On Friday, Billy Horschel set an interesting record: He was the first in memory to hit all eighteen greens in regulation.
I that astonishing. These are the best players in the world. The players know that, historically, par is a good score at the US Open. So why are so many playing their second shots from the rough? The first step in hitting greens in regulation is hitting fairways.
Given how far these guys can hit their irons, I can’t see how driver math works in their favor. Hitting a driver makes sense if you can shorten the hole by an iron or two. However, if you’re off the fairway half the time and in one to two club rough, you’ve gained nothing.
Comments on the US Open thus far?
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Yes, the fairways are more narrow and the rough is hellish, but these guys are the best in the world. It doesn’t seem to me that they would have to retrain. I should think they just need to shift gears.
Perhaps, though, that’s the difference between a past and potential US Open Champion and the rest of the field: mental agility.
Not to sound obvious – because the usual PGA Tour courses aren’t set up like an Open course?
A course holding a PGA tour event still has to stay open for its customers; they aren’t going to set up up a one-cut or no-cut rough.
I don’t think a pro would warm to the idea of retraining himself just to play an Open course. It isn’t worth the effort, if the current bomb-and-gouge tactic used at a ‘normal’ PGA Tour event is doing the job.