US Open

GreenHorn

It's that time of year again and we're hearing about yet another "toughest course in America" that's going to try make a show of the lads at the weekend.

I'm lookin forward to it but then again I don't really enjoy the car-crash appeal of the US Open... I mean, they've got a 288-yard par-three!! I'll get no fun out of seeing good, skilled pros like Fred Funk struggle to reach that with his driver... Give me a 140-yard job with a tiny tricky green any day, much more exciting to watch...

7,400 yards and only par 70... playing into the hands of the big hitters maybe...

Trampas

I hate Fred Funk and will take pleasure in seeing him struggle.

He doesn't believe in links golf and golf should only be played in USA.

The Black Oil

Should be good. What sort of coverage will there be, BBC, Sky..?

copacetic

its live on sky..

One Cold Hand

Yeah have to say i like seeing the pro's getting tested, but it's not enjoyable to watch when they're all shooting 10 over. I mean if that stupid par 3 is straight into a strong wind, nearly no-one would reach it with a driver.

It's kinda good to watch every so often, like the Car-nasty British Open in 1999 or whatever year it was, but it happens every year at the US.

RuggieBear

is it defo on sky? i though setanta had bought the rights to american golf

EDIT: Nope, it's on Sky Sports 2

Thu Jun 14 US Open SS2 3pm
Fri Jun 15 US Open SS2 3pm
Sat Jun 16 US Open SS2 6pm
Sun Jun 17 US Open SS2 6pm

Mister Sifter

who's the money going on the fellas!?

i'll have a couple of quid on monty as usual... not sure about the rest though.

RuggieBear

tiger or goosen each way would be my bet.

copacetic

RuggieBear wrote:

is it defo on sky? i though setanta had bought the rights to american golf

EDIT: Nope, it's on Sky Sports 2

Thu Jun 14 US Open SS2 3pm
Fri Jun 15 US Open SS2 3pm
Sat Jun 16 US Open SS2 6pm
Sun Jun 17 US Open SS2 6pm

setanta have the pga tour, but the US open is a USGA event and
is sold seperately (thank god as I don't have setanta as yet).

It is similar for the pga championship as it is owned by the PGA
of america and sold seperately so it is on sky too. Ryder cup is the same way as again it is run in US by PGA of america.

I can just about do without pga tour on TV as long as I have
all the majors.

One Cold Hand

Woods, Tiger 3 - 1
Mickelson, Phil 12 - 1
Singh, Vijay 14 - 1
Furyk, Jim 16 - 1
Scott, Adam 22 - 1
Goosen, Retief 25 - 1
Els, Ernie 25 - 1
Harrington, Padraig 28 - 1
Donald, Luke 28 - 1
Garcia, Sergio 35 - 1
Johnson, Zach 40 - 1
Ogilvy, Geoff 40 - 1
Rose, Justin 40 - 1
Stenson, Henrik 45 - 1
Toms, David 50 - 1
Cink, Stewart 50 - 1
Immelman, Trevor 66 - 1
Casey, Paul 66 - 1
Sabbatini, Rory 66 - 1
O'Hair, Sean 66 - 1
Choi, K.J. 66 - 1
Verplank, Scott 66 - 1
Stricker, Steve 80 - 1
Allenby, Robert 80 - 1
Pampling, Rod 80 - 1

I'll have my usual punt on Padraig. Don't really think he can do it but I'd hate if he won and I had no money on him!

No point in betting on Tiger, too short of odds and it's no fun.
Reckon Furyk or Scott might be worth a go....

domall

I thought Harrington was worth a tenner e/w at 28/1, especially when Paddy Power are paying e/w on 1-6. I also put a few quid on A. Scott to win, just for the craic.

Marshy

RuggieBear wrote:

tiger or goosen each way would be my bet.

Retief seems badly out of form though.

I'll go for Donald or Stenson.

Amirani

Marshy wrote:

Retief seems badly out of form though.

I'll go for Donald or Stenson.

Stenson might be a good bet. Not sure if Donald has the length. Stewart Cink is a serious contender with good odds.

charlesanto

Rory Sabbatini @ 66/1 Seems like a value e/way bet

BobbyD10

The longest par five in a major and prob the longest par three, PAR will prob be close to winning, the key is to keep the double bogeys off the card as there will be plenty of trouble. Don't know if it will suit the big hitters as placement of the tee shot may be more important than a big hit.

Looking forward to it tho, and will be backing Tim Clark at 150/1, Cink at 60/1 and sure might aswell throw a european player in Garcia at 50/1.

GBX

Im thinking either Harrington or maybe Appleby

GreenHorn

I think Harrington's a good ew bet... But it can be a bit of a lottery this one...

I always fancy Harrington on a really tough course, cos he relishes that kinda challenge more than most.

TheDoc

i like the us open and tough enough courses cause it makes it exciting.

I'm not going to be till the cut is made, odds wont drop that much because I suspect there will be a bunch of players in the hunt. I can see the final day there being 6-10 players in with a shout, and thats rare.

This isnt a course where one guy can just run away with it. Youd be counting on the majority of players to play horrible, and I cant see many strugling too badly.

I'll put my usual wasteful 5'er bet on garcia on thursday before start, then review the situation come saturday morning.

I'd guess a 2+ to be the winning score.

TheDoc

i seee adam scott there at 22-1.

From monitoring the players practice rounds, scott burnt the course up shooting level par on his practice round.

He may be one to watch, onlookers said he looks in good shape and was enjoying the course. But he seems a bit of a bottler but could be in with a shout.

badbrian

These majors are like the Grand National. You need to pick a few because a couple are sure to fall before half way.
Anyway these were my ew bets (prices may be gone. took them early in the week)
Allenby 100/1. was 1st in Greens in Reg last week. Always good for the open.
Harrington 33/1. Grinder carrying the patriotic money
Garcia 40/1 excellent tee to green & putting looks like it is coming back. I'm fearful this is a bad bet because putting is way more important for this Open than i thought.
McDowell 50/1 top European. Must be very confident coming into this. Ladbrokes are 50/1 paying 1/4 the odds the first 4. Just looks a very good value bet.

Someone here mentioned they backed Sabbatini. I might be tempted to get him on board as well as he has really been in good form this year. I don't think Adam Scott has the bottle after blowing good chances in the last 2 tournaments. Goosen having had 2 missed cuts in the last 3 weeks I would think is bad value (how does on of the World Top 10 miss the cut in the Welsh Open?)

Anyway I hope someone here has the winner (but preferably me ). I've backed enough to buy a new (moderately sized) TV if any win for me. A more realistic hope would be one of them Top 5's and I will cover my staking plan and hopefully a little profit depending.

Trampas

Whats the cut. Is it the 10 shot rule or top 60 and ties?

Trampas

badbrian wrote:

Garcia 40/1 excellent tee to green & putting looks like it is coming back. I'm fearful this is a bad bet because putting is way more important for this Open than i thought.

Where did you get that stat for tee to green??

161st on the driving accuracy

Greens in Reg 89th

Pighead

Yeah have to agree. Garcia's driving has been absolutely dire lately. Personally I don't think he has a chance of winning it. In fact I've backed him to miss the cut.

Furyk(15/1) Immelmann(66/1) and Olazabal(150/1) will be carrying Pigheads hopes and dreams on their backs.

cson

GreenHorn wrote:

I mean, they've got a 288-yard par-three!! I'll get no fun out of seeing good, skilled pros like Fred Funk struggle to reach that with his driver... Give me a 140-yard job with a tiny tricky green any day, much more exciting to watch...

Theres two ways you can look at it really,

1: Its an impossible hole and unfair distance for a par 3

2: If it was a par 4 everyone in the field would expect to birdie it so.....

Either way with it being a par 3 I'd hazard a guess its average will be around the 3.6 mark and it won't be the hardest hole on the course.

Pighead

Trevor Immelmann got a hole in one on that monster par 3 in practice yesterday. 3 wood straight into the hole!

madds

Just heard on Sky News that Monty has started with a birdie on the 1st. Tiger tees off in 5 minutes. Harrington's 3-ball looks tasty - he's with Els and Johnson.

SS coverage starts at 3pm. I've a tee-time in Sillogue at 4pm (Jimmy Bruen practice). Sitting on the couch in front of the TV for 6+ hours is more appealing looking at the weather outside.

Adiaga 2

Just checking the scores on the official site and seems that the par is 71. (If you click on a player's name it brings up his scores so far.) Is this right? Everything I've read or heard about it in the last couple of weeks has said the par is 70.

GreenHorn

There's a long par-four (9th I think) that plays as a par-five for the members maybe that's where the confusion stems from? I'm pretty sure it's playing par70 this week...

GreenHorn

Harrington's opened with five pars anyway... so far so good (fingers crossed, touch wood etc!)

Adiaga 2

GreenHorn wrote:

Harrington's opened with five pars anyway... so far so good (fingers crossed, touch wood etc!)

That's a good enough explanation re the par for me Greenhorn. Yeah nice start for Pad. Fingers crossed is right....

GreenHorn

Only 16 mins til it starts on Sky... Been on the couch waitin for it all day! God bless my rotating shiftwork

Time to switch of the phone methinks...

Enjoy lads... (and lassies!)

Marshy

First round coming to a close, course starting to show its teeth now.

Looks like -2 will lead. Woods right there on +1 with Padraig starting with a reasonable 3 over 73.

Trampas

I am on Allenby and Garcia to miss cut.

Lets hope they keep them bogies

GreenHorn

Did anyone else find it a little boring? I dunno, I love the uniqueness (is that a word) of the courses the pros play in Europe. Some greens surrounded by rough, some by shaved swails etc.

Here, at Oakmont, it's just either hit it in the fairway or hack it out of the rough. It's not much fun to watch so far in my opinion. There's no variety.

delboy159

GreenHorn wrote:

Did anyone else find it a little boring? I dunno, I love the uniqueness (is that a word) of the courses the pros play in Europe. Some greens surrounded by rough, some by shaved swails etc.

Here, at Oakmont, it's just either hit it in the fairway or hack it out of the rough. It's not much fun to watch so far in my opinion. There's no variety.

I agree with you - to a point.... The whole perspective changes on Sunday when the focus turns to just a handful of players and the pressure/suspense of well hit shots just trickling into deep rough or finding a deep bunker can turn the tournament - thats when it gets entertaining! Right now it's just loads of clips of guys on fairways or guys hacking out of rough!

GreenHorn

delboy159 wrote:

I agree with you - to a point.... The whole perspective changes on Sunday when the focus turns to just a handful of players and the pressure/suspense of well hit shots just trickling into deep rough or finding a deep bunker can turn the tournament - thats when it gets entertaining! Right now it's just loads of clips of guys on fairways or guys hacking out of rough!

Yeah, that's true enough... Roll on Sunday and (yet) another day on the couch so!

sofireland

Watched all the coverage yesterday...
Anyone who's on 3/4 over still has a shout imo, the course is only going to get tougher.
Fair play to mickelson for playing through the pain.
Bring on day two!

Marshy

sofireland wrote:

Watched all the coverage yesterday...
Anyone who's on 3/4 over still has a shout imo, the course is only going to get tougher.
Fair play to mickelson for playing through the pain.
Bring on day two!

Yeah I think anyone who's 5 over or less is still in with a chance. Was good to see mickleson fight till the end, anyone without the short game he has probably would have shot in the 80s the way he was playing. Dont know if he'll last much longer though.

I'd be surprised if there'll be anyone under par after today.

foxyboxer

"You can hit 72 greens in the Open at Oakmont and not come close to winning."
Arnold Palmer

Lee Trevino claimed every time he two-putted at Oakmont he knew he was passing somebody on the leader board.

and my favorite.

Sam Snead once commented that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont's greens but the coin slid off.

ah ya have to love the US Open, roll on the weekend!

Marshy

The USGA have really upped the ante today. Course is treacherous at the moment.

Paul Casey has just carded a great round, 4 under 66 to finish +3 and I'll bet by the end of the day he'll be right by the lead the way things are going.

charlesanto

McDowell, 4 off the pace available @ 66/1

Edit to say E/W is paying 1/4, 4 Places

bigtimecharlie

Harrington is doing my head in. Round 1 73 was good but second round... forget it. First birdie of the tournament comes at the 16th. Why can't he do what Casey did, 77 then followed by a 66. At the moment Harrington is +14, really tought that this was the U.S Open for him. Sad to say that he may never win a major.

So my €10 e/w on Harrington is down the drain but I put €2 e/w on Cabrera and Chad Campbell. Cabrera is doing his best to mess it up but he is hanging in while David Toms is going backwards after being joint leader. Woods not convincing either. at the moment +11 is the cut.

Glad to see golf on sky, haven't got Setanta, but the real pain for me is that I have to work on Sunday night so I will miss all the drama.

bigtimecharlie

Paddy Power online is paying e/w to 6th place.

Harrington has finished +13, finished par-birdie-par-birdie. Much too late.

bigtimecharlie

Cabrera birdied his 18th( 9th) to move to Even par after 36 holes. This has moved the cut to +10 ( those within 10 shots of the leader), so 18 players on +11 have missed out including Mickelson, Donald, Bjorn. McDowell has pervalled on +5.

Still anyone's tournament and the final score could well be +4 or greater.

Sky showed some of the green staff watering the 10th green. I've seen more water in a pint glass than what went onto the green. Hope this is not Shinnocock Hills all over again.

Speaking of water, alot of "ditches" but no water hazards to speak of. Wood's only hit 5 fairways in his second round and Tim Clark has yet to have a birdie but still made the cut on +7.

GreenHorn

I've got the saw I just don't really like the course... I hate to repeat myself, but there's just no variety to it...

TheDoc

this tournament comes into its own on sunday when the pressure is on and anyone from 10-15 people can win.

The course is a bit ridiculous though, players hitting greens and not being able to hold the ball there.

Again this is a a classic example of the usga wanting suspense and drama for their us opens rather then good golf. Course is stupididly setup.

It will come to a point where players wont wna play in it because it just damages their game and confidence.

RuggieBear

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

this tournament comes into its own on sunday when the pressure is on and anyone from 10-15 people can win.

The course is a bit ridiculous though, players hitting greens and not being able to hold the ball there.

Again this is a a classic example of the usga wanting suspense and drama for their us opens rather then good golf. Course is stupididly setup.

It will come to a point where players wont wna play in it because it just damages their game and confidence.

typical us open tho...the players have been complaining for years.

Arnold Palmer bitched about the course in the 1952 US Open.

Still a small part of me finds it amusing to see the pros struggling:o

Marshy

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

this tournament comes into its own on sunday when the pressure is on and anyone from 10-15 people can win.

It will come to a point where players wont wna play in it because it just damages their game and confidence.

Yeah it definitely becomes much more exciting as the last few holes approach. I personally dont think the course has been unfair at all, the scores of Casey and Cabrera prove that there are some decent scores out there.

I don't think the stage will be reached where players will boycott the tournament. Its a major and everyone wants to play in them, they are supposed to be the ultimate test. Surely the players couldnt feel that sorry for themselves.

MisterAnarchy

GreenHorn wrote:

I've got the saw I just don't really like the course... I hate to repeat myself, but there's just no variety to it...

Its a horrible looking course.
They removed over 1000 trees from it ,it used to be parklined.
Like a big overgrown meadow now.

GreenHorn

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Its a horrible looking course.
They removed over 1000 trees from it ,it used to be parklined.
Like a big overgrown meadow now.

Yeah, that's exactly the kinda thing I was thinkin... Ye know how in a lot of course, when the camera switces to a certain player about to play a shot you can often say "That's the fifth, the par five" or whatever... But all these holes look the same so you can't really do that... I just don't think it's a good looking golf course.

gero13

So woods will be in the Final pair on Sunday...

He must have a great chance to win, 2shots behind...