow, Idaho; Wes Heffernan, Canada

Thursday (June 16), hole #10; Friday (June 17), hole #1

12:40 p.m. – 7 a.m. - Alexandre Rocha, Windermere, Fla.; Andres Gonzales, Olympia, Wash.; Bubba Dickerson, Hilliard, Fla.

12:51 p.m. - 7:11 a.m. - Michael Putnam, Lakewood, Wash.; A-Patrick Cantlay, Los Alamitos, Calif.; Robert Dinwiddie, England

1:02 p.m. - 7:22 a.m. - John Senden, Australia; Robert Garrigus, Charleston, S.C.; Scott Hend, Australia

1:13 p.m. - 7:33 a.m. - Jason Dufner, Auburn, Ala.; Stephen Gallacher, Scotland; Seung Yul Noh, Korea

1:24 p.m. - 7:44 a.m.- Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis.; Retief Goosen, South Africa; David Toms, Shreveport, La.

1:35 p.m. – 7:55 a.m.- Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Dustin Johnson, Jupiter, Fla.; Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

1:46 p.m. - 8:06 a.m. - Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Trevor Immelman, South Africa; Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

1:57 p.m. - 8:17 a.m. - Nick Watney, Henderson, Nev.; Lucas Glover, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Geoff Ogilvy, Australia

2:08 p.m. - 8:28 a.m. - Ryan Moore, Tacoma, Wash.; Robert Allenby, Australia; Rory Sabbatini, South Africa

2:19 p.m. - 8:39 a.m. - David Howell, England; Kenichi Kuboya, Japan; Briny Baird, Palm City, Fla.

2:30 p.m. - 8:50 a.m. - Charley Hoffman, Las Vegas, Nev.; Alexander Noren, Sweden; Sangmoon Bae, Korea

2:41 p.m. – 9:01 a.m. - A-Brett Patterson, McMinnville, Tenn.; Bennett Blakeman, Burr Ridge, Ill.; Brian Locke, Los Angeles, Calif.

2:52 p.m. - 9:12 a.m. - Chris Wilson, Dublin, Ohio; David May, Auburn, N.Y.; A-Beau Hossler, Rncho Snta Margarita, Calif.

Update on Friday, June 10, 2011 at 10:16 PM by Geoff

**Jason Sobel analyzes the pairings and also offered this explanation of the alternate process.

Garry Smits also looks at the groupings and notes some "head-scratchers" as well as the placements of the Jacksonville players.

Congressional Survives Record Heat

GCM's Scott Hollister traded messages with Congressional super Mike Giuffre yesterday afternoon when th heat index was hitting 106 in Washington DC and the club's 2-year-old Penn A-1/A-4 putting surfaces were doing fine.

His crews have been hand-watering the course on an almost constant basis this week, Giuffre said, and to date, the only real signs of any stress problems in the turf have been minor and limited to some of the collar areas. With the heat expected to break in the next few days — this forecast is showing temperatures in the low to mid 80s by early next week — Giuffre doesn't expecting any lasting effects from this heat other than the slightly elevated stress level its brought to the maintenance facility this week.

The forecast for early next week is looking pleasant, but the tournament days appear more uncertain.

2011 U.S. Open Masthead Is Here

And I must say the art department, aka Tom Naccarato has produced his finest work yet.

A full sized version for those of in search of some sort of deep hidden meaning behind the images inside the lettering.

(Click on image to enlarge)