But it might have served a greater goal if they used the hardware to help bale water.
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Though half the field hasn’t played a shot yet at Oakmont Country Club, U.S. Open officials still project a Sunday finish for the championship.
The beauty of Oakmont is how little the USGA has to do to alter it for the U.S. Open.
A terrific three wood and wisely chipping on the green to take a huge swale out of play set up a much needed birdie to steady the ship.
“Hopefully, we’ll get some good conditions in the morning, and those other guys have to play 36 holes in a row at a U.S. Open, which isn’t easy”, said defending U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth.
“I honestly thought, ‘He’s going to hole this putt and the crowd’s going to go nuts, ‘ and obviously it didn’t work out that way for Dustin”, Day said.
Day (below), the reigning USPGA champion, is also not lacking motivation – or confidence.
The first round was suspended for the third and final time just as 28-year-old qualifier Andrew Landry was finishing up a dream round in his debut at golf’s toughest test. Only nine players finished, leaving 69 still on the course.
Precisely. No sentimental response to Faldo, who won three Masters and three Opens, but not the U.S. Open or PGA Championship.
Among the veterans in the field, Phil Mickelson commands the most fanfare in his latest bid to complete the Grand Slam continues.
The Silver Scot, Tommy Armour, won the first U.S. Open played at Oakmont in 1927 at 13 over par.
“Or, if you’re not playing so well, how to just grind it out and make pars and try to get it in the clubhouse at a respectable score”.
And while Kyle Porter of CBS has kind words for other competitors it is Day who is his number one pick. Only seven of the 78 players who made it onto the course were below par when play was suspended.
World No.1 Jason Day will lead golf’s young stars in seeking to join a who’s who of champions produced by Oakmont when the US Open tees off Thursday (Friday in Manila) on the rugged course near Pittsburgh. “It was playing really tough”.
During the first rain delay, Westwood and Luke Donald, two Englishmen, came into the media dining area to watch England beat Wales in Euro 2016. Apparently, two-time major champions need different credentials to get fed. The surprise Thursday was that after waiting out the first of three storm suspensions that lasted 1 hour, 19 minutes, they were sent back out without a chance to warm up. “We sat in a cabin for an hour and 10 minutes behind the seventh tee without being given a chance to hit any balls or do anything”. The club doesn’t know who originally drew it, only that it was first used in 1962 in preparation for the U.S. Open won by Jack Nicklaus.
Some big names were able to take advantage of the conditions that made Oakmont’s notoriously fast greens softer and more receptive than usual – with Bubba Watson and Lee Westwood among the most notable early chargers. While Spieth and McIlroy were starting and stopping and trying to play through the elements, Day, the world No. 1, stayed dry and rested.
But none of that seemed to matter on this day.
On Thursday, Landry started his round on back nine, making birdies on 10 and 17 and then birdied 2, 3, 4 on the front when the second rain delay came.
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“Even the second time out, 1:47, and we were told to go back out again at 2:10, never hitting any balls”. He watched it spin back past the hole and into a bunker. The ball won’t roll as much, and while that’s not the most annoying thing in the world (Oakmont isn’t especially long by today’s standards), it’ll pose particular problems on the par-3 eighth hole. He pulled a shot back with a clever birdie at the par-five fourth, where he reached the green in two but opted to chip toward the hole and gave himself a three-footer.
