U.S. Open 2019: USGA can’t ruin Pebble Beach this year

The U.S. Open, and the USGA in general, have become fashionable targets for players in recent years. If they can’t let Pebble Beach be itself, the rift may never be repaired.

To say the U.S. Open has had some problems over recent years would be an understatement. And the USGA has found a way to anger so many of the world’s top golfers that it’s almost become stylish for superstars to publicly bash the North American governing body. That unique – and unfortunate – set of circumstances has led us to this week’s burning question.

Is it even possible for the USGA to mess up a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach? And how much worse will things get if they do find a way?

First things first, of course. I think there’s a whole lot of middle ground between the players and the USGA right now. Have some of the U.S. Open courses been set up in punitive fashion recently? Obviously. But at the same time, it’s not like the course is different for any of the players out there. Everyone is on the same track, no matter how pristine or brutal.

The biggest problem comes down to the idea of “protecting par”, which the USGA has apparently become obsessed with. But in doing so, they’ve tricked up a lot of courses that haven’t been major tested, like Chambers Bay and Erin Hills. They’re great courses, but when you put greens that you couldn’t stop a putt on (looking at you, Phil), the spotlight gets a lot brighter.

That led to an idea that once was totally unthinkable: the possibility of legitimate top stars boycotting one of the four modern major championships. And while it might never have come close to reality, some of the unfiltered opinions that we’re hearing give us an inside look at the process that’s brought us here.

"“I’ve played, what, 29 U.S. Opens,” Phil Mickelson said last week at the Memorial. “One hundred percent of the time they have messed it up if it doesn’t rain. Rain is the governor. That’s the only governor they have. If they don’t have a governor, they don’t know how to control themselves.”"

Younger guys get it, too. Justin Thomas insists that he wasn’t directly involved with the idea of a U.S. Open boycott, but that isn’t because he’s any happier with the USGA these days.

"“It’s pretty obvious on where I stand with the U.S Open and the USGA,” said Thomas. “We’ve had our difficulties over the last six months. My frustration with them and the [course] setup at the U.S. Open stems from how the PGA Tour does such a great job setting up tournaments the entire year. We feel like the U.S. Open gets away from us, or gets out of hand almost every year.”"

But hey, those are guys who haven’t won the U.S. Open. It’s easy for Phil to be upset about it, right? The U.S. Open is the only piece of the Grand Slam missing from his resume. Thomas has played four U.S. Opens and hasn’t really contended for the win other than in 2017 at Erin Hills. That year, he shot 9-under 63 on Saturday, but finished eight shots behind winner Brooks Koepka with a Sunday 75.

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Okay, how about former U.S. Open champions? How about names like Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, who according to an anonymous Golf Digest conversation, were identified as two stars who considered sitting the tournament out after 2016. Another pair of major winners acknowledged that they, too, would have done it, if things got to that breaking point.

So far, they haven’t. So that brings us to next week’s event at Pebble Beach. The USGA has a choice at the 2019 U.S. Open. Leave one of the world’s greatest golf courses to be a natural challenge, or continue to do too much, and risk alienating the players who make this tournament as one of the premier events in golf.

As much faith as we’ve lost in the USGA, there’s simply no way they let it get to that point. Pebble Beach doesn’t need to be any more punishing than it already is. Let the rough grow, keep the greens tight, and let the best player win. And it’s one thing to play games with courses that people never see, like Chambers Bay, but its entirely different with hallowed ground like Pebble.

The U.S. Open isn’t broken, but the USGA’s relationship with the top stars of the PGA TOUR is coming close. Mike Davis did the right thing by ceding course setup duties to John Bodenhamer, but it now falls to him to avoid the same pitfalls as his predecessor.

The U.S. Open is already one of the toughest tests in golf. All we’re asking, and all the players want, is to keep it fair. If they can’t find a way to do that at Pebble Beach, then they might never make it back.