The strong June sunshine will also mean that anyone at Shinnecock Hills will need sunscreen and sunglasses. I don’t think it crossed the line, but it was as hard of golf as we can play. Both made the cut by one stroke, at seven over par, and as a result played in early groups Saturday, when the course was more forgiving. They were not ready for Shinnecock.
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While we can’t confirm or deny if the controversial comedian is watching the PGA Tour every weekend, we do know he’s got his eyes glued to the TV this weekend. It was nine shots higher than past year at Erin Hills. While he has had some dicey moments off the course (an Federal Bureau of Investigation sting accused him of stock speculation and he paid a US$1 million restitution), Mickelson has been known as the smiling yin to Tiger Woods’ brooding yang since the 1990s. I feel for the spectators because they are seeing pure carnage – unless that’s what they want. Tickets to the U.S. Open were a Father’s Day gift for Mr. Ursprung. Dustin Johnson returned to No. 1 in the world by winning the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Retief Goosen was the most recent player with a good chance of repeating since odd did it. Reed would join a prestigious list that includes Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. “I could still be out there”, Mickelson said while acknowledging he broke the rules in incurring a two-shot penalty that eventually led to a 10 on the hole. “Of course, Grand Slam would have been nice”.
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The third round had its drama as much as the first two.
“I’ve never seen a course change so quickly”, said Justin Rose, who shot 73 despite hitting only six greens.
He was assessed a two-stroke penalty by the USGA and given a 10 for the hole before going on to sign for an 81 and a 17-over total. If he asks me a question, I answer it. The final group was Dustin Johnson and Scott Piercy. He finished at 2 over and stood one shot out of the lead as he walked off the course.
It was his fifth birdie of the day, and it moved him once again into a tie for the lead with Koepka. His first putt raced past the hole and his par attempt burned the edge but didn’t drop. Koepka stayed in contention.
The biggest might have been his bogey on the nasty little par-3 11th.
Tomorrow’s final round now shapes as a test as much of the USGA’s public image as the 22 golfers within five shots of the lead. My pick started off well. Mickelson had his best round of the week, In fact, he celebrated on 13 by making a par. One of his worst moments was melting down at Winged Foot’s 18th hole, well in position to win the tournament. Mickelson’s wife said that he offered to withdraw after what happened in round three. A lot of the early rounds, (Tommy) Fleetwood played an unbelievable round, goes posts 7-under. The record score for a U.S. Open at Shinnecock is 5-under. I wanted to get to the next hole and I didn’t see that happening at the time without the two shots. For the tournament, Koepka ranked first in driving, second in strokes gained from putting, and tied for third for greens in regulation.
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“We will admit there were some aspects of the set up where we went too far, in that well-executed shots were not rewarded and in some cases penalised”.
