As an almost lifelong golf fan and now almost fully recovered from my third golf addiction, I mainly just watch pro golf. Although this is usually entertaining, this weekend I am watching the U.S. Open unfold at Oakmont in western Pennsylvania. It has been a slog.
Oakmont is a course without much, to me anyway, to recommend it. It is not pretty. There is no water and there are almost no trees, which seems incongruous with its name.
Oakmont's calling card is that it is the most difficult course in the U.S. Open rota. This is mainly accomplished by thick green rough which rarely allows a recovery shot. The worst part is that the powers that be grow the rough up right around the greens so that what appears to be a decent shot disappears into a thick green mat a yard or two off the green. This leads to "hit and hope" and then intense study of (usually) two putts leading to a bogey.
It's not any fun for the players. And it's not much fun to watch. The worst part of it is the slow play. On Friday, NBC reported it was taking some groups 40 minutes (with waiting time) to play a hole.
This is happening in an event sponsored by the always sanctimonious USGA, which regularly excoriates amateurs for playing slowly. It's kind of the ultimate bad example of "do as I say, not as I do." If it were not for armies of volunteers with little flags to mark the balls in the rough, the tournament might never finish.
There are golf majors that almost always seem to get it right. The Masters and The Open come to mind. The USGA usually gets it right at Pebble Beach and Shinnecock Hills. But when the USGA (and sometimes the PGA) go into "Oakmont mode," it kind of sucks. At least to me.
That said there are probably people who love this. The same people who enjoy four hour football games with endless video replays and interminable insurance commercials. Or who like watching paint dry.
Update: J.J. Spaun, one of the PGA Tour's rank and file, prevailed in a rather astonishing victory. Spaun, who started in second place, seemed to have a decent chance when he teed off. However, he bogeyed his first three holes while suffering some rather unimaginable bad breaks, such as a shot bouncing off a flag stick and bouncing back about 40 yards.
When the threatening skies at Oakmont opened up (the weather at Oakmont sucked too) and play was suspended, Spaun looked defeated even though he was theoretically still in the mix. The lengthy rain delay somehow rejuvenated J.J. and he climbed back toward the top of the leaderboard as others had their chances and faltered. The he drove the green on 17 resulting in a birdie that put him in the lead. On 18, he holed an improbable 64 foot birdie putt to seal it.
J.J. deserved to win and the win is a great story.
Does it change my view of Oakmont? Nope. A slog of a tournament ended in a slog under dark clouds. Next year the tournament will be at Shinnecock Hills. That should be worth watching.
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