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msudogs
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Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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For the fourth time in its storied history, Pinehurst No. 2 will host the U.S. Open. The third major championship of the year will be at Pinehurst for the first time since 2014, when Martin Kaymer won the second of his two majors. Michael Campbell won his only career major at this course back in 2010. Payne Stewart won back in 1999.
Kaymer’s 9-under was eight shots better than anybody else in the field, but Campbell won at even par and Stewart won at 1-under. Pinehurst has played tough, as most U.S. Open venues tend to do.
There aren’t a whole lot of guys who were in the field or prominently featured back in 2014 in this year’s field. The course now has what is called “Champion Ultradwarf Bermudagrass” greens instead of bentgrass per PGATour.com, so that is one significant change. A lot of players walked the course and played practice rounds on Monday and many more will be arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday to see how they roll, since this will be the first U.S. Open to employ that sort of putting surface.
There are three 500+ yard par 4s and four other par 4s that measure at least 470 yards. Perhaps a blessing and a curse this week at Pinehurst is that there aren’t a lot of areas for traditional rough to grow. Many of the fairways are lined by sandy areas and wiregrass. It might be better to be in a shallow sand trap than shin-high rough in some respects, but driving accuracy once again remains an essential skill in a major.
What the sandy areas do is force players to consider the risk-reward of going for a green by having to take a less-lofted club from the sand. We’re going to see some middle irons out of those areas and that does create less margin for error, not only in terms of ball flight, but also in terms of getting good spin when landing on the green.
In that same breath, there are only three par 3s on the course and two of them play over 200 yards. Pin placements are a factor for all 18 holes, but we’ve seen some diabolical ones in the past. Shinnecock Hills in 2018 comes to mind. It is going to be very hot and not terribly humid during the day, so these greens are just going to bake in the June sun. By Sunday, they might be like landing a wedge on concrete.
Pace of play is also a factor here. The U.S. Open is inclusive of a lot of different players, including regional and amateur qualifiers who have earned their way into the field. With the difficulties of the course for even the world’s best, we could have some long rounds on Thursday and Friday. Fatigue may be a factor between the weather conditions and the mental strain of getting around the course.
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06-11-24 08:38 AM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay found themselves on opposite sides of a mild kerfuffle at last year’s Ryder Cup and have also had disagreements when they were both PGA TOUR player-directors. After Round 1 of the U.S. Open, they are together again but this time as co-leaders.
McIlroy, a Wednesday add for me on the outright card at 13/1, shot 65 and gained in every strokes gained category. He also went 4-for-4 in Scrambling and felt comfortable throughout the round as he easily outpaced his playing partners Scottie Scheffler (+1/71, but still second choice at 6/1) and Xander Schauffele (E/70; 14/1). Rory is now the tournament in-play favorite at +240 and came to Pinehurst in a better frame of mind having recently reconciled with his wife.
As for Cantlay (+850), he led the field for Strokes Gained: Around The Green (+3.87) and Fairway Proximity (22’4″). His form has been down most of the season and with his best pal Schauffele winning the previous major at the PGA last month, he is probably at the top of the “best player to never win a major” list.
Another player near the top of the aforementioned list is 24-year-old Ludvig Åberg (7/1), who played in just his first major championship at The Masters in April and finished runner-up to Scheffler. The Swede showed no signs of the partially torn meniscus injury that forced him out of the Wells Fargo Championship and led him to a missed cut at the PGA. He led the field for Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee + Strokes Gained: Approach) gaining +5.17 strokes and is just one stroke (-4) off the lead.
The man just behind him in that SG: Ball Striking category was Bryson DeChambeau (+750), who shot 3-under and is looking to go one place better than his runner-up finish last month at the PGA. DeChambeau led the field for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee (+2.81) as he usually does as still the biggest bomber in professional touring golf.
Other notables in red figures include a group at 2-under including Tony Finau (28/1), a pre-tournament play for me at 75/1, Tyrrell Hatton (28/1), Valero Texas Open winner Akshay Bhatia (60/1).
Collin Morikawa (20/1) and Brooks Koepka (22/1) both ended their days with rounds of even par 70.
Potential pre-tournament contenders that played their way out of contention included Viktor Hovland, 8-over 78, and Justin Thomas, 7-over 77.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods finished with a 4-over 74 and is currently T-86 and has some work to do in order to make the weekend cut which is limited to the low 60 players and ties as the 10-shot rule was done away with by the USGA in 2012.
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06-14-24 08:42 AM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Ludvig Aberg has a one-shot lead heading into Saturday’s third-round of the U.S. Open.
Aberg is the favorite at +330 to win the Open.
Patrick Cantlay (+900), Bryson DeChambeau (+400) and Thomas Detry (+1100) are tied for second at -4. Rory McIlroy, at -3, was third on the DraftKings Sportsbook oddsboard at +450.
Just 15 of the 156 golfers that teed it up for the US Open at Pinehurst #2 are under par after two rounds. You gotta scroll…and scroll…and scroll to find names such as Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, and Brooks Koepka (all made the cut on the +5 number).
Those who won’t be playing the weekend include Viktor Hovland, Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Will Zalatoris, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods.
With how tough Pinehurst #2 is playing, this thing is far from over. Bogeys and big numbers lurk everywhere, and over the course of two rounds, I think anyone at even par or better legitimately has a shot to win this thing (Sam Burns and Billy Horschel shot 3-under rounds Friday and moved up 49 spots…Hideki Matsuyama shot 4-under and moved up 42 spots).
Ludvig Aberg is going to win a lot of golf tournaments, I’m just not sure it’ll be this one. The 36-hole leader is riding a red-hot putter through two rounds (5th overall in the tournament) while actually losing a little bit SG: Around-the-Green through two rounds. That’s a scary formula for the way this course has been playing.
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06-15-24 02:30 PM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Going into Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open, we have an odds-on favorite at -110 as Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open Champion at Winged Foot, shot 3-under 67 on Saturday to earn a three-stroke lead. While his irons were not a sharp as the first two days, DeChambeau gained over three strokes with the putter on Saturday.
DeChambeau will be paired in the final group with Frenchman Matthieu Pavon (18/1), who held it together for a 1-under par round of 69 and is at 4-under.
Also, at 4-under are Rory McIlroy (+320) and Patrick Cantlay (+750), who will be paired together in the penultimate group on Sunday. Many fans will remember their disagreement, along with Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava, at last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome. Last November in an interview with the Irish Independent, McIlroy explained “my relationship with Cantlay is average at best. We don’t have a lot in common and the see the world quite differently.” Later in the same interview, Rory referred to Cantlay as word that starts with the letter D and rhymes with nick.
The disagreements continued when both were player-directors on the PGA TOUR Board of Directors. Now both will have to make up a three-shot deficit to chase down DeChambeau as McIlroy goes for his second U.S. Open (2011 – Congressional) and first major championship in nearly ten years, while Cantlay tries to remove himself from the top of the “best player never to win a major” list like his best pal Xander Schauffele did last month at the PGA Championship. McIlroy also finished runner-up in last year’s U.S. Open to Wyndham Clark at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Ludvig Åberg (16/1) ranked 71st out of 74 players for Strokes Gained: Around The Green (-3.07) and a costly triple bogey 7 on the 13th dropped him down the board. Aside from the poor performance Scrambling (4-for-11), Åberg held the overnight lead in a major for the first time (just his third major championship in his career) and clearly felt a bit of pressure with the Pinehurst patrons solidly behind DeChambeau. The Swede will be paired with Hideki Matsuyama (18/1), who is also at 2-under par.
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06-16-24 01:54 PM |
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