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
Former UNC student and comedian Lewis Black holds back on the obscenities in talking to Alex Podlogar about Pinehurst #2.
The Daily Show contributor and constantly-touring stand-up master was in town for an annual cystic fibrosis fundraiser and while it'd be fun to hear him say Donald Ross's name with R-rated words as only he can use them, it's still enjoyable to hear him riff on the 2014 U.S. Open host.
Thanks to Pinehurst's Alex Podlogar for this time lapse photography by John Gessner showing the turf conversion of Pinehurst No. 2's 18th green following the U.S. Open(s).
The clip:
Continuing the final major mop up, Doug Ferguson wrote that the PGA Championship salvaged the major season in the excitement department after the first three delivered resounding and deserving winners.
Kyle Porter featured the list of best scores in the majors of the 13 golfers who made the cut in all four. Not only did Rickie Fowler win at a staggering 32-under in the majors, but look at the separation he had from the last place finisher of the elite list.
Looking beyond the main numbers, Alex Myers notes this among other factoids.
With an aggregate score of 1,108 in the four events, Fowler matched Mickelson's total from 2001. Remarkably, the two are tied for the third-best combined score in major championship history and yet neither player took home one of golf's most coveted titles during those seasons.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 at 11:42 PM 26 Comments | in 2014 Masters, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA , 2014 U.S. Opens Randy Wilson's video's are always enjoyable, but his post-Pinehurst summary is particularly fun considering how much golfers continue to debate what they saw over the two weeks at No. 2.
I highly recommend his latest, especially if you know some doubters.
Oh and Wally do check out the comments at the end. Add Randy to the radar!
Sigh.
It's been a while since we've read a column hoping for the good ole days of narrow, rough-lined fairways, but Jim Achenbach's lamenting of the dreadful "too wide" fairways and lack of accuracy needed to win at Pinehurst could be a prize winner! Especially since a total of four players finished under par over two weeks hitting to "mammoth" fairways.
Pinehurst No. 2 had mammoth fairways. The rough was replaced by sand and wiregrass and other native plants. Competitors encountered few obstacles off the tee. With driver or 3-wood in their hands, they must have felt like it was the Indianapolis 500 -- pedal to the metal for all four days.
I didn't see much pedal to the metal golf, did you?
There was no relationship between fairways hit and success in the Women's Open. Neither Michelle Wie, who won, nor Lexi Thompson, who tied for seventh, finished among the top 45 in driving accuracy.
Please, wake us up from this bad dream.
Of course Jim makes the mistake of confusing hitting the ball down an imaginary center line with “thoughtful strategy.”
Both played brilliant golf and deserved to win, but we should be worried that future U.S. Opens at Pinehurst can be dominated by power at the expense of driving accuracy and thoughtful strategy.
So the two winners, arguably the best in the game right now, played "brilliant golf and deserved to win," yet this is a bad dream? I'm so confused!
Now that the huge surge in U.S. Women's Open ratings would dispel Donald Trump's erroneous (surprise, surprise) assertion that viewers tuned out the U.S. Open because of the dried out Pinehurst, let's look to some more thoughtful takes on the week.
I'm not sure this will work, but Michael Bamberger files a super postscript in the SI/golf.com Digital thingy that's a pain to read (aren't they all...we must make it hard for readers to read and experience ads!). Essentially, Bamberger touches on Kaymer and Wie's fascinating wins and the huge sucess of back-to-back Opens.
Mercifully, Bill Fields' assessment at GolfDigest.com is easier to access and he makes an interesting point about the importance of Michelle Wie finishing off her win in such strong fashion.
But let's also be honest: We were fortunate to get the sublime performance of Martin Kaymer and the breakthough achievement by Michelle Wie. Had Wie's late blunder at the 16th hole -- What was she thinking not playing a conservative shot to the fairway from that bunker with a three-stroke lead? -- led to an ugly defeat, the mood would have been much different Sunday evening. As it was her strategic error provided only a scare, and golfers will now want to try to duplicate Wie's fantastic birdie putt on No. 17 like they do Payne Stewart's crucial par putt on the 18th in 1999. Forget a statue. Someone should be drawing a painting with a table on top of a turtle's back. That would immortalize Wie's going 72 holes without a three putt with her odd stance on those wacky greens.
Doug Ferguson wrote in his weekly column that "two weeks of U.S. Open golf at Pinehurst No. 2 could not have gone much better. It really was double the pleasure."
Perhaps the most telling statistic was the scoring average in the final round.
For the men it was 72.40. For the women it was 72.39.
Only three men finished 72 holes under par, led by Martin Kaymer and his majestic play. Michelle Wie was the only woman under par.
Don't underestimate the importance of weather. Each week featured one burst of showers overnight, but otherwise scorching weather allowed setup specialists Mike Davis and Ben Kimball confidence that the course would play relatively similarly.
"We got to control the situation," said Davis, the USGA's executive director.
I would also add that the combination of amazing maintenance work by Farren, Robinson, et. al. deserves as much credit as anything, especially for presenting greens with so much turf that two weeks of championship golf was never an issue. Throw in a superb bit of orchestration by the USGA's advance team to put on a fantastic Open operationally and it's hard to imagine things going any better.
The only thing missing? Water trucks to wet down dirt paths, spectator walkways and parking areas. But who would have expected so little rain? Besides, firm, fast and sandy doesn't come without a tiny price to pay.
With the dynamic Michelle Wie leading and so many great possibilities Sunday at the 2014 U.S. Women's Open, NBC scored a nice final round rating even with so many other viewing options and a record viewing audience preparing for the U.S-Portugal game.
From NBC/Golf Channel:
- NBC's coverage of the final round of the U.S. Women's Open drew a 1.67 overnight rating in metered markets, up 92% from a year ago (3-6P; 0.87). This was the highest final round overnight at this event since 2007 (3-6:15P; 1.9).
As Karen Crouse notes in the New York Times, the Wie win is the culmination of an unusual year in which the LPGA's stars have risen to the occasion as the PGA Tour's brightest seem to be struggling in the limelight.
The PGA Tour has been stuck in a rut this year, its tournament results a few bright lights shy of a marquee. Phil Mickelson has failed to record a top-10 finish, Rory McIlroy has not posted a victory (though he did win the European Tour’s flagship event last month) and Tiger Woods has missed the first two majors after back surgery.
But the women have staged stirring duels, with Lexi Thompson holding off Wie in the first major and Wie holding off Lewis in the second. Karrie Webb, a Hall of Famer, has won twice, and the 17-year-old phenom Lydia Ko has won once. Inbee Park, the reigning player of the year, and Lewis have taken turns at No. 1.
We talked Wie on Morning Drive and also the success of the back-to-back Opens for the USGA.
As for future back-to-backs, I nominated Torrey Pines as the perfection place to do this again mostly because of its June climate and tourist-friendly locale.
Geoff
**ESPN was up too...
Most-viewed U.S. Women’s Open on ESPN since 2008 and tied for highest-rated since 2006.
In ratings, we were up 100 percent from the last two years – for the two days, we averaged a 0.4 U.S. rating, up from a 0.2 average for both 2012 and 203. Our two-day viewership average was 498,000, up from a two-day average of 229,000 in 2013 and 282,000 in 2012.
Per day:
Thursday – 0.4 rating and 437,000 viewers –up from 0.2 the last two years and 223,000 viewers (2013) and 260,000 viewers (2013).
Friday – 0.4 rating and 559,000 viewers – up from 0.2 in 2013 and 0.3 in 2012, and 235,000 viewers (2013) and 303,000 viewers (2013).
It was a thriller that anyone watching will not soon forget if nothing else for Michelle Wie's sunny (and amazing) attitude after a 16th hole double bogey left her with just a one-stroke lead. Her 8-iron to 17 and ensuing 25-footer for birdie will go down as one of the great recoveries that also capped off a spectacular two weeks at Pinehurst.
Doug Ferguson's game story lede:
Michelle Wie finally delivered a performance worthy of the hype that has been heaped on her since she was a teenager.
Wie bounced back from a late mistake at Pinehurst No. 2 to bury a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, sending the 24-year-old from Hawaii to her first major championship Sunday, a two-shot victory over Stacy Lewis in the U.S. Women's Open.
Karen Crouse's NY Times story lede:
Michelle Wie’s strategy for the 69th United States Women’s Open was to laugh in the face of disaster. She made it her mantra. When bad shots happen, smile and move on.
And Stuart Hall at USWomensOpen.com:
When Michelle Wie arrived at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open as a wide-smiling, big-dreaming 13-year-old, one of the first questions posed to her was whether she could win the national championship.
“I guess everyone comes here to win,” she said at the time. Wie tied for 39th that year, but the subsequent years brought disappointments, frustrations and even more questions.
Until Sunday.
Not to be overlooked, Hall also has shout-outs to runner-up Stacy Lewis, third place finisher and new pro from Northern Ireland Stephanie Meadow, and veteran Juli Inkster who gave non-millennials a thrill.
The USGA’s final round photo gallery includes some spectacular images.
The SI/golf.com team kicked around the significance of Wie's win in their Confidential:
LYNCH: Every sports update I heard on my car radio today covered Wie's quest for a major, which is hardly standard practice for a Women's Open. She never really stopped being the face of women's golf, even as she struggled throughout her career. Among the casual fans, she remained the most famous female golfer in the world. Now her game has the stature of her reputation and her brand.
BAMBERGER: Michelle Wie has not won enough to be regarded a superstar. Her power and her ability to hit shots high and low and with fade spin or draw spin, to say nothing of her improved putting, gives her enormous upside. In terms of stature in the game, she's way ahead of Rickie Fowler, but miles behind, say, Inbee Park.
VAN SICKLE: Wie has been the biggest name in women's golf for quite some time, she just hasn't had the wins to go with it. She's definitely the face of American women's golf until she piles up a few more wins, but she's a dream for LPGA marketing.
PASSOV: The only woman that truly moves the needle is Wie, and her win is great for women's golf -- and great for golf, period.
Garry Smits kicks off the inevitable and important remembrances of Wie when she wasn't a U.S. Women's Open champion. These reminders are important for telling the story of who she was, who she became and how she overcame things other child prodigies have not been able to deal with.
Wie signed multi-million dollar deals with Nike and Sony when she turned professional at 16. She didn't need to win to be rich, and she often didn't.
As anyone who has followed her career knows, the next decade was a flurry of meaningless starts in PGA Tour events ("oh, how nice ... Michelle only missed the cut by three"), attempts to make the Masters by playing in the men's Public Links and U.S. Amateur, several brushes with the rules during tournaments, an accusation that her father, B.J., was giving swing advice during a tournament and frequent changes in caddies and management (she's on her ninth caddie).
Wie was fast becoming the poster child for burn-out and her parents the poster children for doing everything wrong in how to handle a prodigy.
But things began settling down.
Who knows what it meant, but Wie did work off of the yardage books of Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler, and she thanked them on Twitter after her win. Jason Sobel talked to Bradley about his small role in Wie's win.
“I’m so pumped she’s playing well. I’m happy for her. She deserves it.”
Below is the Twitter conversation between Wie and Bradley during the aftermath of Wie's first major win. She also thanks Rickie Fowler, who apparently helped her as well.
Sobel, Mell and Hoggard with short notes to wrap the week from Pinehurst.
For Twitterers, Wie set new precedents for a major winner Tweeting thanks, photos and news.
This of the trophy is a classic:
All buckled in!!!!! #safetyfirst @Kia pic.twitter.com/H8rLRaKJ5H
— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) June 22, 2014
And a trophy selfie, posted by Golf Channel but re-Tweeted by Wie:
But first, let me take a #selfie. Best photos from Michelle Wie's #USWomensOpen win: http://t.co/fkVuxGiakY pic.twitter.com/YDPdRH4keb
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 23, 2014
Golf Central's look back at Wie's various career highlights and lowlights is worth a refresher course viewing.
The USGA’s YouTube recap is heavy on music and cuts, light on highlights. Foxworthy!
Geoff
**And she really celebrated up a storm! Deadspin with the details.
It's hard to fathom how the back-to-back U.S. Open(s) could have gone much better.
Two champions who have been either the best or almost the best player in the world this year.
A golf course that held up beautifully for two weeks and made for fascinating viewing.
And the USGA staff's outstanding effort to create a qualify fan experience at Pinehurst.
Still, there was a sense in Pinehurst and in social media comments that the second week fell a little flat in spite of Michelle Wie's compelling victory.
So the first natural question: should the USGA hold back-to-back U.S. Opens again?
Stuart Hall sets up the 2014 final round possibilities, as Michelle Wie and Amy Yang head into the last day at Pinehurst tied for the lead, but now are just four ahead of a group that includes an amateur (18 year old Minjee Lee) and most incredibly, 53-year-old Juli Inkster playing in her final U.S. Open.
Bill Fields focused on Inkster's 66, which included this unbelievable statistical performance:
Inkster's play, in sharp contrast to a second-round 75, was much better than OK Saturday as she hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens. Her putting, which has kept her from scoring better in her late-40s and early-50s, was solid. She three-putted the eighth but holed a clutch 10-footer for par on the difficult 16th hole.
Darren Carroll's photos at USWomensOpen.com illustrate the diverse leading group.
NBC's final round telecast begins at 3 pm ET.
Peggy Kirk Bell, who has nurtured the nearby Pine Needles resort since 1953 when she took ownership, has hosted the U.S. Women's Open and was a bit peeved when Pinehurst No. 2 got this year's second half of back-to-backs.
John Paul Newport caught up with the 92-year-old and wrote his weekly WSJ column about Bell.
This was fun (thanks reader John):
On Tuesday about a dozen former Women's Open champions played a round at Pine Needles, with Bell viewing some of the action from her cart. The previous week Lucy Li, the pig-tailed 11-year-old charmer from Northern California who is the youngest ever to qualify for a U.S. Open, practiced at Pine Needles and had lunch with Bell several times.
"She's phenomenal. She didn't miss a shot," Bell said. "I told her she had the skill to win here this week." That is not going to happen but the generation-spanning marvel of their friendship is a pleasure to ponder: A woman who took lessons from Tommy Armour, the 1927 U.S. Open champ and an influential early instructor, encouraging a girl who, when she is 24, might well be a contender for the 2027 Women's Open.
Ron Sirak sums up what's at stake for Michelle Wie this weekend at the U.S. Women's Open, as she carries a three-stroke lead into round three.
He also touches on the noticeable difference in her perspective and how that bodes well for the final two rounds.
In addition to attitude - her coach David Leadbetter says “That bounce in her step and twinkle in her eye is back.” - Wie is finding fairways with a stinger 3-wood and making putts.
Now in year two of her hunched-over tabletop-putting stance, she has climbed to No. 39 in total putts from a low of No. 124 in 2010.
“I'm just going to go out there and have fun,” Wie said about her attitude going into the weekend. “I'm really grateful for the opportunity that I have. Being in contention, having the clubhouse lead for now, I'm just really excited for the weekend. I'm really excited that I have chance and I'm going to have a lot of fun this weekend.”
