First, Congratulations to Dustin Johnson for overcoming Oakmont, a lot of fine opponents and the USGA in winning the Open. The USGA gave us Marion where the rough was so deep and think you needed a scythe more than a wedge to get out. Then they gave us Pinehurst where the dome shaped greens and shaved banks around them provided Martin Kaymer with a stage on which to win without chipping; he putted when off the greens (I thought the Open was meant to test all of a players skills). Then we had Chambers Bay where the greens were not ready for competition and balls hopped and swerved there way to the holes on a surface some said was like 'putting on broccoli'.
This year, Oakmont. After 3 inches of rain, Mike Davis and the USGA decided that the only way to make the course tough was make the greens as fast as possible. It took them until Sunday, but they made it. Thursday, Friday and Saturday they had to make do with setting the holes in impossible locations, but on Sunday, they had greens running well over 14 and, for those who don't know, that is akin to putting on glass. Putting them was bad enough, hitting approaches to them was nightmarish. The course, on Sunday, was unfair.
Now, golf is not, by nature a fair game. Most who play the game have hit fine shots, only to have them hit an unseen twig or catch a sudden wind gust and wind up in trouble. Okay, that happens. But when player after player, the best in the world, are hitting great approaches, and having them roll off the green to a point farther away that when they started, something is wrong. I saw Speith hit a brilliant wedge to 2 feet from the flag that rolled into a bunker. I saw Lowery stick a pitch 3 feet from a hole and it wound up 40 yards down the fairway. I saw players barely tap 4 foot putts and watch them roll 10 feet past. When things like that happen, over and over again, the course has become unfair.
The USGA has a history of doing things like this. One year, at Shinnecock, the let the greens get to about 16 and players were just desperate to get the ball to stop anywhere on the greens.
The Masters frequently lets its greens get to 14, but Augusta National is a different kind of course. Their greens are such that, even with speeds that fast, a properly hit shot to the proper spot will be rewarded.
The US Open should be hard. Its purpose is to test the best players in every aspect of their game and we all like to see that. However, when you make the courses over the top in difficulty, luck becomes too big a factor.
I mean no disrespect to the courses mentioned. They are all beautiful, difficult and fair, It is the USGA treatment of them that is the problem.
This is to take nothing away from Dustin Johnson. He played the best on a ridiculous layout and he dealt like a gentleman and like the great competitor he is in his handling of the penalty situation. The rule about a ball moving on the green is poorly written and the USGA officials' handling of the whole situation was deplorable. When greens are set that fast, just walking on the green can set the ball in motion. This is an issue they need to deal with immediately.
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