So much for any dripping nostalgia or such like. This is the real world. For this US Open at a storied venue, where a young amateur whippersnapper by the name of Francis Ouimet once outgunned the greatest professional players of the era in Harold Varner and Ted Rea, this latest 122nd edition has reached the start point with core issues about professional golf’s tour future lingering like dark forces over its landscape.
“It’s the cloud that’s hanging over golf at the minute,” acknowledged Rory McIlroy of how LIV Golf’s moneyed arrival has rocked its very structures, while Brooks Koepka was to the point in pleading for focus to switch to the championship itself. “It kind of sucks, you are all throwing this black cloud over the US Open,” he lamented.
And, indeed, the actual start of the championship will allow for golf – for the next four days at least – to be about chasing one of its most prized titled rather than feeding on conjecture. Ironically, given that filthy lucre is at the source of all the unseemly fracturing of tour life, the USGA quietly confirmed that the prize fund for this event has risen to a total purse of $17.5 million (€16.8 million) with a winner’s cheque for $3.15 million (€3.04 million).
[ Séamus Power determined to keep major progression going at US OpenOpens in new window ]
[ Shane Lowry: ‘I think I can accept the bad shots better these daysOpens in new window ]
The three Irish players competing – Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Séamus Power – are as entitled as any in the 156-player field to eye such a prize, all coming in with strong form lines and importantly having contended in different ways in each of the two Majors already played this year. Two have top-5s, all have top-10s. Each one can aspire to win.
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None more so than McIlroy, runner-up in the Masters to Scottie Scheffler and eighth in the US PGA. “I’ve had two very solid performances in the last two Major championships and, coming off the back of last week [winning in Canada], I expect myself to play well. If I do that, I will hopefully give myself another chance like I felt I had (in the US PGA) at Southern Hills to get a win,” said McIlroy, the world No 3.
He added: “I like what I’ve seen, pretty similar set-up to Torrey Pines last year. It is quite playable off the tee and then it seems to get a little tougher as you get closer to the green. The rough gets a little thicker and the greens are very small. If the weather keeps up they are going to be firm, small, targets. Slopey. You have got to be very precise with your second shots. I like the test. It seems a very traditional US Open set-up and I like that.”
Jon Rahm, the defending champion, having broken through in his Majors quest at Torrey Pines last year, agreed: “It’s a US Open. You need everything. You need to drive well, hit your irons well, chip well, and putt well … and be mentally sane for four days. You can’t hide. Period!”
As Lowry put it, “It’s like every US Open. I think if you can hit a lot of fairways and hit a lot of greens you are going to do pretty good.”
Certainly, it is a wonderfully conditioned course that will require great management. The premium on finding fairways will necessitate the use of irons on many holes, leaving players to rely on their long- to mid-irons for approaches to small greens. Something that could well play into someone like Collin Morikawa’s iron play ability. We’ll see.
The sight of some caddies slipping on downhill stretches of the course in the final day’s practice only served to demonstrate that the terrain has continued to firm up, which would only serve to add to the examination.
And, following a well-worn trend, with each of the last seven Majors having been won by different players, this championship is again a wide-open affair. Just as Scheffler was the man with momentum ahead of his breakthrough Masters win, and Justin Thomas was patiently knocking on the door before earning a win at the US PGA – beating Will Zalatoris in a playoff – there are many players with genuine aspirations.
McIlroy is one of those trending into a place to finally end that winless drought in the Majors, one that goes back to his second US PGA win at Valhalla in 2014.
“I’m playing good golf, I just need to keep playing good golf and, if I do that, and I hit fairways, hit greens and hole a few putts, hopefully by Sunday night the score adds up to one lower than someone else.
“I am playing good and that’s all I can ask for. Physically I am in good shape, mentally I am in a good place. I just have to go out there and execute the way that I know I am able to,” said McIlroy.
