The US Open source of uncertainty on and off the course

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Uncertainty on the course. Uncertainty about it.

The US Open was set to kick off in uncharted territory on Thursday, with the golf world puzzled by the recent shuffle between Saudi golf interests and the PGA Tour and 156 of the sport’s top players taking a course that almost no one has seen.

Almost every question before the 123rd Americas National Championship dealt with one or more of these issues. The Los Angeles Country Club is a beautiful mystery, the first course in Los Angeles to host the Open in 75 years.

It is known for its track-wide fairways, they average 43 yards, but many of these stretches are steeply angled, built to throw tee shots back into Bermuda’s healthy, spongy rough or landscapes. native, brush-strewn, and unpredictable sandy beaches called barrancas that meander through this urban oasis.

There is an accessible par 4 on the sixth hole which will sometimes play shorter than the downhill par 3 seventh. There is the par-3 15th hole which can play from 80 to 135 yards, with tee boxes positioned at multiple angles.

Legend has it that the great Ben Hogan, when he was playing the LACC for the first time, called for an aiming point on the fifth tee. His caddy pointed to four palm trees in the distance and said to knock towards them. Hogans’ response: Which one?

An open course that demands precision and that hardly anyone outside of Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and their 2017 Walker Cup teammates have played under tournament conditions: who knows what to expect?

The most frequent question I received in the last two years before this championship, what will be the winning score? said John Bodenhamer, head of USGA championships. I can really say, more than any other Open, I don’t know.

There is a risk in not knowing.

More than others who run the majors, USGA bosses are most used to not wanting the tournament to be about them, but often miss that mark.

This is usually because of the way the golf course is laid out. The past few years, including stops at the Country Club outside of Boston and at Torrey Pines on the freeway in San Diego, have been relatively drama-free. The last time the USGA held its biggest show in uncharted territory was in 2017, at Erin Hills, the open expanse formed by ancient glaciers in Wisconsin.

The wind that serves as the layout of the best defense never materialized. Brooks Koepka smashed it, winning the first of his five major titles with a score of 16 under par.

The USGA didn’t overreact like it did in, say, the 1970s when Johnny Millers 5 under at Oakmont led to Hale Irwins winning the following year at The Massacre at Winged Foot in 7 over. But 16 under tied the US Open’s lowest over-par score in history. It wasn’t the sight the USGA expected.

Koepka is certainly part of the story this week as well. He is four weeks away from his third PGA Championship and comes to Los Angeles in search of his third title in this one as well.

He is also a member of LIV Golf. His victory at Oak Hill largely pierced the idea that everyone who left the PGA Tour for the money provided by the Saudi-backed circuit did so because they didn’t have the game to compete. at the highest level.

While Koepkas’ victory was probably not the driving force behind the end of hostilities, the timing was certainly propitious.

The more chaotic things get, the easier it gets for me,” Koepka said as he, like every other big-name player, was beset with questions about the uncertain future of golf. Everything starts to slow down and I can focus on what I need to focus on while everyone is dealing with distractions, worrying about other things.

In many ways, this year is very much like last year. When the US Open returned to the Country Club for the first time in 34 years, it happened just a week after LIV’s first tournament and rumors swirled about the next one possibly defecting.

Then they started playing.

More than the Saudis or LIV headliner Phil Mickelson (who’s in Los Angeles this week, playing low) or anyone’s paycheck, Matt Fitzpatricks’ 9-iron from a fairway bunker at the 72nd hole is what most golf fans will remember. US Open.

Chances are this Sunday will produce another story maker. After that, players will have all the answers they’ve been looking for on a golf course most of them haven’t seen. Then they’ll hit the road, still unaware of what’s to come.

While I guess it’s confusing, Fitzpatrick said, it’s pretty clear that no one knows what’s going on other than about four people around the world.

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